Daddy got a new smoker!

strider

Erik Tracy wrote: »

Thanks.

I've been using amazingribs.com as my 'go to' source for quite awhile now, but am new to the WSM so getting up to speed on tips and advice.

First thing I'm going to do is the door mod with some gasket tape.

The family is asking for burgers this weekend so I'm probably going to break down the barrel section and go for the easy setup to 'grill'.

As far as true smokin' q....that'll probably be next weekend and I'll go for some pork butt/shoulder for pulled pork.

In hindsight, you may have been the person that turned me onto that site.

I bought a gasket kit off of Amazon for mine. Had enough material to do the door as well as the top of the barrel. Really helps keeping the smoke and the heat in. Otherwise mine's stock.

Erik Tracy

strider wrote: »

Erik Tracy wrote: »

Thanks.

I've been using amazingribs.com as my 'go to' source for quite awhile now, but am new to the WSM so getting up to speed on tips and advice.

First thing I'm going to do is the door mod with some gasket tape.

The family is asking for burgers this weekend so I'm probably going to break down the barrel section and go for the easy setup to 'grill'.

As far as true smokin' q....that'll probably be next weekend and I'll go for some pork butt/shoulder for pulled pork.

In hindsight, you may have been the person that turned me onto that site.

I bought a gasket kit off of Amazon for mine. Had enough material to do the door as well as the top of the barrel. Really helps keeping the smoke and the heat in. Otherwise mine's stock.

What gasket kit did you get off of Amazon?

The one thing I would fault with the WSM is the door seal - as the soft aluminum deforms easily and doesn't have a tight seal.

For this weekend, I'm going for a quick-n-dirty 'fix' and use some left over automotive aluminum tape around the door to seal it up.

Erik Tracy

aprazer402 wrote: »

Nice looking cooker Erik, congrats. We've seen your previous excellent meals many times. Give us a quick review after you've used it a few times. I like the compact vertical design, takes up less space to store it. It looks like it's comparable to the old Brinkmann Water Smoker.

Thanks for the kind words.

I wanted to up my 'q and go with a smoker that's gotten some good reviews and actual competition results - the WSM seemed like a good fit for my needs.

But - I also wanted to be able to grill on charcoal as well when the mood hits me.

So, at first I was considering the Weber classic kettle grill as there is a wealth of info, tips, and mods for that as well to do smoking.

For me the priority was smoking first, then grilling - so WSM.

Now, I'll break my review into two parts for grilling and bbq'ing/smoking.

And I'm flipping the order to actually start with grilling.

When grilling, you can break down the WSM by removing the middle drum section and place the top grilling grate directly on top of the charcoal fuel ring in the bottom, put the rounded lid on top and...BINGO...you have a mini-Weber Kettle for grilling.

Pros:
* can be set up just like a Weber Kettle for super hot and fast grilling with charcoal
* good temp control with the bottom vents in the base and the single vent in the lid
* yummy grilling flavors using charcoal


Cons:
* low to the ground - you will need to crouch or find a low stool to be at grill level
* The lid thermometer only goes up to 350F (the WSM is a smoker by design, not a high temp grill), so when 'fired up' the thermometer pegs out past 350F, so you really don't know what the temp is.
* The lid does not have a lip to seal to the base section like a Weber Kettle does, so you have to set the lid gently on the base.
* The handle on the lid will get too hot to touch after time because of its close proximity to the coals...ouch...I actually dropped the lid not realizing how hot the material can get. But this was after a couple of hours after cooking when shutting the rig down for the night.

The Pro results outweigh the Cons - the pork chops and burgers I did over the weekend were stellar!

Other comments:
I bought a charcoal chimney for starting Kingsford coal -which is very efficient and avoids using nasty lighter fluid to ruin the taste of your food when cooking. BUT - the chimney gets super hot as the coals turn grey for a full light.

So you need a proper spot to place the chimney. My first light was on my DG (decomposed granite) 'dirt' backyard and even that got burnt/discolored because of the heat. You need a spot that you don't mind getting discolored from the heat of the chimney. Maybe left over house tile, or even a garden stepping stone.

As with other grills or smokers - you need a splat mat to protect your patio from grease dripping, etc, but also because the base sits so close to the ground, it is a good idea, imho, to have extra protection against hea/discoloration on your patio.

The WSM does not come with any shelf space - so plan accordingly for an extra table space or close proximity to a patio table to put your plates, tongs, cooking spray, sauce, etc.

Also be prepared to wait until your coals burn out before the WSM is cool enough to put the cover on.

If the weather forecast is for rain or snow...you may be staying downstairs for awhile...I had the lid off and it still took a long time for the WSM to get cool enough for me to put the cover on.

And, speaking of the cover....it fits like a tight condom....hey, that's the best analogy I could think of, so it takes a bit of time to pull it over the top and down to the base.

More next weekend after my first smoke.

strider

Erik Tracy wrote: »

What gasket kit did you get off of Amazon?

The one thing I would fault with the WSM is the door seal - as the soft aluminum deforms easily and doesn't have a tight seal.

For this weekend, I'm going for a quick-n-dirty 'fix' and use some left over automotive aluminum tape around the door to seal it up.

I believe it was this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CI6WFCU?keywords=webers smokey mountain&qid=1444692915&ref_=sr_1_13&sr=8-13

Received it as a present.

tophatjohnny

Love that!! Congrats

Erik Tracy

Doing two picnic 'butts' now on the smoker



Results/Review later....but is sure smells good about now!

tonyb

Sweet man, your making me hungry. BTW....frickin' nice view you have there, where you located bro ?

thsmith

You did right getting the digital Thermometers, The analog dial guages are usually way off. My weber was off 50 degrees. I use it in the oven and you would be surprised how far those are off as well.

Happy smoking!

My favorited pulled pork recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/smoked-pork-butt-kyle-style-recipe.html

Erik Tracy

The pork b*tts turned out pretty good.

Ran into the 'stall' when the meat reached internal temp of 160F and the cook time just...went...on...forever.

In the past, I've wrapped the meat and tweak up the heat to push past the stall. But the family was getting hungry, the smoker was on its 7th hour and the temp was dipping down, so I pulled the meat and went to the oven after wrapping it.

Sometimes this happens.

Still, the seasoning profile and the bark/smoke taste were really good.

If I had to critique the results - coulda been a tad moister and just a bit more tender.

I need to log more time with the smoker so that we can get on 'good terms' with one another.

@tonyb - thanks for the kind words. The view is awesome from my backyard -which faces onto the open space preserve behind my house run by a joint venture by the city & county of San Diego.

Sunsets and sunrises can be spectacular

voltz

Pork b*TTs always stall. normally mine take 10-11 hours to complete after3-4 hours of stall.

For that long I just normally fill the bottom full of unlit charcoal and put like 20-30 hot ones on top and keep the 3 bottom vents just barely open, sometimes the temp creeps up toward 260+ but I can starve it for air a little bit to bring temp back down.

adding 4 oz of wood every 30 minutes for first 2 hours.

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/perfect_pulled_pork.html

Erik Tracy

voltz wrote: »

Pork b*TTs always stall. normally mine take 10-11 hours to complete after3-4 hours of stall.

For that long I just normally fill the bottom full of unlit charcoal and put like 20-30 hot ones on top and keep the 3 bottom vents just barely open, sometimes the temp creeps up toward 260+ but I can starve it for air a little bit to bring temp back down.

adding 4 oz of wood every 30 minutes for first 2 hours.

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/perfect_pulled_pork.html

How big of a b*tt do you drop on with a cook time of 13+hrs?

I had 2 pieces, one was 3.25 and the other was about 4. I was clocking in at 8hrs and still not exactly where I wanted to be for internal temp of 203F.

I never had a b*tt stall for that long.

voltz

Oops I meant 10-11 total time - but that stall seem long like 3-4 but doesn't add to the time. think I had a whole bone in shoulder = B*tt & Picnic at around 19# total divide the 2 with one on each rack.