WSM 22 stick burner method?

[mph33]

After watching a video by Harry Soo, I want to make certain that I got everything correct. I'm going to be cooking a prime 17 lb brisket for Fourth of July along with 4 racks of St Louis ribs. I plan on using Post oak splits... to be specific B&B splits and I'm hoping they're not too long. If anybody has done some stick burner methods with a WSM please chime in here to give me some tips. Thank you

 

[gcs]

I believe your gonna need a lot of "air"...or leave the door off. and small splits.

 

[sudsandswine]

My .02.....just use charcoal on the WSM. You’re going to be fighting that thing for an awfully long time to cook a 17lb brisket on a cooker not designed to run on wood splits.

 

[Nuco59]

I might give it a go- but not with a nice prime. I would get a Wally Choice and rock it on a weekend with no pressure involved.

If you are having a big get together, that's not a great time to experiment. I'd go tried and true-burn good charcoal and use your oak for flavoring.

But if you just "have to"- be sure to let us know how it turns out.

 

[HouseDoc]

I would use the water pan as a heat shield. Cover in aluminum foil to ease cleanup. I get a great smoke ring using charcoal and adding wood chunks. Good luck and remember Harry edits out his mistakes, we cover ours in sauce.

 

[Monkey Uncle]

I tried burning sticks in mine once to cook a hot-and-fast London broil (top round) to medium rare. I cooked with the lid off to get it up to a good searing temp. At that level of heat, I was beginning to smell the rubber probe grommet - should have just taken that out since I wasn't using a probe anyway. It was largely a waste of effort. I didn't really get any better flavor or sear than if I had done it on my gas grill.

With a brisket, you wouldn't want to cook that hot, so you'd have to put the lid on. I can't imagine you'd be able to get a clean fire burning sticks with the lid on. Personally, I'd stick to charcoal and chunks, but if you decide to try it, let us know how it works out.

 

[Whumpa]

I don’t know what you paid for, for that prime brisket, but around here now that is over $200 chunk of meat. There is no way I would be trying a new method to cook it.

 

[jzadski]

I also use charcoal with chunks. I scatter some lit charcoal throughout next to the chunks. When it's about 30 degrees from desired temp I shut down the bottom vent to at least half and keep on shutting down until stabilized. They are usually about 3/4 way shut throughout cook and top full open. I also use a clay flower pot as a heat sink in the water pan foiled without water. Hope this helps

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Well I looked up the Harry Soo video. It looks interesting. Go for it. I was going to say how the heck is that going to work. I have seen some grab a burn barrel and burn it down first to coals then they put a shovel of it in the wsm. Harry does not do that. First I have seen that method. I suppose you can try it and let us know what you think. I am interested to know if it is too smokey or just right.
It actually makes sense why anyone would want to try this if you watch the Harry Soo video.
Let us know how it goes.

 

[ChrisBarb]

Maybe try lump with some oak chunks if you want a "cleaner" taste?

 

[Whumpa]

OK, I got off my butt and watched the video. Looks very interesting and doable. But I still maintain that I personally would not risk a $200 piece of meat for the first time trying. Especially if I am serving up to family and guests. I think I would aim lower, start out on something like a meatloaf. But if you do go ahead with your plans, I hope it works out for you and you turn out some great food. I am just not that ballsey.

 

[bschoen]

I second doing a practice run on a smaller, cheaper piece of beef. Then you will know what you are up against. That will also give you some good chili making meat.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

I think as long as you follow what Harry Soo says and you plan the cook out you will be fine. Couple things I would do. I would start early. I would have a cooler setup for a faux cambro to keep the food hot. Give yourself plenty of time to cook. I would try to start early so you can take the pressure off you. New methods can be tricky the first time. If you give your self extra time you can cover yourself. Lets say it takes longer than expected to cook well if you started early you got plenty of time to finish. The faux cambro setup will keep your meat warm for hours. So if you finish early you can keep it warm and if you finish late it will be on time. Watch Harry Soo's video and take notes and go over your plan. Write a timeline like a bbq competition. Write what time you plan to light your fire. Write what time the meat has to go on the pit. Have your brisket trimmed the day before. Season it when your ready and inject if you do inject. Have the trim done early. It gives you extra time. Anything you can do early go ahead and have it done ahead of time.
Make notes about your cook. Weather conditions, temp of your cooker, anything you think could be important to future cooks.
Have fun with it and let us know how it goes. As long as you follow along with Harry Soo and you start early I think you can do this. If you have time take pictures and put up a thread about your cook. If you plan ahead and work ahead then you should be fine.

 

[MrOGH]

I’ve tried using wood in my WSM several times, and haven’t liked it. I’ve also tried hauling things in a car, and hammering nails with wrenches. It works, but it’s not the right tool for the task.

I would use chunks.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Chris Allingham of the Virtual Weber Bullet , saw Kevin Kolman use a 22 WSM as a stick burner at A&M's Camp Brisket this past January.


Here's his post describing Kolman's method


https://tvwbb.com/threads/wsm-as-a-stick-burner.79650/post-876740

 

[mph33]

I'm not going to lie but it's kind of hard to get this wood started even with the weed burner. I put the torch to this thing on and off for about 15 minutes flames would start going real good and then it would start to smalter. I'm trying to do some tests Burns to see how this works before throwing an expensive brisket on here next Saturday. What am I end up doing is starting a half a charcoal chimney of lump and then putting the post oak logs on top to get my coals going. Of course Harry Soo didn't show every step. I don't have a table saw and I don't think these split logs are that big. It's a bag of B&B post oak split logs. The key here is you got to get that wood to burn down. I would not put your meat on the pit until you've got a good bed of hot coals and some consistency.

 

[mph33]

Chris Allingham of the Virtual Weber Bullet , saw Kevin Kolman use a 22 WSM as a stick burner at A&M's Camp Brisket this past January.


Here's his post describing Kolman's method


https://tvwbb.com/threads/wsm-as-a-stick-burner.79650/post-876740

That's the same exact wood splits I have. The key here is you got to get that fire roaring to create good hot coals what I want to try is to get some chunks up underneath the splits to where you have air flow beneath the wood on both sides. I try to do this today but it started to rain. My concern is not getting the wood going and being able to cook the food I'm concerned about keeping a consistent 250 to 275 degrees. My experience with this grill is when you crack the lid it gets a lot of airflow and nose charcoal will get hotter than hell. This is how I cook my chicken wings and that is cracking the dome lid to get it up to 400° and it has no problem at all doing. However, you're using pieces of burning wood and I don't see how that would can get as hot as lump charcoal. I think it's supposed to rain again today so maybe I'll put it off for tomorrow to do another test run. the whole point of me doing this is to see if you can get a cleaner burning fire versus using lump or briquettes.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

IMO, if you ignite that split into flame, you're not gonna get 250 to 275 steady temp. It will be much higher and it won't be steady.

 

[thunter]

My .02.....just use charcoal on the WSM. You’re going to be fighting that thing for an awfully long time to cook a 17lb brisket on a cooker not designed to run on wood splits.

Agreed!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Even stick burners need a good coal bed. I've always had plenty of smoke on my WSM briskets. Suggest you experiment with a pork butt 1st. 4 or 5 fist size chunks will give you all you need as the meat will not take much smoke after 140*F.


Just my .02 and good luck.