John C in Vegas
New member
(I have pictures, but am not allowed to post them.
)
I'm an avid, amateur astronomer. In astronomy forums when we "Light" a new scope, a "First Light" report is expected. So, I figured I'd better do the same with my new WSM 18.5 smoker.
I am about the biggest rookie ever to come along and really appreciate all the advice I've found here. New terms like "stall", fattie (learned that one this morning), 3-2-1, and so forth have entered my head since buying my first smoker last week.
Now that Fall is here, the desert temps around 11:00 this morning had settled into a seasonal 105[SUP]o[/SUP], and the Sun was shining bright in a cloudless sky. I decided to place the smoker where the maximum sunlight could affect the grill.
I filled the charcoal ring about three-quarter full and lit it with the large Weber chimney filled with Kingsford BB using the modified Minion method. Four medium-sized apple wood chips rounded out that mix.
I had an air probe clipped on the top grill to learn the magic of controlling the cooking temperatures... 225[SUP]o[/SUP] being today's goal.
I put almost two gallons of hot, tap water in the pan and opened all the vents. "Zoom", said the temp gauge almost immediately after installing the lid... hitting 290[SUP]o[/SUP] almost instantly. I closed all except one vent that I left about a pencil-width open, and the temps began a slow crawl down to my target range. An hour later, the temp had settled out around 235[SUP]o[/SUP] and the smoke coming out of the now-slightly opened cover-vent had turned to a faint, whitish color.
It wasn't my initial intention to put anything on the grill during its first light. I just wanted to see how difficult temp adjustments were gonna be. However, earlier in the morning I had researched one of my new words, "fattie", so I cleaned the top grill beforehand to give it whirl. I threw together my first "fattie" with some Jimmy Dean hot sausage, some rub, and a little bit of Harvana cheese that was in the fridge. That's when I discovered the most difficult bit of macrame ever invented... bacon weaving.
I threw the concoction on the top grate and stuck my newly acquired probe in the middle to let it cook. With high & low alarms set at 225 & 275[SUP]o[/SUP]. A westerly wind (~10 mph) came up during the two-hour cook, and I ended up closing the two windward vents while leaving the downwind vent open about a quarter of an inch... with the top vent at about half open. I can't say enough about the convenience of having the alarms go off when the smoker was heading up, giving me plenty of adjustment time.
When the internal probe read 165[SUP]o[/SUP], I took my first peek.
The bacon wrap was done, but not overly crisp. So I opened every vent and let the jet engine scream... pulling my creation off after about fifteen minutes.
After a short rest in the kitchen, I cut her open. Everything was just where I put it.
The flavor was good, but it was more smoky tasting that I expected. (Note to self: four apple wood chunks are too much for a fattie.)
I closed all the vents to let the smoker begin a rather long cool-down process overnight... clean-up is this morning.
Lessons learned...
The WSM is not all that difficult to control, temperature-wise, as long as one monitors the temps with a good thermometer and follows the lead of the many folks here on the forum.
Opening all the vents during initial fire-up is not necessary.
Bacon-weaving is the most difficult art form on earth.
Sorry for the lengthy post. I guess I'll be able to post pictures after I've been around a while, and my reports will not be so wordy.
Thanks for tuning in.
)I'm an avid, amateur astronomer. In astronomy forums when we "Light" a new scope, a "First Light" report is expected. So, I figured I'd better do the same with my new WSM 18.5 smoker.
I am about the biggest rookie ever to come along and really appreciate all the advice I've found here. New terms like "stall", fattie (learned that one this morning), 3-2-1, and so forth have entered my head since buying my first smoker last week.
Now that Fall is here, the desert temps around 11:00 this morning had settled into a seasonal 105[SUP]o[/SUP], and the Sun was shining bright in a cloudless sky. I decided to place the smoker where the maximum sunlight could affect the grill.
I filled the charcoal ring about three-quarter full and lit it with the large Weber chimney filled with Kingsford BB using the modified Minion method. Four medium-sized apple wood chips rounded out that mix.
I had an air probe clipped on the top grill to learn the magic of controlling the cooking temperatures... 225[SUP]o[/SUP] being today's goal.
I put almost two gallons of hot, tap water in the pan and opened all the vents. "Zoom", said the temp gauge almost immediately after installing the lid... hitting 290[SUP]o[/SUP] almost instantly. I closed all except one vent that I left about a pencil-width open, and the temps began a slow crawl down to my target range. An hour later, the temp had settled out around 235[SUP]o[/SUP] and the smoke coming out of the now-slightly opened cover-vent had turned to a faint, whitish color.
It wasn't my initial intention to put anything on the grill during its first light. I just wanted to see how difficult temp adjustments were gonna be. However, earlier in the morning I had researched one of my new words, "fattie", so I cleaned the top grill beforehand to give it whirl. I threw together my first "fattie" with some Jimmy Dean hot sausage, some rub, and a little bit of Harvana cheese that was in the fridge. That's when I discovered the most difficult bit of macrame ever invented... bacon weaving.
I threw the concoction on the top grate and stuck my newly acquired probe in the middle to let it cook. With high & low alarms set at 225 & 275[SUP]o[/SUP]. A westerly wind (~10 mph) came up during the two-hour cook, and I ended up closing the two windward vents while leaving the downwind vent open about a quarter of an inch... with the top vent at about half open. I can't say enough about the convenience of having the alarms go off when the smoker was heading up, giving me plenty of adjustment time.
When the internal probe read 165[SUP]o[/SUP], I took my first peek.
The bacon wrap was done, but not overly crisp. So I opened every vent and let the jet engine scream... pulling my creation off after about fifteen minutes.After a short rest in the kitchen, I cut her open. Everything was just where I put it.
The flavor was good, but it was more smoky tasting that I expected. (Note to self: four apple wood chunks are too much for a fattie.)I closed all the vents to let the smoker begin a rather long cool-down process overnight... clean-up is this morning.
Lessons learned...
The WSM is not all that difficult to control, temperature-wise, as long as one monitors the temps with a good thermometer and follows the lead of the many folks here on the forum.
Opening all the vents during initial fire-up is not necessary.
Bacon-weaving is the most difficult art form on earth.
Sorry for the lengthy post. I guess I'll be able to post pictures after I've been around a while, and my reports will not be so wordy.
Thanks for tuning in.
