Temp Control


 
Lew Newby

Lew Newby

R.I.P. 1/26/2024
Yesterday I tried Beef Jerky on the WSM for the first time. I posted about the cook in the BBQ forum but when I was a new WSM owner(a year ago) I had a ton of questions and I posted most of them here so I'm posting what I learned yesterday.

My target temp was 150° so I used a 3/4 full charcoals ring of unlit and only used 4 lit coals. I was not sure I had the skill to hold the temp that low and I probably don't but the WSM does and it did it yesterday.

This is from my BBQ post.
"As I said I had serious doubts about holding temps at 150° without water but the WSM did a great job. Yeah, I know you guys told me the WSM would do it but I had never tried it. I believed you had the skill but wasn't sure I had it. Now I know that I can cook at any temp I want with just my trusty clay saucer (wrapped in foil of course.
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Guys, we learn by reading and doing, eating our mistakes, and then reading and doing it again until we get it right. I didn't know what I could do with the WSM until I tried it. Keep asking questions and keep pushing your limits.
 
I did a search and found this. You can use the hot sauce of your choice. My 10 year old grandson and I like it. He wants it with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks but I think it can be improved. I guess I'm a picky old fart.

I detailed the cook on the BBQ Forum here but didn't talk about the marinade. I would like it with more pepper and hot sauce but then my Grandson wouldn't eat it. This has mild heat.

That cook sure opened my mind about temp control on the WSM. The only other time I did Jerky was over a year ago and I did it on My Char Griller with the side firebox. That worked too but I enjoyed this cook more.
 
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Really glad to see this post. I have been thinking about doing jerky. Haven't done it in years since I used my Big Chief. In anticipation of doing "more" jerky I welded a set of tabs on my grill straps to accomodate a 3rd grate. Got thinking about remaking the Hover grill to fit the 19 as apposed to my 22, That would give me 4 levels of goodness. Could really load up then.
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I hope it helped. I like your hover grill idea. I tried the idea of threading the pieces on a metal skewer and hanging the pieces down through the top grate. I have no idea how much you can make that way. I had to watch the length of the pieces or they would have hit my foil covered clay saucer. I'm learning and I may explore the hover grill approach.
 
Really dig this post Lew. I have never made jerky before...But its on my "short" to do list. Will report back.
 
When I made jerky with the Big Chief I used to lay it on the racks and just let it go until it was dried and smoked. You could use the charcoal grate from an 18" kettle. They are 14" in diameter and are heavy enough to weld a leg type design so they could sit on the top rack. My guess would be you could get another 4 inches of clearance reaching up inside the dome. I don't use the Hover grill much but it did come in handy with the kettle when I was doing ribs.
 
Just watched a Youtube video where the guy hung his jerky using a paper clip for each piece and placing the pieces on each grill rail. Did he ever pack it in! Great idea. The only disposable would be the pack of paper clips. At that rate you could do an incredible amount of meat at one time.
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I saw that but I think the metal skewers are less labor intensive and I'll never want to do more than I can hang from 4 skewers. I did 2 lbs on one skewer with lots of room left over. I'm thinking about doing it without the water pan in place so I have more hanging distance. At those temps I don't see a problem. Anyone see a down side?
 
I tried my Hover grill earlier today and it fits inside the 18.5 when placed on the top grill. I also tried the lower rack inside the dome and it allows for more clearance so a lower rack for the 18.5 fitted with some legs would give the most clearance.
I have a turkey planned for this weekend, beer can style so no jerky experiments but next weekend I'm thinking it's time to do it again.
 
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