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New Weber Smokey Mountain... Suggestions?!!!!

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MrDsmoker

Knows what a fatty is.
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This past Sunday was my first Father's Day and wife decided to treat me to a new weber smokey mountain. I have been cooking on the kettle for a while. Unfortunately when I put the whole thing together I discovered that the top grate was the wrong size. I called weber and they are sending me the right sized top grate for the 18 1/2 WSM. With all the experience on this site I would like suggestions for seasoning my smoker and what I should cook on it first. Also if any one has any ideas, advice, or useful information about this particular cooker let me know! Happy grilling guys/gals.
 
Season it by cooking a pork butt and multiple racks of ribs......and maybe a chicken. They don't need seasoning. :becky:
 
from my experience, since the weber is porcelain coated you don't really need to season it like other steel smokers. i.e. rubbing oil on the inside and doing a good burn. When i got my WSM, I did a test burn so i could see how it worked and how well i could manage temps. But i didn't oil or cook anything.
 
MrDsmoker said:
This past Sunday was my first Father's Day and wife decided to treat me to a new weber smokey mountain. I have been cooking on the kettle for a while. Unfortunately when I put the whole thing together I discovered that the top grate was the wrong size. I called weber and they are sending me the right sized top grate for the 18 1/2 WSM. With all the experience on this site I would like suggestions for seasoning my smoker and what I should cook on it first. Also if any one has any ideas, advice, or useful information about this particular cooker let me know! Happy grilling guys/gals.
Click to expand...

This site will give you all of the information you will ever need, and then some:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html
 
I agree with the fatty as the first cook. Since you will be loading it up with charcoal, make the most of it and toss in a butt. Use some chunks and go with the Minion start up. Lot like a kettle. Top vent open and bottom vents are usually 1/2 -3/4 open to achieve the temp you want. Congrats on the first Father's Day and the WSM!
 
i got one 3 years ago and was careful about it. the instructions did say to do a test burn without food. i did do a test burn but i threw a few hot dogs on just for the hell of it. honestly, for a first cook i would recommend chicken, it only takes a few hours, it tastes good, and you won't be out much money if you screw it up! you made a good purchase though, i love mine. my biggest cook with it was for a party with about 60 people and i cooked 5 pork shoulders at once. the meat came out great and once you get used to it you'll find that this unit is pretty easy to regulate and cooks some solid food
 
I have 3 wsm's that i bought new, i just go ahead and cook, they run real well right from new. Ribs usually hit my cookers first.
 
Kyle Serlington said:
i got one 3 years ago and was careful about it. the instructions did say to do a test burn without food. i did do a test burn but i threw a few hot dogs on just for the hell of it. honestly, for a first cook i would recommend chicken, it only takes a few hours, it tastes good, and you won't be out much money if you screw it up! you made a good purchase though, i love mine. my biggest cook with it was for a party with about 60 people and i cooked 5 pork shoulders at once. the meat came out great and once you get used to it you'll find that this unit is pretty easy to regulate and cooks some solid food
Click to expand...

I agree completely on the chicken, biggest reason is the shiny new interior is going to give a really hot cook and lots of radiant heat like the inside of a shiny freshly cleaned oven. Perfect for chicken hot and fast.

Mine settled down after three or four cooks and I used an aluminum foil gasket around the door for awhile. Now I don't need it and it's really stable.
 
I've never bought a new WSM, so I don't know if there is any manufacturing residue you need to worry about. I'd wash it first, then fire it up Minion Method and cook a butt and a fatty.

The WSM is a pretty well designed machine, and you don't need all kinds of gadgets to get it to cook for 10 hours or more. The key is to learn how it works.

You'll get a little smoke leaking from the door and from under the lid, and that's OK. As long as you shut all of the vents and the fire goes out you're golden. Don't go making or buying gaskets if you don't need to. Sometimes in shipping they get knocked out of round. A couple loving squeezes usually fixes that.

Some folks say the factory thermo is off by as much as 30 degrees. Watch for that too.

Enjoy the WSM, and Happy Fathers Day.
 
I just got a WSM for father's day myself. I decided to do a brisket on mine over the weekend.
Here are my threads:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191184
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191349

Happy smoking brother, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

P.S. My center section/lid/base were all SLIGHTLY out of round (~1/4"). At first the lid wouldn't fit on in any position, so I took a tape measure and made slight tweaks by gently squeezing in the oblong sides to make it concentric. Fits perfectly now in any orientation. Took me all of 5 mins.
 
bshm said:
I agree completely on the chicken, biggest reason is the shiny new interior is going to give a really hot cook and lots of radiant heat like the inside of a shiny freshly cleaned oven. Perfect for chicken hot and fast.

Mine settled down after three or four cooks and I used an aluminum foil gasket around the door for awhile. Now I don't need it and it's really stable.
Click to expand...

Great advise as well as the others. It will want to run hot for the first 4-5 cooks till it gets seasoned up as it seals the small leaks. Only problems I have now is I never clean it good and I can't get over 300 now!! Haha,....I can't get my charcoal door open.:icon_smile_tongue:
 
BBQchef33 said:
So will this one.

:doh::boink:
:cool:
Click to expand...

Did not intend to imply otherwise, nor did I intend to touch a nerve. This site addresses WSMs along with many more topics. The site I pointed out is WSM specific which addressed the question that was asked.
 
fnbish said:
Season it by cooking a pork butt and multiple racks of ribs......and maybe a chicken. They don't need seasoning. :becky:
Click to expand...

They don't need seasoning, but they need a burn out. They smell nasty new and everything is coated with machine oil or something.

Run a load of charcoal nice and hot--leave all the vents wide open. If you want to season it before a "real" cook (I did), load it up with cheap bacon and do another fire wide open with lots of wood chunks so it gets really smoky. Leave the water bowl out so the grease drips into the fire. That will make a nice gunky mess all over the inside of the cooker, which is what you want. Then she's ready to go for real food.
 
Wash the grates with peanut oil. Fire up the device to 350 degrees for one hour and the grates will be seasoned.
 
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