SweetHeatBBQnSC
is One Chatty Farker
Last week during Spring Break I smoked for my first time ever...I decided to take a rack of spares and trim them down the St. Louis style. Also, for the brethren I had to try a nekkid fatty.
My WSM cooked like a beast. It held 250-260 the entire cook. My ribs cooked in 3 1/2 hours to an IT of 195-200 degrees. I used 4 chunks of Hickory and 3 chunks of Cherry. Also, I cooked using the minion method with my coals. The cook itself I felt went excellent. The ribs cooked slightly faster than I expected, but they developed an excellent bark and when I cut them they had a good smoke ring (very proud). However, a couple of questions for the brethren.
1- My smoker had no problem holding 250-260 degrees the entire cook. This surprised me because several people said their new WSM would run hot until it gunked up. I was losing smoke through the door and the lid, but it did not cause any problem temperature wise. With that being said should I still put gasket tape on the door and lid and keep it better sealed?
2- The cooking went very well....but I found out Hickory (at least 4 chunks) is a little stronger smokey smell than I care for. My wife and FIL loved them and thought the smokiness was perfect, but it was much for me. I have a new bag of Hickory so if I lower the amount of Hickory will it be fine or should I just not use Hickory?
3- I used approximately 9 lbs of KBB. I have read many people talk about their coals burning for 12 hours or so. My coals had burned out after roughly 5 hours. What could be the culprit of this?
I may have choked my fire down too much to begin with. It took almost 50 minutes to get to 250 degrees. I started out will all 3 vents half way closed. Also, I may have dumped my coals a little early from my chimney. The fire had went out, but the coals were still burning red/orange. Should I have waited until they were completely gray?
Thanks for all the advice that led me to my WSM its a wonderful smoker and I couldn't be happier with it.
My WSM cooked like a beast. It held 250-260 the entire cook. My ribs cooked in 3 1/2 hours to an IT of 195-200 degrees. I used 4 chunks of Hickory and 3 chunks of Cherry. Also, I cooked using the minion method with my coals. The cook itself I felt went excellent. The ribs cooked slightly faster than I expected, but they developed an excellent bark and when I cut them they had a good smoke ring (very proud). However, a couple of questions for the brethren.
1- My smoker had no problem holding 250-260 degrees the entire cook. This surprised me because several people said their new WSM would run hot until it gunked up. I was losing smoke through the door and the lid, but it did not cause any problem temperature wise. With that being said should I still put gasket tape on the door and lid and keep it better sealed?
2- The cooking went very well....but I found out Hickory (at least 4 chunks) is a little stronger smokey smell than I care for. My wife and FIL loved them and thought the smokiness was perfect, but it was much for me. I have a new bag of Hickory so if I lower the amount of Hickory will it be fine or should I just not use Hickory?
3- I used approximately 9 lbs of KBB. I have read many people talk about their coals burning for 12 hours or so. My coals had burned out after roughly 5 hours. What could be the culprit of this?
I may have choked my fire down too much to begin with. It took almost 50 minutes to get to 250 degrees. I started out will all 3 vents half way closed. Also, I may have dumped my coals a little early from my chimney. The fire had went out, but the coals were still burning red/orange. Should I have waited until they were completely gray?
Thanks for all the advice that led me to my WSM its a wonderful smoker and I couldn't be happier with it.
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