WSMs rule the cold!!!


 
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Dan Gilson

TVWBB Fan
Yesterday I cooked a couple pork butts for a church group that is meeting tonight. The forecast called for -25*f but it was closer to -40*f when I finally got everything going around noon.
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I knew it was going to be cold so I finally got around to making my smoker jacket out of welding blanket material and reflectix insulation on Saturday. I think I had a good concept for the jacket but poor planning made for a less than perfect product. I'll just call it my "prototype"!!
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Anyway, I filled the fire ring of the ol' WSM with Cowboy lump (it was the only lump I could find) and I threw in a few chunks of hickory smoke wood for good measure. I poured on a chimney full of lit cowboy and put the WSM together along with two butts about nine pounds each which had been coated with rub the night before. I hooked up the stoker, set the temp for 235, applied the prototype jacket and let it be for about 9 1/2 hours. I had a temp spike at the beginning but after a couple hours I found that that one of the vents was open about a 1/3. The temp was around 280 and I couldn't figure it out. I checked everything but the vents because I was sure that I had closed them. That'll teach me not to double check things!!
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I closed the vent and the temps settled down. About 9:30 pm I pulled the butts off, the bottom one was at 193 and the top one at 188. I placed them in a cooler and let them rest for about an hour. I pulled the meat and put it straight into the fridge. I think it all turned out well!!
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You can check out the pictures at http://usera.imagecave.com/3-Dogs_BBQ/Smokin_in_the_Cold/

I will let you all know tomorrow how it all came out!!
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Awesome!
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Pics look great! I've been in 10 below weather with some wind but I can't imagine what you guys go through.
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I thought electrons slowed to a crawl at -20º!
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Bill
 
You are an inspiration to all of us who will bbq in the winter. Really nice picture gallery.

I would really appreciate it if you would start another thread in the mods section about your prototype jacket. I'm most interested in the way the reflectix works and if it holds up to actually touching the wsm. Previous posts have said that it's only rated to (I think 200º), but it was a temp lower than the normal wsm cooking temp. Thanks.
 
Great job Dan! You're true all weather smoker. I loved the pics. I see you have a Stoker System. What's your opinion of it. I was looking into the BBQ Guru but ran across the Stoker the other night.

Is it worth the cost?

Thanks!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jonny K:
Great job Dan! You're true all weather smoker. I loved the pics. I see you have a Stoker System. What's your opinion of it. I was looking into the BBQ Guru but ran across the Stoker the other night.

Is it worth the cost?

Thanks! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think a Stoker or a Guru is certainly worth the cost when you're smoking and minus 40!
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Well, this is my first winter in ANY kind of cold, and Denver cannot hold a candle to North Pole Alaska. I have been hemming and hawing about doing a big smoke for my coworkers, but after seeing this, I have no excuses. Of course, I don't have one of those fancy-schmancy Stokers, but it only gets to about 10 overnight here lately.

Thanks for the inspiration
 
Everything went well, but did you expect anything different!?!
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All of the guys enjoyed the "Q" and what little that didn’t get eaten on site was quickly put into ziplock bags to be taken home. Luckily I was able to squirrel away a little to take home for my wife!!
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Thanks for all of the kind words. I think that you all would do the same if you found yourself living up here 'cause I know you all are just as passionate about your "Q" as I am!!
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I definitely think the stoker is worth the money. Not just for the cold weather stuff as I spend a lot of time cooking in the summer on multiple WSMs. The stoker gives me the flexibility to spend more time with the meat because I don't have to spend time fiddling with the cookers to get the temp just right.

The big problem that I had with the jacket was that I didn't buy enough of the welding blanket material. I can buy it by the yard at a local welding shop and I thought that three yards would be enough. I will pick up some more welding blanket material and take pictures of the process to post here. The jacket worked great and there was still charcoal left after 9 1/2 hours even though the jacket wasn't quite right.
 
Dan,

Great job there, always nice to here things turn out great especially under those conditions!!! As my 7 year old son would say "HOLY TO SMOKIES" that's cold!

I have a welding blanket as well that I have used on what few occasions it is needed, I think mine is 8' X 8' and I just drape it over the top not near as nice as what you have.

Thanks for sharing!!

Randy
 
And here I am whining about cooking in 30 degree weather... I'm a big girl!!

My hat's off to you! I no longer have an excuse to not cook when it's colder than hell outside!!

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I see you added an extension cord to let you keep the control box inside, and not have to go outside to check the temps. That's got to be a "must have" when it's that cold!
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Larry,

You are absolutely correct. That extension cable sure makes it nice!! I can stay inside where it is 70 and keep an eye on my food cooking outside where it is -35!!
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Dan way to go - I think I'll be getting the "Artic Blast" this weekend in Colorado (my forecast will be below 0.

I'll try and get some pics of my jacket out to you so you can see how I did it. I even have the reflectix on the dome. Think of 4 pope hat shaped panels that I taped together. Then I did the same with the welding blanket and stiched them together.

By the way - I know -40f is the same as -40c and it sucks big time - if it gets that cold, I'll be inside.

Mike
 
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