DavidPerts
New member
Just completed my first smoke on the WSM 22.5 over the weekend - 10lb Boston Butt (lower grate), 6lb brisket (upper grate). I filled the charcoal ring full and added 2 chunks each of apple and cherry wood. Used the minoin method with the Weber charcoal starter (must have). I filled the starter half way with charcoal and after 10 mins poured on the unlit. Now I am wondering if it was too much lit charcoal because the temp went up to 250 in about 10 minutes and i had to add more charcoal about 10 hours into the cook. I placed an oven thermometer on the top gril and inserted a remote thermometer into the pork. I reccomend getting a remote digital thermomenter (bedbathbeyond - $40) because I just sat on the couch and watched slowly as the cooking temp increased. I found that the oven temp guage read 15 degrees hotter then the built in dome temp guage. Not sure if this is because of the first cook or will be a recurring theme. I did cover the water pan in foil (must do for very easy cleanup after) and filled to the top with cold water. Now since I am a newbie I had to keep checking the oven temp and looking at the meats by lifting the lid prob 5 or 6 times which undoubtedly increased my cook time. I didnt have a guage on the briskett but after 10 hours took it off, wrapped in foil, and let sit for an hour. No injection was done but used a good brisket rub recipe found online. The pork was a little more quirky. The temp went to 163 and stayed there for about an hour or so. I decided to add more wood chunks to see if that would get it goin. Not sure if it did but the smell was awesome. Finally the guage started to move and I took the pork off with an internal temp of 190 degress and 12 hours cook time - had to add more charcoal. I went through a 20lb bag for this cook but again that may be because I used too much lit charcoal and lifted the lid too many times. Thoughts on this? Like the briskett I took the pork off, wrapped in foil, and let sit for 1 hour. The results were pretty damn amazing. I thought the briskett was a little too dry but that may because of the 10 hour cook time and no injection. I actually had to use two tongs to get the pork off the WSM as it was falling apart. Pork turned out as good as any restraunt in my opinion. Now I did have a question for the group: do I need to soak the wood chunks in water pros/cons?? Also, I must give credit to Weber for making such an ingenious smoker and total quality of materials used and being made in the good ole USA 
On other thing - I received my WSM Friday evening around 1900 and while assembling had a question what the bottom pan was used for under the smoker so I called Webber customer service. First thing was amazing that someone answered. Secondly, the lady answering the phone said she had a WSM 22.5 right in front of her !! Well being the homer that I am i didnt realize it was a heat shield and now can understand why that is needed as the smoker sits very low to the ground. Next up in the WSM is a turkey this weekend so anyone with tips on smoking that please let me know!
Regards,
David
On other thing - I received my WSM Friday evening around 1900 and while assembling had a question what the bottom pan was used for under the smoker so I called Webber customer service. First thing was amazing that someone answered. Secondly, the lady answering the phone said she had a WSM 22.5 right in front of her !! Well being the homer that I am i didnt realize it was a heat shield and now can understand why that is needed as the smoker sits very low to the ground. Next up in the WSM is a turkey this weekend so anyone with tips on smoking that please let me know!Regards,
David
