First WSM, first shoulder

[jaymo]

Hi guys. I just picked up my first WSM last night! I also got a 5 lb shoulder to try making some PP. I've had a Brinkmann SnP, but it's a pain for long smokes, so I'm excited to try this out! It's just now coming up to temp.

Thanks for all the great advice here! It's been a great help so far.

[Callahan-que]

Congrats on the new smoker and good luck with your first cook on it. Did you get the 22" or the 18" ?

[gtr]

Good luck! Looking forward to hearing how it goes. :thumb:

[J_Don]

Good Luck and you will never look back. :thumb:

[jaymo]

Congrats on the new smoker and good luck with your first cook on it. Did you get the 22" or the 18" ?

18.5" I was anxious to get going today since I have the day off, so I drove an hour to pick up the closest one I could find w/out ordering online.

Considering we're just a 2-person family for now and rarely have big crowds over (yet!) I didn't see the need for the larger one, plus the 22s were only available online.

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

I went from a SnP to a WSM too. You are going to love it.

One tip, your thermometer is not stuck - the temp really is that stable. You are going to have to find something else to do every thirty minutes other than make temp adjustments.

[The Grill Sergeant]

I went from a SnP to a WSM too. You are going to love it.

One tip, your thermometer is not stuck - the temp really is that stable. You are going to have to find something else to do every thirty minutes other than make temp adjustments.

I have a problem with my WSM... I usually drink more now... :laugh:

[jaymo]

I have a problem with my WSM... I usually drink more now... :laugh:
As an avid homebrewer with about 25 gallons on tap right now (American Stout, Saison, Orval clone, Helles lager, wine barrel aged English barleywine), this could be a problem. . .

[jaymo]

Everything went great! It stalled out at 160-162F for a couple hours, so I foiled it and it came up to 188-190ish. At that point I didn't feel like lighting another set of coals just for a few degrees, so it's in a cooler resting for a couple now. Looks and smells awesome! All I've got is a crappy cell phone camera or I'd post pron. You guys have all seen smoked pork anyway. All in all it went on somewhere around 11:30ish and came off at 9pm on the nose.

Next week maybe I'll try brisket.

[Sammy_Shuford]

Congrats!

[Cook]

...I foiled it and it came up to 188-190ish. At that point I didn't feel like lighting another set of coals just for a few degrees...

Hopefully it pulled ok for you, but at ~190 it might not pull great (ie. falling completely apart when touched).

Next time if you don't feel like lighting more coals and you see that you need 30 minutes to an hour more cooking time, just preheat your kitchen oven in the 250-300 range. Then just transfer the butt into the house. It'll finish cooking just fine there.

You're looking for tenderness not necessarily temperature. Just keep an eye on it.

I bet it tasted good regardless! :thumb:

[Dave Russell]

:wink:Everything went great! It stalled out at 160-162F for a couple hours, so I foiled it and it came up to 188-190ish. At that point I didn't feel like lighting another set of coals just for a few degrees, so it's in a cooler resting for a couple now. Looks and smells awesome! All I've got is a crappy cell phone camera or I'd post pron. You guys have all seen smoked pork anyway. All in all it went on somewhere around 11:30ish and came off at 9pm on the nose.

Next week maybe I'll try brisket.

Pick up a BRINKMAN CHARCOAL PAN made for the cheap little water smoker they sell. It's real cheap and found at places like Academy Sports and Bass Pro Shop. It holds about the same amount of water (fill with HOT) as the OE pan, fits just as good, but most importantly, it'll allow more room for charcoal (best briqs are Stubbs, Rancher, Wicked Good, Royal Oak chef select) and wood chunks. Since your cooker is new and as long as you're not loading up both racks, I'd start off with only half a chimney of lit into a little depression of a otherwise heaping ring of unlit briqs, three or four wood chunks buried around the outside edges, two or three other chunks on top around the edges so they're just touching the lit briqs in the middle if that makes sense. Getting back to that Brinkman pan though, you'll also have a little more space for stirring the coals if you're using Kingsford. :-P:wink: (Seriously, check after no more than about six hours or so for ash suffocation if using a high ash briq. like K. and maybe tap the cooker legs every few hours with a rubber maul. If in a low humidity area, maybe you won't have any issues at all.)

Regarding the OE GAUGE, I'd keep an eye on it, meaning remove it and check in boiling water for accuracy pretty often. It's the only potentially undependable part of the wsm, and I find that they start sticking and reading TOO LOW quickly. (I've had three already but am not gonna bother Weber anymore.) Personally, I prefer to hang a therm in the vent and target 225-250* anyway. It's in the stream of circulation and the cool meat doesn't seem to affect the reading as much. (Put a therm on the grate next to the cool meat and you might be surprised how hot the exhaust feels to your palm with such a low temp reading.)

...and regarding that brisket, get a WHOLE PACKER, 10-13 lbs. preferred. Squeeze it between the top grate handles fat down, and if needed you can also fold the "long" corner of the flat over or under. I did a 13 pounder over two BIG pork butts (about 9 lb each) a couple of weeks ago in only 12 hours, cooking a little faster than usual on that cook...probably 250* average at the vent. It all turned out fantastic....no basting, no turning/rotating, no refueling, no adding wood, no foiling... til resting in a decent hot water pre-heated cooler (with a couple of hot water filled two liters, and crumpled newspaper) for ALL DAY til supper. (I firmed the bark back up in the oven before slicing and pulling.)

I prefer a long rest for brisket and only cook 'em over night, so as long as you go to bed, you won't drink too much beer. :wink: Both the OE and the Brinkman pans should hold enough water for eight hours anyway, if your charcoal is burning right.

Have fun with it, and don't critique your results at the dinner table. :thumb:

[jaymo]

Hopefully it pulled ok for you, but at ~190 it might not pull great.

Not quite as tender as I'd have liked, but it pulled without too much problem .I considered the oven as well, but it was tender enough to break up without much issue with my hands, so I went with it. All in all it is delicious and a great way to break in the new smoker!

:wink:
Regarding the OE GAUGE, I'd keep an eye on it, meaning remove it and check in boiling water for accuracy pretty often. It's the only potentially undependable part of the wsm, and I find that they start sticking and reading TOO LOW quickly.

Yeah, mine read around 20* low the entire time, but I was using my Maverick dual-probe to monitor the internal meat temp and temp at grate level, so I didn't worry about it. I've heard of enough problems with these that I pretty much expected it going in.

I intend to mod it with a grommet hole for a probe at grate level in the future. A second Maverick may be in my near future as well so I can keep an eye on various cuts at once.

For briquettes, I was using Kingsford solely because I had some around and was at home carless for the morning when I started. I'll be picking up some Stubbs & Royal Oak to give both a try. I've used RO lump on the grill, but not the chef select (briquettes, I assume.)

Thanks for the brisket tips!

[Dave Russell]

Yep, the RO chef's select are big briqs available through doitbest.com and they come to a participating local store w/ no shipping charges. It's really easy and I've ordered both wood chunks and the RO briqs through them so check it out and maybe you have a store close by that deals with them.

Regarding the tips, you're welcome! Speaking of a wsm, as well as a lot other smokers, lots of folks here would agree that it's best to EITHER cook butts/briskets overnight low-n-slow 225-250 (personally I'd use water in pan) OR start EARLY with just a foiled dry pan and cook 250-275 (or even hotter if using just the top rack) during the day, foiling when temp gets 160*-ish. Both methods will ensure that you have the sufficient temp/time needed to cook a stubborn piece of meat to tenderness, 'cause it's done when it's done. :thumb: