E190DRVR
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 12, 2015
- Location
- Concord, NC
Hey guys,
Just wanted to share my experiences on my first two cooks in my new WSM 22.5. They were both wildly successful thanks to all the information I have read on here. I went into both cooks very confident because I read a lot of your advice.
2 additions to my smoker are an Unknown BBQ lid hinge and an Auberin PID controller. I have ordered the Cajun Bandit steel door and lift and turn latch, but haven't received it yet. Both the hinge and Auberin are priceless additions in my book.
I have 2 Maverick wireless thermometers: a 733 and an older 901. One was monitoring the top rack temp and one the bottom rack temp. Just for piece of mind. The Auberin was on the top rack.
4 racks of baby back ribs on cook #1: Cooked on Kingsford Blue with apple chunks and some hickory chips (leftovers from a smoker box I use in my gas grill) mixed in with the charcoal. Minion method was used: 3/4 ring of coals with 1/2 chimney dumped in hollowed out center. One brilliant trick that I learned here and I used was to light the chimney with the gas side burner on my gas grill. Worked like a charm and I had no messy burned newspaper to deal with! Foiled the water pan but didn't use water. Even with the Auberin set at 225, the fire ran hot the whole day. I had trouble keeping it below 265 and it spiked to over 300 after I opened the lid during the cook. One think I confirmed, is that the door on this Weber is absolute junk. I ordered a new one from Cajun Bandit. Also, the vents on the bottom have a lot of small spaces when closed fully for air to seep in.
Removed the membrane dry rubbed the ribs and put them in foil. Placed them in the fridge to marinade overnight. Forgot to pull them out early, so they went on the smoker cold. Unfoiled them and put 2 racks of ribs on the bottom rack and 2 racks of ribs on the top rack. Used a modified 3/2/1 method. Cooked them for 3 hours, foiled and cooked for 2 hours with a little cranberry juice on the bottom of the foil (it's all I had). Moved the ribs on the bottom rack to the top rack and vice versa after I foiled them. The top rack was running a bit hotter. When I unfoiled them, they were already done, so I sauced them up and put them directly on the grate to caramelize. Total cook was 5:15. They were amazingly tender and tasted great. Everyone loved them. My son said they were better than the ribs at Jim N' Nicks down the street. My opinion is that they were slightly overcooked and slightly over salted. I'll fix those two items next time. For a first smoke, I was real happy.
2nd smoke was a blade in boston butt purchased from BJ's Wholesale. 8.75 lbs.
Slight modifications to control temperature. I bought some foil tape and taped the piece of junk door shut. My new door hasn't arrived yet. I also foil taped all the vents on the bottom to close the gaps they have even when shut. I also foiled the water pan very carefully and used cold water during this cook.
Full ring of Stubb's coals laced with hickory chips and 6 apple chunks. Minion method with half a chimney of lit coals in the center.
I removed some of the fat cap. Cross cut the rest of the fat and slathered with mustard and applied a generous coating of commercial rub. I then placed it in a 2 gallon zip lock bag and injected it with a brine recipe I found on one of Malcolm Reed's websites. I used a Beast Injector I bought on Amazon and it was awesome. I then put it in the fridge and let it marinade all day. Pulled it out at 11:30pm, drained it, patted it a little dry and re-rubbed it with more dry rub.
Onto the smoker at midnight. The Auberin was having no problem locking in the temperature at 225 degrees. My modifications paid off this time. Went to sleep and got up at 7:00am to check on it. Temperature was nailed at 225! Meat was showing ~155 degrees on both probes I had in it. When it hit 160, I double foiled it and finished the cook to 195 degrees. Total cook time ~11:30. Opened it up, wiggled the bone and determined it was done. Double wrapped in foil, wrapped it in a towel and stuck it in a cooler. I left it on the deck (85 degrees outside) until we ate at 17:30. The butt was still 160 degrees! Perfect pulled pork!! Everyone raved about it. Served it with some pickled red onions and a vinegar based sauce from Paul Kirk's cook book.
Lots of meat left over. BBQ tacos are on the menu tonight!!
Clean up both times was a breeze because I used an abundant amount of Pam on the grates and foiled the pan.
Thanks for reading my extremely lengthy post.... Just wanted to give a shout out for all your advice. You make it easy for newbies to be successful when they cook.:clap2:
Just wanted to share my experiences on my first two cooks in my new WSM 22.5. They were both wildly successful thanks to all the information I have read on here. I went into both cooks very confident because I read a lot of your advice.
2 additions to my smoker are an Unknown BBQ lid hinge and an Auberin PID controller. I have ordered the Cajun Bandit steel door and lift and turn latch, but haven't received it yet. Both the hinge and Auberin are priceless additions in my book.
I have 2 Maverick wireless thermometers: a 733 and an older 901. One was monitoring the top rack temp and one the bottom rack temp. Just for piece of mind. The Auberin was on the top rack.
4 racks of baby back ribs on cook #1: Cooked on Kingsford Blue with apple chunks and some hickory chips (leftovers from a smoker box I use in my gas grill) mixed in with the charcoal. Minion method was used: 3/4 ring of coals with 1/2 chimney dumped in hollowed out center. One brilliant trick that I learned here and I used was to light the chimney with the gas side burner on my gas grill. Worked like a charm and I had no messy burned newspaper to deal with! Foiled the water pan but didn't use water. Even with the Auberin set at 225, the fire ran hot the whole day. I had trouble keeping it below 265 and it spiked to over 300 after I opened the lid during the cook. One think I confirmed, is that the door on this Weber is absolute junk. I ordered a new one from Cajun Bandit. Also, the vents on the bottom have a lot of small spaces when closed fully for air to seep in.
Removed the membrane dry rubbed the ribs and put them in foil. Placed them in the fridge to marinade overnight. Forgot to pull them out early, so they went on the smoker cold. Unfoiled them and put 2 racks of ribs on the bottom rack and 2 racks of ribs on the top rack. Used a modified 3/2/1 method. Cooked them for 3 hours, foiled and cooked for 2 hours with a little cranberry juice on the bottom of the foil (it's all I had). Moved the ribs on the bottom rack to the top rack and vice versa after I foiled them. The top rack was running a bit hotter. When I unfoiled them, they were already done, so I sauced them up and put them directly on the grate to caramelize. Total cook was 5:15. They were amazingly tender and tasted great. Everyone loved them. My son said they were better than the ribs at Jim N' Nicks down the street. My opinion is that they were slightly overcooked and slightly over salted. I'll fix those two items next time. For a first smoke, I was real happy.
2nd smoke was a blade in boston butt purchased from BJ's Wholesale. 8.75 lbs.
Slight modifications to control temperature. I bought some foil tape and taped the piece of junk door shut. My new door hasn't arrived yet. I also foil taped all the vents on the bottom to close the gaps they have even when shut. I also foiled the water pan very carefully and used cold water during this cook.
Full ring of Stubb's coals laced with hickory chips and 6 apple chunks. Minion method with half a chimney of lit coals in the center.
I removed some of the fat cap. Cross cut the rest of the fat and slathered with mustard and applied a generous coating of commercial rub. I then placed it in a 2 gallon zip lock bag and injected it with a brine recipe I found on one of Malcolm Reed's websites. I used a Beast Injector I bought on Amazon and it was awesome. I then put it in the fridge and let it marinade all day. Pulled it out at 11:30pm, drained it, patted it a little dry and re-rubbed it with more dry rub.
Onto the smoker at midnight. The Auberin was having no problem locking in the temperature at 225 degrees. My modifications paid off this time. Went to sleep and got up at 7:00am to check on it. Temperature was nailed at 225! Meat was showing ~155 degrees on both probes I had in it. When it hit 160, I double foiled it and finished the cook to 195 degrees. Total cook time ~11:30. Opened it up, wiggled the bone and determined it was done. Double wrapped in foil, wrapped it in a towel and stuck it in a cooler. I left it on the deck (85 degrees outside) until we ate at 17:30. The butt was still 160 degrees! Perfect pulled pork!! Everyone raved about it. Served it with some pickled red onions and a vinegar based sauce from Paul Kirk's cook book.
Lots of meat left over. BBQ tacos are on the menu tonight!!
Clean up both times was a breeze because I used an abundant amount of Pam on the grates and foiled the pan.
Thanks for reading my extremely lengthy post.... Just wanted to give a shout out for all your advice. You make it easy for newbies to be successful when they cook.:clap2:
