where is my smoke ring?


 
B

Bryan Hughes

New member
i have recently purchased a 22.5" WSM. i have used it twice now and i love the simplicity of operation, but i'm missing the deep smokey flavor and smoke ring i use to get from my offset. i put 6 tennis ball sized chunks in the first smoke. i used almost 10 tennis ball sized chunks on the second smoke and still no smoke ring to write home about. what am i doing wrong?
 
Possibly nothing. (The smoke ring has nothing to do with smoke flavor, btw.)

Are you putting the meat in cold or letting it warm to room temp first?

Is the wood old?

What kind of meat? Are you applying anything to the meat (other than rub) before cooking?
 
i did spare ribs, brisket and turkey legs the first smoke. the second go, i did spare ribs and chuck roast. just my usual rub. the wood is not old. i put the meat in cold the first smoke and around room temp on the second smoke. noticed the ring was deeper the first time around, but even at that it was only an eighth of an inch or less. i'm new to the WSM, not bbq cooking. i understand smoke ring doesn't equal smoke flavor, but the smoke FLAVOR was not there either. i like a fairly deep smoke ring for appearance purposes. i have operated it as suggested by others here and from other bbq forums.
 
I too am a fan of smoke rings.

It's hard to say what's happening. I use much, much less wood than you do (about 1.5 fist-sized chunks cut down to 8 or nine pieces as I dislike cooking in the WSM with large chunks) and get very good rings and good flavor.

Loading the meat in cold will help with ring development. Ring development stops when the meat warms. Ring development is a chemical reaction. The right volatiles need to be in the smoke. I'd try different wood and see what happens.

If you're not getting the flavor you want from that much wood my first suggestion, here as well, would be to try different wood. What kind are you using now? Are you pre-buring it at all before it goes into the smoker or...?
 
i'm not preburning the wood. i think i'm gonna give it another go this afternoon. i'm using the same wood the i use to use in my offset smoker. today i think i'm gonna try some peach wood and see what happens. on the offset i would always run the exhaust full open. i was wondering if i should choke down the exhaust to no more than 50% closed. i do have some leaks around the door and lid. could it be that the smoke is traveling around the water pan and out the exhaust an not completely filling the cooking section?
 
I have leaks at the door and lid. Shouldn't matter. You should not need to fill the cooker with smoke either - though you can try that; the meat needs only to be in the smoke draft.
 
so, you are suggesting that i not put the meat in the very center of the cooker on the bottom rack and closer to the center on the top rack?
 
Unless you're filling the cooker and/or needing to spread things out between two racks I see no need to use the lower rack at all. Put the meat on the top rack. I think you'll find that helps.
 
well, i started my 3rd go at it. i've got 2 racks of spares and 2 chuck roasts on. i couldn't fit all of it on the top rack, so i have the spares on the bottom rack in a rib rack and the chucks on the top rack. i didn't have time to get my peach wood cut up in to chunks, as this was a late start already. i went with mesquite today and we will see what happens. 3rd times a charm, hopefully.
 
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