Rib Problems for a Rookie WSM


 
J

Jo Rhi

TVWBB Member
I'm looking for help/advice on with my new WSM. I cooked a Port Butt and it turned out OK. Tried 1.5 slabs of St. Louis pork ribs last weekend and was disappointed.

I followed the BRITU instructions to the letter; including two chimney's of hot, greyed over Kingsford charcoal. I've only used the WSM two times but I cannot seem to get the temp up. I had to add more hot charcoal after 4 hours despite all 4 bottom vents open 100%. I pulled the ribs after 6 hours with the lid temp at 200, the meat had not pulled back from the bone.

I did not foil the ribs and will probably try that next time, along with a spicyer rub
 
The BRITU recipe specifies baby back loin ribs, which are smaller than spares, and thus require less cooking time. You can modify the BRITU for use with spares with a bit of experimentation-- but definitely more time.

The bigger issue is figuring out your fueling and temperature maintenance problems. Tell us a bit more about how long you let the chimneys fire up (do you have the large, Weber brand?), and if there was windiness.
 
Thanks Doug -
In firing up the two chinmeys I waited until they were completely grey, dumped the first into the WSM and repeated the process with the second. Probably took 45 minutes to get both going.

The weather was perfect, low 70, with very little wind. The WSM was in the sun but it's too early in the year for a hot afternoon sun here in Ohio.

I then put the WSM togther, added water and let things cool down (vents 100% closed) before putting the ribs on. After 20-30 minutes the lid temp was at 250 so I added ribs and opened all 3 vents to 50%...and kept them at 50% for the next 3 hours. But I had problems during these 3 hours getting the temp to much past 225. I pulled the digital & placed it in boiling water (off by 2 degrees). At 4 hours with the temp at 200 I opened the vents to 100%. at 4.5 hours I gave the WSM legs a gentle kick to loosen the ash. At 5 hours with the temp at 170 I added hot coals.
 
This sounds very similar to my experience this past weekend doing the BRITU recipe.

I just added a second chimney of unlit charcoal, but had a hard time maintaining the temps and had to add charcoal too.

My only guess is that the coals burned much faster with the vents open and just ran out of fuel.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> and kept them at 50% for the next 3 hours </div></BLOCKQUOTE>The vent setting noted on the BRITU is not meant as a requirement for the recipe. You have to set your vents as your conditions dictate.

If your temp is dropping and your vents are not all the way open then you're not getting enough air into the fuel chamber--you need to open your vents at least a little--possibly more--to get your temp up.
 
If I'm understanding you correctly, you have one chimney starter (still need to know what size) that you used to light one chimney's worth of briquets, dumped those into the WSM charcoal ring, and then refilled the chimney, lit it, and waited for those to become greyed over before adding them to the charcoal ring. If so, I'm thinking that the first chimney definitely had quite a bit of time burning in the open air, thus shortening its overall burning time, and heat output. If the second was allowed to get too grey before dumping it in, a similar shortening of burn time would likely occur. If the physical chimney is one of the smaller, 4-lb. variety, then you would have been starting at a disadvantage, even if the coals were allowed to burn too long.
 
Hi Jo,
Sorry to hear your having these problems, We want to get you smokin ASAP!
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Most times on a new WSM, they run hotter when new until you get the coating of "gunk" built up in them, so when they run cool is something different to troubleshoot.
Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you are sitting the water pan on the straps/hangers? There was even a show on TV where the "expert" put the pan on the coals. Sorry, had to ask that lol.
How old is your charcoal? I still feel that this is the biggest reason for problems getting the temps up. Are you sure it isn't a little damp? When you are putting water in the small Weber water pan, are you sure that you aren't getting some coming out of the back of the pan and into the charcoal?
If all vents are open on the bottom, vent on top open, I always seem to come back to asking about that fuel being used.
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This has got to be the greatest forum in the world....to get folks to respond so quickly.

Doug, first I'm using a Weber chimney. Second I think you are right in that I'm losing cooking time with the 1st chimney while waiting for the second to grey over. But isn't that what I'm supposed to do?

Bob, I'm a rookie so it's great to ask me questions (I spent hours studying this site before buying & trying my WSM). Yes the water pan in on the straps and not on the coals. And yes when adding water a few drops spilled over, but not enought (I don't think) to matter. The Kingsford charcoal was just purchased last week at WalMart but other than that I don't know how old it is.
 
Light the first chimney to the point that flames are licking out of the top and the topmost coals have grey corners. Dump it into the charcoal ring, and fill the chimney again-- this time only as a measuring device. Dump the unlit chimney evenly on top of the lit coals, and when they begin to ash-- in about 20 minutes-- throw on the smokewood, and proceed from that point in the BRITU article.
 
I never tried the BRITU, but if I started out with that much lit fuel, I'd have problems keeping the temps down.
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The sooner we can get your problem fixed, the sooner we can come over an collect our fee.
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Spares are on the top of my list!
 
Jo,

You stated you closed the vents all the way to get the heat down then opened them to 50%. What needs to happen next is to allow the change in vent position to settle--25 min or so, keeping an eye on what's happening. If the temp falls below your target temp of say, 250, then the vents need to be opened a little and, again, you need to wait 15, 20 min, to see what happens. If the temp had risen instead when you first opened the vents to 50% then you would have needed to close them a little and waited to see if that had the proper effect.

How Chris set his vents for the BRITU will not necessarily be the same vent settings you need. After using your unit a few times you'll get used to how the vents affect temp and how long it takes for a vent change to be realized; soon you'll be able to anticipate what you need to do with the vents soon after making a change, not needing to wait for the full effect.
 
After my first cook, I have not done anything except the Minion Method to start the fire. Even using the BRITU recipe, I still use MM. But, then, you have the opposite problem, it sounds like. The other thing, even for a 6 hour cook with ribs, I fill the ring not quite level full with charcoal. Better too much charcoal than having to chase temps by adding at the end.
 
I'm curious as to your problem as well. I'm certainly no WSM pro with 5 cooks under my belt, but if I was you, I'd try another bag of kingsford. Maybe yours got a little damp or something.

I got my WSM used, and it had gaps around the middle cooking section and around the door. I fixed those pretty well (with help from this site!) and I would almost say my cooker is airtight except for the vents of course. The reason I say so is that I just can't believe your WSM could be any more "airtight" than mine, and I have had no problems getting the temps up.
Also, I did some ribs yesterday and used the "standard" method...with even less charcoal than recommended and it still got up to temp, and responded well to vent openings/closings throughout a 6 hour cook.

It has to be your charcoal!
 
Two more questions:

1. Did you have the top vent open all the way?

2. Did you place the charcoal ring on the charcoal grate and then dump the coals into the cooker? I just want to be sure the charcoal is not resting on the bottom of the bowl.
 
Thanks Russ -
Yes the top vents were open 100%, but I do have a Weber thermometer stuck in one of the top vents. Yes the charcoal ring was on top of the charcoal grate.
 
I am w/ Vernon, if it is going to be longer than a 2 hr cook, then I just use the MM and adjust the amount of charcoal as needed. I start w/ all vents 100%, spread about 15 or so lit coals on the unlit and adjust as necessary. It usually takes only about 20 min to get to smoking temps. If I am cooking chicken, then I use a whole Weber chim. of lit coals and set vents as needed. This gets the temps to the 350 range and crips up the skin like we like it. As always, I put the smoke wood on prior to spreading the lit coals. I vary the water pan w/ sand for overnight cooks to water w/ ribs. That's just me. Hope this helps.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Kevin Cameron:
... if it is going to be longer than a 2 hr cook, then I just use the MM ... It usually takes only about 20 min to get to smoking temps. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I've never been able to get to my target temp using MM in less than an hour - often more than an hour. I guess you're saying smoking temps as around 250 ? I wish I could do that because its frustrating waiting it out. I use 12 to 20 lit, depending on conditions and I'm sure more would get it going faster, but it would also consume the fuel sooner.
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Paul
 
Paul, I ran into the same problem when I used the MM. I was getting nervous about putting the meat on and leaving it on with the temps so low(around 200 at the lid). Is there a problem with food being in the smoker at that low a temp for that long a time other than the finishing time may be extended? No food safety issues??
 
Wow. I use a full chimney to start my MM ribs with about 2/3-3/4 full ring. My WSM gets up to temp in just a few minutes, then I adjust vents, add meat, drink a beer. I dont worry about wasting charcoal, with the cost of ribs I worry more about them getting smoked.
 
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