Scared


 
M

Michael Kelly

New member
I've been considering the purchase of a WSM for a few weeks.

I enjoy cooking and have done well indoors with low and slow.

I've always been a crappy griller. I cook the meat too hot and am never happy with the results. I've got a Weber kettle outside now, but I never use it anymore.

Smoked low and slow sounds good to me and I want to get really good at it (I love the idea of building a perfect fire and letting something cook all day outside).

What scares me is the learning curve. If I go out and buy a WSM this afternoon I'll want to use it right away and will certainly destroy any meat I put in it. I'll spend $400 and my set up and have a charred piece of overly smoked shoe leather. I'll be so mad at myself...

I'd rather put off the excitement of a new purchase and do homework first.

So, what should I read first. I'd like to find some practical advice that both educates me and creates excitement. Books, websites, anything to lessen the grade of the learning curve.

I want to get so good at this that I schedule a once a week bbq where my family comes over and there's very little talking over dinner because everyone loves every bite. That's when you know you've scored.
 
You'll be fine, it's more or less idiot-proof if you do some reading on this site.

All the info you need to be excellent is on this forum and on Chris' Cooking Topics web pages. Learn about the Minion Method and how to control your fire, and you'll be off to the races.

If you're worried about too-hot temperatures, use water in the water pan in the WSM and it will keep the temp nominal for you.
 
Michael, what Dave said! Spend some time exploring this forum and you'll learn more than you ever thought possible! There is such a vast wealth of knowledge among the members here. Follow the threads and look at all the "old" stuff posted from way back, you won't go wrong. And ask lots of questions! You'll get straighforward answers without fear of being flamed. Happy learning to you and welcome!
 
Michael, I have 4 BBQ books and one BBQ book on my Kindle. I've read them all cover to cover but I learned much more reading these forums for 4 months than I got from the books. Consider this. You could get a pork butt, 6 or 7 lbs, read how to smoke it on the kettle and give it a go. Pork butt is incredibly forgiving. After reading the forum you could post your plan on here and ask for advice.
 
Michael-
I'm new here, and was not convinced that I could do charcoal- both bbq'ing and grilling with it. Have only one cook on my WSM under my belt, and it was ribs that went pretty well- better than expected. The info available on this site will guide you through and lots of helpful folks are ready to give feedback and coach you. Next fo rme is a butt, and it'll go fine...if it doesnt I'll look at what I did, adjust and at some point it will come together. Figure I'll probably ruin some meat along the way.
I also cook on my kettle a lot, probably 3-5x a week. I would suggest doing that to get back into the swing of things. They are two different animals, but you'll gain confidence from the kettle- a very forgiving way to cook. My old gas grill was a cheapo, had two settings- off or flames licking through the grate, so I did more than my fair share of overcooking, burnt, dry, etc. Not so with the kettle...started the right way, you have plenty of control and will turn out some really flavorful meats and vegetables.
Hope you jump in...good luck and look forward to seeing pics of some of your cooks
 
Welcome to the best site on the internet Michael! And don't worry about your first low and slow with the WSM. There are many people on this site, myself included, that would suggest you start with a pork butt as your first smoke. They are VERY forgiving... you would have to intentionally try to ruin it for it to fail.

Temperatures in the WSM are very stable once you hit your target temperature, so no worries there. And I'll echo what Dave and Linda have posted about articles and threads... look around, ask questions and you'll be fine. My first smoke in my WSM turned out great (pork butt!) thanks to the information on this site.

Good luck and welcome to the club!
 
I am a newbie but the last two weekends I did pork butts and they came out great! Get the Maverick 732, some Kingsford Blue charcoal and wood chunks, foil the water pan, wait and enjoy some of the best pulled pork you can get. I too was scared but after only 2 smokes I am gaining lots of confidence.
 
Bravo to all of the above.
I have a hard time rembering my first cook, since it was many decades ago.
I have had failures and triumphs, oddly enough my family only talks about the triumphs, at least when I'm around.
I seem to remember the failures more...oh well.
Cooking on the grill now just seems natural.
Give it a go, you will do fine.
 
Michael get that kettle going again. You can cook low and slow indirect on it. Grill fantastic chicken, pizza, steaks. Just takes a little practice and confidence.

I know if I start something with the attitude that it's not going to work it's almost guaranteed that it won't.

Grilling do a 2 or 3 zone fire from back to front. Really hot at the back and no coals at the front. Grill with the lid on, it greatly reduces flare ups which gives you that charred taste.

To do low and slow all you need is a couple firebricks, use the minion method and have some beers on hand for basting, the cook not the meat.

you can't cook as much on the kettle l&s but you can get very good results. Lots of guys on here are smoking with their kettles.
 
You people are very nice.

You know who else is nice, Joe The Plumber. Joe and I have become friends over the years (we both love bicycles) and he comes over in a hurry if I've got a problem I can't fix.

He just left. His news wasn't nice. Dead hot water tank. And you know, you gotta have hot water.

I was actually at Home Depot looking at the WSM's when his call came in.

So my little nest egg for my WSM is gone; life has forced me to study these pages for the next couple of weeks.

I'm okay with it. I'll use my kettle and experiment with building the right fire using the Minion Method and ask a bunch of questions.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Cheers
 
That's messed up about the water heater! Hope you don't have a housefull of overnight guests!
icon_smile.gif
 
There are some pretty cool videos on Youtube about getting started on your WSM. Have fun and cook often. The more mistakes you make means you are trying hard and cooking alot.
 
Michael, read Michael L's post in barbecuing section August 5th post "Smoking on the kettle for $10." It is a perfect set up for low and slow pork butt on the kettle. My friend did it this past weekend, and it turned out perfect. It will help to boost your confidence, and will be a fill in so to speak before you get your WSM.
 
Tough luck on the water heater. As much a I love BBQ, I love hot showers more.

My first WSM cook was a chicken, my in-laws say it was the best chicken they ever had until I tried again with a different rub. The positive feedback sure feels good even though a monkey could've cooked it as well as I did. WSM is just that easy.
 
Originally posted by Mike Purnell:
Here are some beginner recipes. Tells you step by step on what to do. I've done the basic barbecued chicken and basic marinated chicken and you really don't have to have any experience to make it taste great.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html#beginner
Click to expand...
I'm really glad Mike pointed these out. The two chicken ones he mentions as well as the basic baby back ribs are pretty much foolproof.

Come on in, the water's fine.

Good luck,
Chris
 
Hi Michael,
Welcome to TVWBB. You will hardly find a more helpful group when it comes to using all of the various Weber cookers. Of course there's a dark side to that as well. There is seldom one right way to do something and when you ask, you may get a variety of answers that seem to conflict with each other. You have to evaluate them and decide which is the best answer for you.

Sorry to hear about the water heater. I agree with the others that encourage to explore your kettle in the mean time. If you're not happy with the results you're getting, tell us about it and we can suggest ways to do better.

And in the mean time, keep an eye on Craigslist in your area. Occasionally WSMs will come up at bargain prices though you probably have to act fast when that happens. To be honest, they seem to be few and far between.

On the other hand, you can snag a Smokey Joe in decent shape for about $10. Find a Tamale pot for about $25 and an extra grate for about $10 and you have the major parts to make a mini-WSM. Throw in a big stainless pet bowl and some miscellaneous hardware and you can make mini version of the WSM. I have one and actually use it more than my regular WSM. There's a thread here with almost 800 replies by folks who have done that. The hardest part seems to be finding the right size pot, but they can be found.

Regardless, you've come to the right place to get help getting the most out of whatever Weber you use.
 
Definitely try smoking in your kettle before you lay out the cash for a WSM. Here's a good read to get up to speed on Low and Slow in a kettle. Give it a try and see how you like it.
 
Michael,
First of all, welcome! This site is incredible. If you are able to eventually get a WSM, you won't regret it. In the mean time, with the help on this site, you will be able to master your kettle. I've had my kettle for over 20 years, and I've learned more about cooking on it in the past year-and-a-half than in all of the time before.


Looking forward to seeing posts of your cooks. Enjoy!

Mike
 
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