First Smoke w/ PRON

[boltsfan]

My first smoke went better than expected thanks to the help from all of you guys. So… thank you.

Bought the meat at Costco. Ribs came in a 3 pack and had silver skin already removed so that was nice.


I am very impressed with the WSM and it maintained temps between 225-275* for the most part with some spikes to 300*. It was in the 50s that day with a slight cold wind. My neighbors b’yard was covered in smoke but at least it smelled good. I could smell sweet smoke way out in the front yard… it was glorious.

I filled the ring with RO lump using the Minion Method and added 4 good size apple chunks. Filled a starter about ¾ full and let it get nice and white (approx. 15 minutes) and added to charcoal. Added about a gallon of warm water to the bowl. Got up to 225* very quick.

I added 3 racks of ribs to top rack and let smoke for about 2 hours. Removed and foiled with apple juice. Added a few hickory chunks to the fire and placed 3 trip-tips on bottom rack and ribs on top. Set Maverick therm and tri-tips were at 125* in about 45 minutes which was faster than the 2 hours I planned for. I assume it had to with adding more fuel with hickory and temp did spike to about 300*. Plus being on the bottom rack. So… I removed tri-tips and foiled while the ribs finished. Removed foil from ribs and let go another hour (about 4 hours total). I fired up my Lynx grill to about 500* and reverse seared the trip-tip and then let rest again. Probe therm showed max temp of 145* and they were pink all the way through.

Everyone raved about the food. The ribs had a nice smoke ring and were tender, meaty and fell off the bone. The tri-tip was great too, although I thought it was bit over smoked but everyone disagreed. Maybe next time I will only add one piece of hickory and place tri-tip on top rack. It was difficult to get all of this food onto both racks. Ribs were long and I did not use a rib rack. I was afraid that if I placed the tri-tips on the top rack that they would drip blood all over the ribs. I almost put the ribs in a warm grill to finish but decided that I got the WSM for a reason and I would cram it all on there and see what happened. All in all... a very good day…

Some lessons learned:
-Small adjustments to vents make a big difference (be patient)
-Don’t adjust vents w\o wearing a glove (ouch!)
-I need to install a grommet for probe therm
-I need to place a table next to the smoker to hold lid, grills, etc…
-Clay saucer not thick enough for starter… I now have nice black circle on my grass

Pic of the ribs is a little fuzzy but you can see the smoke ring. I swear it was a good pic when I took it but maybe it had something to do with too many IPAs. Pic of the tri-tips was from next morning.


Thanks!

[Subzerogriller]

Welcome to the family! Looks great! I haven't been around here much lately, so maybe you've already read this, but keep in mind with a WSM you don't need water. Just need a heat sink. Foil your water pan, foil that clay saucer you've got there, toss the saucer in the water pan, spread a sheet of foil across the top of it all to catch drippings, and your clean up will be MUCH easier. Just a recommendation from someone who's done it both ways. Looks like a great cook, and obviously your guests agreed!

[HankB]

Looks great! And it gets better.

I use ordinary grommets in my WSMs installed just below the top grate.





After I put two in my mini, I figured out that I could fit both probes (in fact all probes from an ET-73 and ET-732) through one grommet.

[boltsfan]

Originally Posted by Subzerogriller

Welcome to the family! Looks great! I haven't been around here much lately, so maybe you've already read this, but keep in mind with a WSM you don't need water. Just need a heat sink. Foil your water pan, foil that clay saucer you've got there, toss the saucer in the water pan, spread a sheet of foil across the top of it all to catch drippings, and your clean up will be MUCH easier. Just a recommendation from someone who's done it both ways. Looks like a great cook, and obviously your guests agreed!

I thought you really did need the water to keep the meat moist? I have much to learn...

I'll try w\o water using the method you described. I'll need a new clay sauce as the heat from the starter cracked it in half.

[Dirtbuddy]

Looks great!

Welcome to your new addiction

[Subzerogriller]

I'll be honest, I was freaked out the first time I tried the saucer mod, thought for sure that my meat would end up like sawdust, but I put my trust in the Brethren, and as always they did not steer me wrong. The Que turns out every bit as moist, and the only clean up needed is to toss the top sheet of foil. If it weren't for the good brothers and sisters here, I'd still be scrubbing the fat out of the water pan from my last big cook (in September)! If you have a 22.5" WSM, you'll want to pick up a 16" saucer; if it's an 18.5", you'll want a 12" saucer. Just remember the process: Wrap the pan in foil, wrap the saucer in foil, nest the saucer inside the pan, and then before each cook simply spread a layer (or 2) of foil across the top to catch drippings.

[Freddy j]

Originally Posted by HankB

Looks great! And it gets better.

I use ordinary grommets in my WSMs installed just below the top grate.





After I put two in my mini, I figured out that I could fit both probes (in fact all probes from an ET-73 and ET-732) through one grommet.

nice cook. you could put these high temp plugs into the holes when your not smoking (theyre used for powder coating).

[cowgirl]

Looks great! Welcome to the forum!

[pike51]

NM Mispost

[landarc]

Nice first cook, looks like a good one