First smoke in my new WSM

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manchester bob

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Dec 31, 2012
126
15
Manchester, Maryland.
My first thread started here...might be a while before the pictures come through.

Using my Weber 22.5 kettle to start the coals. She's been very good to me for a long, long time! Hope she doesn't get too jealous about the new member of the family. 
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I'm certain that she'll continue to get a lot of use...especially on the weekdays!


I did JIRodriguez' mod to pass my Maverick 732's probes through. A big shout-out to Johnny!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/94076/wsm-mods

You can see the hole right in the middle of the picture below. I only have one hole drilled, because I only have one Maverick paired set, and both probes pass through easily. I can see that I'll have to get another temp kit sometime to be able to monitor more than just one piece of meat.


I also got the gasket kit on E-bay that is made just for the WSM.


I put gasket on the rim where the lid mounts. I did not add gasket to the bottom part: it fits tight already! And...I didn't see any leaks there during the smoke.


I also put the gasket on the door instead of the enameled arch on the cylinder as was shown in the picture on E-bay. Had I put it on the cylinder, it would have stuck out from the sides of the door. It seemed to turn out well this way! I have enough gasket material left to do this all over again, and then some.


Anyway, back to the smoke. Here's the finished product. Beautiful day here in northern MD...took a short ride while the quarters were smoking, but it's a good thing I didn't ride long: the chicken quarters cooked pretty quickly!


I brined the chicken for a few hours, and I used the SnakeBite rub I found here.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/shooter-ricks-snakebite-chicken-rub

I had all I needed except for thyme. (Hmmm...probably a bad joke in there somewhere!) I was surprised that the wife even had some wasabi powder in the cabinet!

The pit was running in the high 250's...monitored just below the upper grate. The Weber lid thermometer read about 30* lower. Wondering if it is really that much cooler at the dome, or if the brand-new thermometer in the lid is that far off!?! (I'm not going to trust it!)

I preheated my oven, and took the quarters off at an IT of 170*. Popped them into the preheated oven for a quick couple of minutes to get the skin a little more crispy. They turned out great! Even my picky daughter liked them, and that's saying a lot!

Thanks to all of you out there who have provided all of the great posts I read before I attempted this!
 
Bob, from a fellow WSM you are going to love it. I have not had mine for to long but smoke something at least once a week if not more. I have the smaller 18.5 it works great. Temps are steady and easy to dial in. Congrats on your smoke , looks like they turned out great.
 
Bob congrats on the new WSM and the awesome looking first smoke in it
 
Welcome to the fold my friend.  As others have said, the WSM makes great BBQ and it makes you feel kinda like your cheatin it's so easy to use.  Chicken is a good first cook.  Pork Butt will also be a good cook to season the inside of that puppy. By the end of the summer that thing will be so easy to control the temps. I like the mods you installed -- very clean look. 
 
Thanks, everyone! I was pretty surprised at how smoothly it all went. Hopefully, it's not just a matter of Beginner's Luck.

I started with chicken because I read that the WSM tends to burn hot the first few times, and chicken is good at those higher temps. Also, it's quick and inexpensive: if I messed it up, it wouldn't have been a big loss. (Woulda had a lot of chicken salad, I guess!)

Bama BBQ: I'm all about the pork! That's the main reason that I bought this. The kettle is good for a lot of things, but a long smoke isn't one of them...too much tweaking to maintain temp, and constantly opening the lid to add coals and wood. I've never tried a brisket...looking forward to doing one of them as well!
 
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