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more smoke in a WSM

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royfraz

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I am still pretty new with my WSM I love it and the way it keeps heat is frickin amazing. I was just curious when I've done briskets in it, I lack a smoke ring, should I put more wood chunks. I usually put 5 or 6 in when I do the minion method or should I try to find green wood, any suggestions would help thanks.
 
No green wood, it could leave a bad taste. I'm using a Pro Q which is similar to the WSM and have not been happy with the smoke. Find I am adding chunks throughout the cook. Have a turkey planned for Sunday and will see how that works out.
 
You should use the search function as there has been an extensive thread on this in the last week. One recommendation is to start with cold meat. Meat absorbs smoke up to about 140 degrees internal. The longer it takes to get there the better the chance for the ring. If you want to try artificial stimulants try tenderquick. It's a pickling product that supplies the nitrates or the nitrites or whatever the hell it is that makes the smoke ring. I've never used it so you'll either have to search here for how to use it or wait for someone else to jump in.
 
I cook on a uds mostly, and if i put the meat on before the drum is up to temp I get a better smoke ring. Colder meat helps too. I've tried extra wood and didn't like the taste. And NO green wood.
 
With more wood you are more likely to just over smoke your meat. Does your meat taste of smoke? Does it have the level of smoke flavor you desire? If it does and you add more wood you will more likely just have over smoked meat.

Are you looking for a smoke ring because you want one for appearance sake? If that's the case there are a variety of ways to give you a smoke ring without increasing the wood.
 
No green wood.:sick: Tastes nasty. I find if I add more chunks at the beginning of the cook I get the flavor I'm looking for. Experiment and you'll find what works best for you. Good luck!
 
Tenderquick is the trick. Sprinkle some tenderquick on your brisky, then drip some water on it and spread it around so that it is like a sticky paste on the brisket. Wrap it in saran wrap for about 10 minutes, then remove saran wrap and rinse it off. Then continue with your normal procedure of rubbing and cooking.
 
royfraz, what fuel are you using? Lump? Briq? That might make a difference. Some folks that use only lump with throw in a few briqs to help with smoke ring formation.

I agree with the cold meat. For bigger cuts like briskie and pork I'll throw cold meat on while the WSM is coming up to temp (with just a lump of two of smoke wood). Once temps have stabilized I add a few more wood chunks.

TQ works. My daughter did a science fair project on tenderquick and smoke ring formation...have a big bag of it laying around. Have yet to use it outside of her project.

Check out this thread:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65412
 
I learned a few tricks to getting optimal smoke ring on the WSM:

1. Start with cold meat.

2. No pan cooking, which I guess makes it an overpriced UDS; but the ribs and chicken coming out of my WSM with no pan is outrageous.

3. Layer your fuel. If using lump, throw a handful of briquettes on top of that too. I'm not a fan of the taste of briquettes on long cooks, but I've found that starting the cold meat with 40 lit briquettes on top of a handful of unlit ones gives me a good balance of healthy smoke ring without the briquette flavor I don't like.

4. Arrange your smoke wood in a wagon wheel pattern. Thirdeye once explained that by arranging wood in a wagon wheel spoke pattern, with the lit coals placed in the middle, the wood burn is gradual and lasts longer. No need to add more wood.
 
royfraz said:
I am still pretty new with my WSM I love it and the way it keeps heat is frickin amazing. I was just curious when I've done briskets in it, I lack a smoke ring, should I put more wood chunks. I usually put 5 or 6 in when I do the minion method or should I try to find green wood, any suggestions would help thanks.
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First of all, NO GREEN WOOD!:hand:

You aren't giving us much info to go on (IE what temps, charcoal, rub, type of wood, how long after starting do you put on the meat, etc.) It sounds like you are using enough wood. Cooking brisket using the Minion Method, I get a good smoke ring using around 5 smaller-than-fist-sized chunks of hickory. I leave my brisket in the fridge for several hours rubbed and wrapped, put it on about 30 minutes after starting the fire, and cook at about 225-250. I don't have any experience using the HH method.

Having said that, how did it taste? If it was great, don't worry about the smoke ring!
 
taste was good just worrying about the visual crap that doesn't matter i guess, If you wanted competition stuff
 
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