Mark Barton
TVWBB Super Fan
For the past two days, I have been seasoning my WSM 18.5, using Phase 2 of Harry Soo's seasoning method. I understand that seasoning is not strictly necessary, but I wanted to try to learn to regulate the temp with older meat before actually cooking something expensive. Keeping the temperature steady proved to be a challenge. For both sessions, I tried to keep it at 275. Things I kind of got away from me on Friday, but I did better today. It's going to take while.
1. Starting with the modified Minion method / Soo's donut. Used three chunks of apple wood on Friday, but just one today.
2. The WSM is coming up to temp. Surprisingly, there is almost no leakage around the stock door! I had been thinking about getting a Cajun Bandit door, but may wait on that. However, there does seem to be some leakage around the lid. Any opinions on the need for a gasket in my case?
3. The Maverick ET732 sitting on an upside down flower pot. (I let my ex have all the iron furniture, so I still need to buy some kind of table or stand.) You might think the foil is a heat shield, but it's not. It's actually a sun shield because the direct Arizona summer sun is quite intense. I thought the foil might interfere with the Maverick's reception, but it didn't. The food probe was not used because I'm still in the seasoning phase and wanted to focus on learning to control the barbecue temp.
4. First seasoning cook - Friday! I used a 20oz package of ground Pork that was on sale for $1.89 at Walmart. Also threw on a package of Costco bacon. I doubled up the strips because it would be on the smoker a while. Even though this was for seasoning, and not for eating, I was disappointed in the results. I left these on way too long - about 3.5 hours. I also used three fist-sized apple wood chunks. The bacon looked good at first, but when I got it in the house, most of it was charred. The ground Pork actually tasted like charcoal.
5. Second seasoning cook - Saturday. Cooked a foot long fattie! It's just a big Jimmy Dean sausage from Costco that I simply took out of the wrapper an plopped on the grill grate. I also used a half package of Costco Bacon, with the strips doubled up. The photo was taken about 1:15 minutes into the cook. I took the bacon out early because I wanted something at least edible, regardless of seasoning. Gotta say, the bacon tasted good.
6. Took the foot long fattie out after 2.5 hours. I was going to throw the sausage away, but I tasted a slice, and it was fantastic. I decided to eat some for lunch and keep the rest for later.
Any thoughts on my probe placement? I tried to keep it in the center of the grill grate.
1. Starting with the modified Minion method / Soo's donut. Used three chunks of apple wood on Friday, but just one today.
2. The WSM is coming up to temp. Surprisingly, there is almost no leakage around the stock door! I had been thinking about getting a Cajun Bandit door, but may wait on that. However, there does seem to be some leakage around the lid. Any opinions on the need for a gasket in my case?
3. The Maverick ET732 sitting on an upside down flower pot. (I let my ex have all the iron furniture, so I still need to buy some kind of table or stand.) You might think the foil is a heat shield, but it's not. It's actually a sun shield because the direct Arizona summer sun is quite intense. I thought the foil might interfere with the Maverick's reception, but it didn't. The food probe was not used because I'm still in the seasoning phase and wanted to focus on learning to control the barbecue temp.
4. First seasoning cook - Friday! I used a 20oz package of ground Pork that was on sale for $1.89 at Walmart. Also threw on a package of Costco bacon. I doubled up the strips because it would be on the smoker a while. Even though this was for seasoning, and not for eating, I was disappointed in the results. I left these on way too long - about 3.5 hours. I also used three fist-sized apple wood chunks. The bacon looked good at first, but when I got it in the house, most of it was charred. The ground Pork actually tasted like charcoal.
5. Second seasoning cook - Saturday. Cooked a foot long fattie! It's just a big Jimmy Dean sausage from Costco that I simply took out of the wrapper an plopped on the grill grate. I also used a half package of Costco Bacon, with the strips doubled up. The photo was taken about 1:15 minutes into the cook. I took the bacon out early because I wanted something at least edible, regardless of seasoning. Gotta say, the bacon tasted good.
6. Took the foot long fattie out after 2.5 hours. I was going to throw the sausage away, but I tasted a slice, and it was fantastic. I decided to eat some for lunch and keep the rest for later.
Any thoughts on my probe placement? I tried to keep it in the center of the grill grate.
