Little help for a new guy (sorry, it's kinda long)

All great advice thus far. I'll only add that there's no need to inject a butt as they got enough natural food lube already built in, and watch the wind on your cooker. If it gets windy, make a makeshift wind block with plywood or cardboard or whatever and that'll greatly help keep your temps stable and not allow wind to rob you of heat. Cook the butt till bone wiggles loose and you can stick a temp probe in it like a knife in warm butter. Have fun!
 
^ That was the only thing I was going to add, my brothers have it covered. A piece of plywood will help a lot -- just make sure you can wedge it between something heavy if the wind blows hard enough to knock it down. I used to use a two wheel dolly backwards to the wind for my COS and would fortify bracing with concrete blocks in harder winds. You're lucky you have a ECB instead of a COS for smoking in winter, mine was murder to get up to temp in winter, never mind maintain.

Here's a couple photos from an unseasonably mild but windy January 2012. The following spring I gave up the struggle and bought a kamado (which rocks for winter smoking!) I had a tent up because it was raining and I didn't want the heat I struggled so hard to create get used up making steam from the rain. Even modified COS smokers really suck in Canadian winters.





 
IlliniQ said:
Thanks for posting this - it seems I always find write-ups on modifying the brinkmann with the longer silver legs, but haven't seen anyone specifically showing what to do with the model I've got. This is awesome!
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Same Smoker - the longer Silver legs are a mod themselves. :thumb:
Wind will affect the Smoker more than cold - you can use a drum or trash can with the bottom cutout to go over n around LilBrinkmann for wind break, just weight it down
 
IlliniQ said:
Assuming I'm just smoking one piece of meat, does it matter if I use the top or bottom grate? I'm assuming the bottom grate will be easier to keep warm on a cold day, but wasn't sure if there was a preferred location in the smoker.
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The top grate is easier IMHO. The lower grate you have to tip the grate to get it past the top grate leg locations.
Once you have a proper coal basket, air control you should not have a problem cooking at any temp. I used mine ( master forge model) year round and never had a problem. I finally got some photos after getting it back from being on loan. It's on loan again :becky: I also made a expanded metal ring I would put on the second rack to hold coals for searing steaks and burgers.
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Welcome, IQ!

The only thing I can add to all the great advice is to use lump charcoal (or natural briquets) instead of the "usual" charcoal (Kingsford, etc). You'll have A TON less ash (and none of the off-flavors some can detect) to deal with.

Good luck and enjoy! (and diligently search Craigslist for a used WSM!). :wink:
 
Hasn't stopped snowing all day... So I'm holding off til Saturday. I don't mind the cold, but I don't have anything to keep the falling snow off the smoker, and I think it would be too frustrating to do my first smoke in a snow storm. Will definitely post updates on Saturday though.

(In the meantime, making pork/steak/sausage chili in the house today to hold me over...)
 
JCQuick said:
here I am complaining that its raining and high 60s here
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Haha - yeah, I think I'd take that about now. It's about 21 degrees here, and I've already run the snowblower twice (which turned me into a snowman from all the wind).

Things are supposed to calm down by the weekend here, though, so I should have temps in the upper 20s and low 30s with no more snow by Saturday. Just gotta get through two days of work and then get ready for a full day of smoking on Saturday.

Your butt is looking great, by the way, JCQuick - been following your thread, and it's making me hungry!
 
Since everyone was so quick with the replies and so helpful, I feel bad not having any delicious pork photos to share since it's been snowing for almost 24 hours here.

So, while I was out picking up a few things for my postponed first smoke (got the s-rings and extra grate to keep my charcoal off the bottom of the coal pan - and already had two bags of royal oak lump charcoal), I had some chili going in the slow cooker.

It was a mix of cubed country style pork "ribs," chunks of sandwich-sliced ribeye and a pound of jimmy dean pork sausage. And it was good! Since I have no smoker photos to share, thought I'd give you all a little something to look at until I get my pork going this weekend...

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Looks fantastic! Welcome to the forum. :thumb:
 
Okay, apparently we've got a 70% chance of intermittent snow tomorrow, but this butt isn't gonna last in my fridge forever, so I'm going to take my chances with the weather and go for it starting early tomorrow morning.

I do have one more question for you guys. What is the best way to go about extinguishing the coals in my ECB. I tried searching the forum a bit, and the consensus seems to be to close up all the vents and the fire goes out. However, I haven't modded it to have any adjustable dampers/vents yet, so I'm not really sure how I can seal it up.

On the other hand, I've got a foot of snow I can toss on the coals when I'm done. I'm not super comfortable with just letting it burn out since it's going to be sitting near my garage (made of wood), and with the weather turning ugly and windy late tomorrow, I don't want to risk waking up to the sound of my car exploding (somewhat joking, but still, probably shouldn't leave it burning unattended).

Should I douse it with water or snow? Is there another way to snuff out the coals on the ECB?

Thanks for all your help so far - I'm really excited to get cooking tomorrow, and I wouldn't be ready to do it without all the friendly advice I've received from all of you!

(PS - there will be pictures of my efforts whether it's a success or a failure...)
 
I wouldn't douse with water or snow. Just let them burn out. If you close the vents as much as possible, they will just slow burn. Or you could relocate your smoker to a safer place once you take the meat off. If you're really worried, just shovel snow up around the sides to protect what you want protecting. It's gonna be plenty cold tomorrow still.

When you're cooking, just be patient. Resist the urge to pull too early where not all the pork is done. It's probing easy in place, but not all over, kind of thing. When it's all ready, it's all ready. And, if you're done with the weather, you've had it, the coals are cashed and the butts not ready, just wrap it in foil, put it on a lipped plan and put in the oven to finish it at 275.

And post during the day while you're cooking, or if you have questions. Someone will be bound to answer while your are cooking.

Good luck! :thumb:

oh, and we like action pics!
 
I agree that you can wrap it when you hit the stall or just when your coal are giving up. At that point the meat won't be taking on anymore smoke anyway. You'll get the same end result. Good luck and have fun brother.
 
Relocating the cooker to burn out somewhere safe is a good idea. Or, once relocated, you could still dump the pan of coals on the snow and cover with shovels of snow until you're happy. Most important to me is that you don't lose sleep or peace of mind from worrying about them, if that means extinguishing them in snow, so be it. Last winter I heard about a fire on the news, don't remember if it was just the garage, the house or both that went up in flames. Was around Christmas or New Years Day, too. They had fireplace embers in an open ash pail, I think they left them to sit on the porch or something. The wind blew them and started the fire. You just never know what bad situation is lurking around for the right combination of bad luck. Before hearing about that story I didn't think leaving ashes outside were so dangerous, though, mind you, I would have had mine covered, never open. Having the benefit of hearing that story now, I am more anal about things like that. Doesn't hurt to do more than you need to in this case.
 
If your smoker is sealed up pretty good, shutting down the intakes and exhaust should have the temps coming down in 30 minutes and cool enough to touch in 1 hr. At least that is my experience with my smokers. Even running at 700 degrees they shut down quick. No air, no burn. It takes oxygen to have fire/heat. If you haven't sealed it yet, you could put foil under the lid and that might seal that up when you push the lid down.
 
Finally got things going, and wanted to be sure to fulfill the request for some action shots.

It's a balmy 21 degrees here, and the winds are blowing about 15mph. I ended up clearing out a little spot on my patio that is blocked on two sides by the house to deal with the winds. Assuming I don't fill up the house with too much smoke, this should work out okay I hope.

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I got the coals started without too much difficulty, and had no trouble getting up to temp. In fact, I was getting worried I would overshoot, but it settled in pretty steady.

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Started with a 7 lb shoulder, bone-in

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Coated it in yellow mustard, and mixed up a rub of brown sugar, BBQ 3000 and Chesapeake Bay Seasoning. I also added about a tablespoon of ground coffee to the mix as I really like the way coffee works with smoked/grilled meats.

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It's been on since about 5:45 central time, hoping for the best. Also hoping I don't have to attempt to move it, but not sure the wife is gonna be crazy about the smoke smell so close to the house...
 
If she likes BBQ, she will love the smell. I never thought to use ground coffee in a rub, I have used brewed coffee in jerky marinade and liked it. I will try some in a rub. I love new ideas! I hope your shoulder comes out awesome! BTW, my spousal unit loves the way I smell when I have been out smoking, they should bottle that scent.
 
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