First Cook on my WSM ??

bottomsupbbq said:

I am going to do my first cook tomorow on my new 18 1/2 WSM. Bought 3 racks of spare ribs and 2 rolls of Jimmy Dean for fatties. Here is my question I will need to use both the upper and lower racks for the cook. How much if any difference in cooking times is there from the top to bottom racks?

Thanks in advance to all that reply.

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I don't find the temps between the two to be too horribly different but I smoke exclusely on my UDS and my WSM sits vacant and sad. :sad:

Are you usung a rib rack? Doing all 3 racks on the top grate? If you are, temp difference doesn't matter, cuz you'll be able to fit two fatties and 3 rackks on the top.
You won't have much luck getting 3 racks on the lower grate unless you roll them.
If you are using water in the pan, you'll likely find the lower grate is 20* cooler.

I'd put the ribs on top, fatties on the bottom if I had too.

You will love the WSM, BTW!

bottomsupbbq said:

Dont have a rib rack. I was planing on laying them flat on the grate.

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That'll be tough on the 18. Are you trimming them St Louis style? If you are, I'd roll them and pin them with a skewer otherwise you'll have trouble getting them to fit. Put the trimmings on the bottom rack, rolled spares on top with the fatties. Got a Menards near you? I scored a decent rib rack there for $5. Even with a rib rack on an 18 you'll need to bend the ribs to get three racks to fit on the top grate. I'm doing three racks tomorrow too, and I'm trimmin' 'em St louis style, in a rack on the top grate.
What are you using for fuel, rub, flavor wood etc...?

Good luck. Let us know how they turn out.

You're gonna love that WSM! And Harbormaster might just know a thing or two about them ;>)