WSM and short cooks (under 2 hours)


 
RichieNJ

RichieNJ

TVWBB Fan
Hi all

So I'm on my 4th cook with my new 18.5" Weber Smokey Mountain and I can not believe what amazing food this thing puts out. I can't get over it and look forward to the next time it gets used (weekends only at the moment). Anyway, I'm curious and wanted some other peoples thoughts. Is it possible to do short cooks on this thing or does everything generally take 3+ hours. Forgive if it's a silly question. I've done so far: Ribs, sausage, chicken quarters, wings and thighs with awesome results but it's taken a few hours for each. Can you smoke burgers, steak and food like that on it? Or I guess what I'm asking is can you put out quality food in under 2 hours and if so, what? I would rather not cook directly over the charcoals and prefer using the water pan (even if it's just foiled) with the 2 racks. I appreciate the input.
Ultimately i would love to use it more often but many times I'm a little pressed for time. Weekdays specifically.

Thanks
Richie
 
Certain things shouldn't be cooked low and slow in my opinion....burgers and steaks are two of those things. Fast and hot are the way to go....as far as anything else goes, i have no clue because for faster cooks i a musing my kettle instead of the WSM
 
Chicken can be done under 2 hours on the smoker. All other BBQ items will need more time.
All other items you asked I would do them hot and fast on a gas grill. You can always add wood chips on your gas grill also.
 
You can remove the water pan and use either the upper or lower grate for indirect char-grilled flavor. Chops are great that way, so are burgers, boneless country style ribs from the loin and thin cut pork steaks.
A must do cook IMHO in under 2 hrs is a meatloaf.http://virtualweberbullet.com/meatloaf.html

Tim
 
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Tim.. Thanks for the meatloaf suggestion and link to the super precise directions. The is definitely moving to the top of my list of things to cook on the WSM!!!
 
Thank you for all the suggestions. Meatloaf sounds like a great idea. As far as the others, I have my Genesis that I can use. :)
 
I have smoked stuffed burgers, pork loin, boneless skinless chicken breast (whine I was cooking ribs) and HH chicken several times. The pork loin I did at 250 for 2.5 or 3 hours and it came out very evenly cooked and juicy. Eventually I am going to try to reverse sear steaks in the WSM.
 
RichieNJ said:
Thank you for all the suggestions. Meatloaf sounds like a great idea. As far as the others, I have my Genesis that I can use. :)
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You will definitely not be disappointed with the smoked meatloaf. If you like meatloaf, you wont want it any other way after that.
 
RichieNJ said:
As far as the others, I have my Genesis that I can use. :)
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Richie, with all due respect the WSM adds that little sumpin-sumpin that a gasser can't match IMHO.
And yea it's convenient to go outside and turn a knob and push a button, but in the time you do that and preheat it in cold weather, you can also have a chimney of hot coals ready to go.:wsm:

Tim
 
timothy said:
Richie, with all due respect the WSM adds that little sumpin-sumpin that a gasser can't match IMHO.
And yea it's convenient to go outside and turn a knob and push a button, but in the time you do that and preheat it in cold weather, you can also have a chimney of hot coals ready to go.:wsm:


Tim
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Oh I agree. My thing is that during the week I haven't much time for cooks that go over 2 hours really (which is really what the WSM is all about) In times like this my best net would be my gas grill.
 
Well we do use what tools we have.:) I have a gasser (not a Weber) which I haven't used since 06 when I bought my OTG. In 08 I got the 18.5" WSM and started using that much more than the OTG just because it was another tool to play around with.
Seriously, grill times are not that much different than using a gasser or a kettle if you remove the pan and use the lower grate. The only downside is ease of flipping and rotating the meat cause you have to reach down there to get it. On the plus side, you're higher than the flames, which results in less fussing about over charred meat, which IMO gives you more time to have a cold one.:)

Tim
 
My girlfriend *loves* smoked petite sirloins. If I have the smoker running during the day, I'll toss some steaks on the smoker for 30-45 minutes then finish them with a sear on the kettle. If you're just firing the WSM, you could try taking the middle section off and putting the top grate directly over the coals to do the finishing sear.
 
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