First Cook on my WSM 4th of July

[Bushwood]

This is from the 4th of July, my first cook on my new WSM. St. Louis ribs and a fatty. I did the 4-1-1 method on the ribs and stuffed the fatty with cheese, jalapenos, orange peppers, and mushrooms, a touch of maple syrup on the outside and then covered with the rib rub. Here's the pics.

Trimmed and Rubbed


Almost finished


And Done


Ready to cut up


Fatty


Ready to eat




Final Thoughts:
I thought it went fairly smooth for my first time.

I lit one chimney of Kingsford and dropped one more chimney full of unlit on top and let it burn til ashy, then added some cherry and apple wood. Took about an hour to get the temp down to 300 degrees and then I added the 4 racks straight from the fridge.

Adjusted the vents slightly through cooking but was able to maintain temps between 225 and 250. I let them go 4 hours, then foiled for 1 hour in OJ and then about 45 minutes out of the foil while basting the last 1/2 hour.

In the meantime the fatty went on for about the last 2 hours and got to internal temp of 160.

Everything tasted great. My trim on one rack was a little short and missed some cartilage. The bottom racks finished a little faster with more pullback but the flavor and texture on all the racks was great.

Thanks to everyone here, as I couldn't have made this as successful without all the contributions and ideas from this board.

Cheers!

 

[Puff1]

Great looking grub!
Nice bark on the bones.

 

[Captain Morgan]

looks great...hope you can afford the new addiction!

 

[Unity]

Congratulations. Very nice first cook with an unfamiliar smoker. A few more cooks and you'll have it pretty well mastered.

Nearly everybody here who cooks in a WSM uses some variation of the Minion Method -- unlit charcoal and smoke wood in the ring, as much as you'll need for the cook, topped with ~15-20 lit briquets. This lets you control the temp as it rises, instead of having to fight it down from too high.

--John

 

[surfinsapo]

WoW, I'd sat they came out awesome for the first time. Killer job Q-in!!!

 

[Toby Keil]

That's a great first cook, I think your hooked.

 

[Tannehill Kid]

Nice job on your 1st cook. Looked like you had been doing it awhile in the pics. I bet that fatty was awesome.

 

[Cliff H.]

Very nicely done.

You jumped right in with a cut of pork that has a very small window between undercooked and overcooked.

 

[Griff]

Very well done for a first cook on a new smoker. Actually very well done period.

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Nice job!

 

[Greg Rempe]

Agreed with the food porn...LOOKS GREAT!

I also agree with Unity...use the Minion Method to fire the cooker so you can bring temps up instead of down. The only thing the WSM does not do good is go drop in temps 8)

 

[007bond-jb]

I realy looks great, good job

 

[big dude]

Looks mighty good to me

 

[Bushwood]

Nearly everybody here who cooks in a WSM uses some variation of the Minion Method -- unlit charcoal and smoke wood in the ring, as much as you'll need for the cook, topped with ~15-20 lit briquets. This lets you control the temp as it rises, instead of having to fight it down from too high.

--John

Do you use the Minion method no matter what you're cooking? I was under the impression this was used for longer cooks on cuts like a pork butt? I did have to wait about an hour for the temp to drop to 300 but once the meat went on it was pretty easy to get the temp at a steady 240.

 

[Unity]

The guys who cook more than I do should answer this, but yeah, I use some variation of a Minion start for almost everything, even smoking jerky (200°) or bacon (start at 150°, later 200°).

For my first WSM cook I followed the standard instructions, which gave me a rip-roaring ring full of ash-covered briquets. I never did get that fire under full control. Minion Method has been my salvation.

--John

 

[Puff1]

Fill the ring according to what you're cooking. 1/3 of a ring is fine for me cooking spares, full ring for butts, briskets, etc.
Light 15 coals in a chimney and use the MM. Shut the vents 75% at about 175*. It will take a while(maybe an hour or so) but the cooker will lock in and ride between 240* and 250*. Sometimes for spares I'll close the vents a little more than 75% at 175* to keep the cooker at about 225* to 230*.
Works like a charm every time. 8)