Steve Pitzer
New member
Hey gang...sort of a new member here. I've been lurking for quite a while and have really enjoyed all of the helpful information that you all have shared over the years. This place is such a terrific resource.
So, I got my WSM 18 not quite a year ago while living in Texas. I used it a few times to smoke whole chickens, chicken thighs, port tenderloins etc. Then we moved back home to Ohio just didn't have a lot of time to use it after we got back since we spent so much time out on Lake Erie this summer as well as a crazy work schedule (I'm an auctioneer).
I smoked a couple of pork loins as fall began to set it and they were outstanding. I found the recipies here in the pork recipies section. I had been wanting to do a pork butt for pulled pork for some time. This weekend was it.
I've been using an amazing rub for a while now and before we had a smoker, we actually used the rub along with the low and slow method in the oven. The butt turned out amazing so I knew if we put that beast on the smoker, it would be out of this world. So, I set the butt in a brine solution consisting of kosher salt, brown sugar, the dry rub mix I make and bay leaves. I let it sit in the brine for about 24 hours.
Yesterday morning was the day. I got up at 5am and had the coals fired up and ready to go by 5:30. Laid that beautiful butt on the grill and covered it up. Kept a close eye on the temp throughout the day. It held pretty well at about 230 but started to drop about mid day so I fired up a few more coals and stirred up what was already in the ring and that lasted for the rest of the day. Pulled the butt off the smoker at about 3:45pm at 200 degrees. I found we were out of plastic wrap so I used a 2 gallon zip lock bag to wrap it up. Then wrapped it in a towel and put it in a cooler since we were no where near ready for dinner.
At about 6:15, I pulled it out of the cooler and it was still about 175 degrees and steaming. Man, as I pulled that baby out, I felt like Ralphie Parkers old man on Thanskgiving day...eating pieces of bark as I went about pulling the pork. It was absolutely amazing. Perfect smoke ring, beautiful and tasty bark and the meat was moist and tender. Could not have asked for a better end product.
So, there you have it. A successful smoke thanks to all of you who have shared such great information. I have to admit, I was a bit obsessive about reading through hundreds of posts to make sure I had covered all of my bases. Now I'm so full of myself, I'm ready to add restaurantuer to my resume. LOL
Finally, I did keep a journal of the whole process so I had some references to how the process went along with some things that I would do a bit differently. Again, great suggestion by others on this forum.
So, I got my WSM 18 not quite a year ago while living in Texas. I used it a few times to smoke whole chickens, chicken thighs, port tenderloins etc. Then we moved back home to Ohio just didn't have a lot of time to use it after we got back since we spent so much time out on Lake Erie this summer as well as a crazy work schedule (I'm an auctioneer).
I smoked a couple of pork loins as fall began to set it and they were outstanding. I found the recipies here in the pork recipies section. I had been wanting to do a pork butt for pulled pork for some time. This weekend was it.
I've been using an amazing rub for a while now and before we had a smoker, we actually used the rub along with the low and slow method in the oven. The butt turned out amazing so I knew if we put that beast on the smoker, it would be out of this world. So, I set the butt in a brine solution consisting of kosher salt, brown sugar, the dry rub mix I make and bay leaves. I let it sit in the brine for about 24 hours.
Yesterday morning was the day. I got up at 5am and had the coals fired up and ready to go by 5:30. Laid that beautiful butt on the grill and covered it up. Kept a close eye on the temp throughout the day. It held pretty well at about 230 but started to drop about mid day so I fired up a few more coals and stirred up what was already in the ring and that lasted for the rest of the day. Pulled the butt off the smoker at about 3:45pm at 200 degrees. I found we were out of plastic wrap so I used a 2 gallon zip lock bag to wrap it up. Then wrapped it in a towel and put it in a cooler since we were no where near ready for dinner.
At about 6:15, I pulled it out of the cooler and it was still about 175 degrees and steaming. Man, as I pulled that baby out, I felt like Ralphie Parkers old man on Thanskgiving day...eating pieces of bark as I went about pulling the pork. It was absolutely amazing. Perfect smoke ring, beautiful and tasty bark and the meat was moist and tender. Could not have asked for a better end product.
So, there you have it. A successful smoke thanks to all of you who have shared such great information. I have to admit, I was a bit obsessive about reading through hundreds of posts to make sure I had covered all of my bases. Now I'm so full of myself, I'm ready to add restaurantuer to my resume. LOL
Finally, I did keep a journal of the whole process so I had some references to how the process went along with some things that I would do a bit differently. Again, great suggestion by others on this forum.
Last edited:
