Yo! (from Philly)


 
C

ChadVKealey

TVWBB Pro
OK, just outside of Philly, but I work there, so it kind of counts. While I'm not new to grilling or smoking, I am a recent Weber convert. After fighting with a Char-Griller offset for about 9 years, I did a lot of research and bought a 18.5" WSM. This haas so far (after only 2 cooks) been my absolute best culinary investment. I got it two weeks ago tomorrow and cooked up a rack of baby backs, 3 whole chickens and done an overnight brisket. Everything came out fantastic and it was amazing to be able to get a few solid hours of sleep rather than continually feeding the firebox.

My next cook will be 20 pounds of boston butt for my son's 8th birthday party next Saturday. I'm planning to use Chris Lilly's injection & rub on it and start it between 10 and 11 Friday night. Very much looking forward to it and many more cooks with the WSM. I'm especially eager (well, more eager than usual) for Thanksgiving since I always smoke the turkey and some sweet potatoes. Not quite sure how that's going to work...maybe potatoes on the lower rack and turkey on top with a foil pan suspended under it to catch the drippings?

-Chad
 
welcome to the forum Chad

After fighting with a Char-Griller offset for about 9 years, I did a lot of research and bought a 18.5" WSM. I'm especially eager (well, more eager than usual)...
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9 years, huh? what took you sooo long? heck, after 9 years, i'd be more than eager to fire up my new WSM ;)

Glad you signed-up, you're gonna love that :wsm: more than you can imagine!
 
Welcome to the group Chad. Lots of holidays to get through before thanksgiving but it will get here soon enough.
 
I dunno...I guess I just thought I could win at some point. I mean, I turned out some decent stuff, but was often too tired to really enjoy it. After reading about the ease of overnight or all-day cooking with the WSM, I figured it was worth a shot and cheaper/easier than doing all of the modifications my Char-Griller would need to provide more consistent temps and better efficiency.

To me, the WSM is like the outdoor equivalent of the crockpot, which is my favorite indoor cooking appliance. I just love being able to put ingredients in, go about my business for the day (or night) and come back to amazing barbecue.

Of course, I'm a tinkerer at heart, so I've already added wheels to it and have thought about an ATC system, specifically the PartyQ or building my own (I work in IT and have many years experience in electro-mechanical repair).
 
welcome, and it sounds like you have a fun idea to try there - turkey on top grid, potatoes on the lower? certainly worth checking out, at least, and will likely be a new thanksgiving hit.

and you are dead on about the set it and forget it using a WSM - I 'assisted' a friend a few times with his big ol' offset smoker and thought all the fussing and adding coals and all was just way too much work, especially if you were trying to do low and slow.

we have done thanksgiving turkeys on a kettle, straight up roasting, for 30-odd years, no matter what the temps or weather, so your idea sounds worthwhile.
 
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