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So I got a WSM...


thunderlounge

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Nothing fancy. 225 for four+ hours. Brushed them with some vinegar/brown sugar about half way to keep them from drying out and then some bbq sauce w 30 min to go.

First time for a whole chicken. Came out good. Nice Smokey flavor and meat was moist and tender.

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If you brine any bird before smoking it will be nice and juicy. I have been accused of undercooking my turkey because "there's no way it can be this moist". Bullshit there isn't. 

Today is the first day to use B&B briquettes. Damn this sure seems to burn a lot cleaner than Kingsford. When I use the blue bag in my chimney starter, I smoke out the entire yard. These B&Bs are damn near burning clean in the starter. So far I am pleased. 

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2 hours ago, TornACL said:

If you brine any bird before smoking it will be nice and juicy. I have been accused of undercooking my turkey because "there's no way it can be this moist". Bullshit there isn't. 

Today is the first day to use B&B briquettes. Damn this sure seems to burn a lot cleaner than Kingsford. When I use the blue bag in my chimney starter, I smoke out the entire yard. These B&Bs are damn near burning clean in the starter. So far I am pleased. 

When the last of my Kingsford  is gone, I am going to give this a try.  Glad to know what reviews are saying are true based on your input.

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I've done a half dozen racks of spares recently, and I'm definitely coming around to the "pull 'em sooner" perspective.  Yesterday's were great, but they were DONE.  Like, almost black, as in brisket bark.  Small areas of the bark were hard, but most of it was fine.  The meat was fantastic.

This was ~ 5 hours, with the 18" WSM onboard thermometer climbing from ~ 200 F to ~ 250 F over the course of the cook.

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5 hours ago, pch said:

When the last of my Kingsford  is gone, I am going to give this a try.  Glad to know what reviews are saying are true based on your input.

Just as a quick follow up, I just finished up an 8 hour smoke on the WSM and 3/4 of the briquettes are still unburned. 

Seems if I did a full ring and chimney of B&B I could smoke for 30 hours without adding fuel. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

So I think I am going to take the plunge and get a dedicated smoker.  I have a kettle and slow n sear and just been using that to smoke a limited amount a meats the past few years.  It's been fine for my family because it's 3 small kids and they don't eat much, but I want to move up from A ball.  Don't know if I should get the 18 or 22.  Is the consensus just to get the 22' because bigger is better, or are there drawbacks other than extra 100 bucks?

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1 hour ago, Gene Parmesan said:

So I think I am going to take the plunge and get a dedicated smoker.  I have a kettle and slow n sear and just been using that to smoke a limited amount a meats the past few years.  It's been fine for my family because it's 3 small kids and they don't eat much, but I want to move up from A ball.  Don't know if I should get the 18 or 22.  Is the consensus just to get the 22' because bigger is better, or are there drawbacks other than extra 100 bucks?

Get the 22.  It's a little less fuel efficient, but you'll be glad you spent the extra money for the extra amount of space.  To that, I'd suggest adding the Cajun Bandit Door and an extra charcoal grate (18") to criss-cross so the coals don't fall down into the base quite as fast. 

Also, get a pair of clay pot bases.  14" and 12".  Wrap in foil and nest them inside the water pan.  Cover that with a couple of layers of heavy duty foil.  No need for water in the pan, and your heat sink will be a nonevaporating constant.

It's a little extra money up front (and you definitely can do these things in stages), but those upgrades are worth it in my opinion. 

Edited by dcbc
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8 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Get the 22.  It's a little less fuel efficient, but you'll be glad you spent the extra money for the extra amount of space.  To that, I'd suggest adding the Cajun Bandit Door and an extra charcoal grate (18") to criss-cross so the coals don't fall down into the base quite as fast. 

Also, get a pair of clay pot bases.  14" and 12".  Wrap in foil and nest them inside the water pan.  Cover that with a couple of layers of heavy duty foil.  No need for water in the pan, and your heat sink will be a nonevaporating constant.

It's a little extra money up front (and you definitely can do these things in stages), but those upgrades definitely are worth it. 

Yeah I was leaning towards the 22' but I didn't want to look like a goober smoking a single pork butt on it one weekend.  I guess I could keep using the kettle for small stuff.

Question on the water pan.  My knowledge of smoking is pretty much limited to how the slow n sear works, which needs the water to keep temps low, and supposedly the steam helps the smoke flavor adhere to the food.  Is that last park boloney?  What are the cons of sticking with water?

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1 hour ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Yeah I was leaning towards the 22' but I didn't want to look like a goober smoking a single pork butt on it one weekend.  I guess I could keep using the kettle for small stuff.

Question on the water pan.  My knowledge of smoking is pretty much limited to how the slow n sear works, which needs the water to keep temps low, and supposedly the steam helps the smoke flavor adhere to the food.  Is that last park boloney?  What are the cons of sticking with water?

The water is the heat sink.  Any moisture it may add in the cook, in my experience, is negligible to the quality of the end product.  It works fine as a heat sink if you replenish it as it evaporates.  If you don't, your heat sink (and your overall temperature) ends up being a moving target.  Since a lot of my cooks are overnight.  I prefer to not have to mess with the temperature swings resulting from a full water pan turning into a nearly empty one while I'm asleep.  If you want some water in the cooker, a little disposable pan on one of the racks works fine and is easier to top off than a heavily foiled pan the size of the one in the 22.5" WSM (it's big).  I don't bother with it and opt for an occasional spritz with ACV/Water in a spray bottle.

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1 hour ago, dcbc said:

The water is the heat sink.  Any moisture it may add in the cook, in my experience, is negligible to the quality of the end product.  It works fine as a heat sink if you replenish it as it evaporates.  If you don't, your heat sink (and your overall temperature) ends up being a moving target.  Since a lot of my cooks are overnight.  I prefer to not have to mess with the temperature swings resulting from a full water pan turning into a nearly empty one while I'm asleep.  If you want some water in the cooker, a little disposable pan on one of the racks works fine and is easier to top off than a heavily foiled pan the size of the one in the 22.5" WSM (it's big).  I don't bother with it and opt for an occasional spritz with ACV/Water in a spray bottle.

Thanks.  Do the clay bases work just as well as a heat sink in your experience?

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Another vote for the 22.5" WSM.  It may use more fuel than the 18, but IMHO the trade off of not having to trim the proteins to make them fit makes the extra charcoal expense a small price to pay.  Three full slabs of StL spares will fit perfectly across the top grate without trimming, as will all but the largest briskets.

I've never considered a fan system; the WSM is pretty much "set and forget" after the first few cooks.

Edited by Dutch
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Yeah that's the main reason I wanted the 22'.  I probably won't ever put a full load on there but I didn't want to have to trim everything up prior, plus probes and wanting room to maybe throw some jalapenos and what not at will while cooking.  I know my 22 kettle gets crammed fast but a good chunk of that real estate is taken up by the coals. 

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2 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Thanks.  Do the clay bases work just as well as a heat sink in your experience?

I think they work better.  I load mine up with charcoal and 3 fist size wood chunks, light about 20 coals in a chimney, dump them in the middle when they're white hot, assemble, and let it come up to temp.  Top vent always open; bottom vents open to start.  When it gets to about 225 on at the grate (ignore the lid thermometer), I close two of the bottom vents, and close the third one to "pencil width."  Cooker will run at 238F for as long as the fuel lasts (assuming no heavy wind).

For Turkey or Chicken, I take the clay pot bases out, run the bottom vents wide open, and it will run at 300 F.

Edited by dcbc
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Post above is dead on.

I bought an IQ110 fan system back when I bought my WSM 7yr ago. The fan system is still new in box in the garage somewhere, I never needed it. WSM is super stable (briquettes help with that, they're more consistent than lump, hence the stability.) I get a 10-20 degree drift over 5 hours if I don't make a tiny adjustment to the bottom vent.

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On 8/2/2020 at 10:22 AM, TornACL said:

Today is the first day to use B&B briquettes. Damn this sure seems to burn a lot cleaner than Kingsford. When I use the blue bag in my chimney starter, I smoke out the entire yard. These B&Bs are damn near burning clean in the starter. So far I am pleased. 

Switched over a year ago to B&B briquettes and never going back...but curious where you are finding it these days.

I haven’t actively been looking but I do glance at the bbq aisle everytime I go to academy since the pandemic started and don’t think I’ve seen the larger bags once. I see the smaller bags at heb from time to time and grab one when I can, but that’s been it.

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8 hours ago, UTexasFight said:

Switched over a year ago to B&B briquettes and never going back...but curious where you are finding it these days.

I haven’t actively been looking but I do glance at the bbq aisle everytime I go to academy since the pandemic started and don’t think I’ve seen the larger bags once. I see the smaller bags at heb from time to time and grab one when I can, but that’s been it.

Academy in FW seems to have nothing but the lump charcoal. Kroger has the small orange bags. Those have been the places that I have found it.

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I bought the 18 and for the most part I'm fine with it.  Bigger briskets and longer rib racks can be difficult to tuck in,  but I haven't had to cut any yet.

Question about the process:  I still get almost no smoke ring on anything I do in the WSM.  Is this because of the water, is it because of the wrong fuel, not enough fuel, what?  Flavor is always fantastic, but the look is "off", especially with brisket.  I've been doing minion method on original Kingsford along with chunks and chips of hickory.

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I am no scientist but in my experience I have gotten a decent smoke ring when I put way more wood in than recommended.  

But I don't give a fuck about a smoke ring. If I cook a brisket for guests and some doucher asks where is the smoke ring, I'll be happy to throw him out on my driveway on his ear. FOH.

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1 hour ago, TornACL said:

Academy in FW seems to have nothing but the lump charcoal. Kroger has the small orange bags. Those have been the places that I have found it.

Yep. This is the same in Austin.

lump only at academy. small bags at grocery stores.

I read a while back, among all of the pandemic supply chain disruptions, backyard grilling stuff was one area getting hit pretty hard, but still bizarre

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3 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I bought the 18 and for the most part I'm fine with it.  Bigger briskets and longer rib racks can be difficult to tuck in,  but I haven't had to cut any yet.

Question about the process:  I still get almost no smoke ring on anything I do in the WSM.  Is this because of the water, is it because of the wrong fuel, not enough fuel, what?  Flavor is always fantastic, but the look is "off", especially with brisket.  I've been doing minion method on original Kingsford along with chunks and chips of hickory.

JJ, I used to use water and more wood than I do now in my WSM.  Hardly ever had a smoke ring.  Now I use a mix of oak lump and briquettes (usually just whatever HEB brand is available) and get a smoke ring just about every time.  That wasn't something I was shooting for, but seems to be part of the result.  I run dry, clean, and on the high temp side at around 305F.

Take what you can use and leave the rest, as they say...

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3 hours ago, TornACL said:

I am no scientist but in my experience I have gotten a decent smoke ring when I put way more wood in than recommended.  

But I don't give a fuck about a smoke ring. If I cook a brisket for guests and some doucher asks where is the smoke ring, I'll be happy to throw him out on my driveway on his ear.

This right here. 

The fire in a WSM doesn’t “burn” the way a fire burns in a stick burner. It is more of a “smolder,” which typically releases less nitric oxide than a raging fire in an offset firebox, and less NO = less of a smoke ring. Usually. I’ll use 6-8 chunks to start and throw one on every two hours until it hits 140, and that often helps me get a bit better smoke ring.  You could also add a tsp or two of celery seed to your rub (naturally-occurring nitrates) to boost the smoke ring without affecting the flavor. 
 

The best-tasting and most tender briskets I’ve cooked have had little to no ring, so it’s all for show anyway. 

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12 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I bought the 18 and for the most part I'm fine with it.  Bigger briskets and longer rib racks can be difficult to tuck in,  but I haven't had to cut any yet.

Question about the process:  I still get almost no smoke ring on anything I do in the WSM.  Is this because of the water, is it because of the wrong fuel, not enough fuel, what?  Flavor is always fantastic, but the look is "off", especially with brisket.  I've been doing minion method on original Kingsford along with chunks and chips of hickory.

I don't get much of a smoke ring either.  Don't care.  Get lots of compliments and, personally, I think it tastes pretty damned good.  Most importantly, to me, the bark looks great. 

 

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Did another hot and fast brisket (with foil wrapping half way through). Based on earlier discussion in this thread, made a point this time to pay in the rub. Also was more mindful of trimming the fat cap. Once again the bark isn’t impressive (because I wrap in foil and flip it over with the fat side up for the last 1/2) but this really was one of the tastiest briskets that I have done and am very happy with the results from a 5 hour cook for an 11 lb (pre-trim) brisket.

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Some had mentioned above that they also do hot cooks but don’t wrap in foil. Im curious what you’re cooking at and roughly how long for those cooks (assuming an 11 lb brisket)

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