1st smoke tomorrow - howto avoid rookie mistakes

[mkedda]

All,

Tomorrow will be my first smoke on the WSM. I plan to smoke 3 6lbs bork butts. I have a great rub, the finishing sauce from this site, and I am debating a nice spay mop.

What mistake did you make on your first smoke?
What mistake do common rookies make ?

Please help me out, in turn, i will provide Q-View!

 

[the dude abides]

Hey man, Your gonna love that WSM.

My .02 cents....
Make sure you load up the charcoal basket. I ususally load it up and mix my lump with wood chunks. Then leave an open "ring" in the middle to dump the lit coals into. This is the Minion Method. Depending on what you're using for fuel, you should be able to get through this smoke without having to add more. But you may have to stir it around a few times.

Make sure you wrap the water pan in foil. It's a real bear to clean if you don't do this.

Take a look at http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/ before you get started. You may find another tidbit of info or two on here.

Chisoxjim and ALX (and a couple of others) were of great help to me. Maybe they'll stop by and throw something new into the mix for ya.

Good luck.

Here's a link to the first WSM cook I did. There's a couple of shots of me getting the thing ready.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=77405

 

[sooner fan]

Smoke to temp not by time.

Make sure your thermometer is calibrated and reading correctly.

Monitor the temp inside the smoker just not at the lid.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I can't remember my mistakes from that far back, so I must have learned from them. I guess what I can do for you is try point you in the right direction before you get started.

Make sure you have some means to cross-check your cook grate temps or chamber temp in comparison with the stock chamber thermometer...most are not accurate. Digital probes are the best method for this.

Some folks don't foil butts after the smoke phase to bring to finish temp, I do. Just preference...speeds up cooking and reduces the risk of drying the meat. I foil @ 170* or so, then take to 205* and rest wrapped up in towels for an hour. Oh, add some liquids for brasing, water is OK, I like to use a juice for flavor. When you pull the meat, toss it into the brasing liquids for the finish.

Keep the cover closed as much as possible once you start smoking, so you can reduce heat loss and cooking time.

Take pics of your progress and post it on a new thread in the pork section so we can all drool, and to help if you have questions or concerns during the smoke. Only take pics inside the smoker when you open it to check on things.

Hmmm, I just previewed, and guys are beating my slow butt to the punch! Heh-heh!

Good luck, and keep us informed...we'll walk you through it!

Eric

 

[ronp]

Use a drip pan with some liquid or I use au jus to catch the juices and put them back into the meat after seperating the fat off.

 

[chisoxjim]

I was glad to help Dude, wth my limited experience on the WSM( I had a loaner for a couple months)

I say its pretty hard to make a mistake on the WSM, just get it lit like The Dude says, and it will do the rest. If you need to reload the lump/wood, just leave the meat covered, and lift off the two top cylanders, and reload. Use gloves..

I have a buddy who is kind of a WSM guru, here is his website where he answers questions

www.lowslowbbq.com

he also has a book where he has recipes for rubs, sauces, etc. He has taught me alot about bbq, and although I dont use a WSM it crosses over.

 

[tasunkawitko]

From the BBQFAQ (click here to get it in zipped word format:http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/faq2-w97.zip)

[Can you tell me some of the most common mistakes beginners make?]

1 Getting in too big of a hurry. Barbecue takes time and patience. You can't rush it. Figure 1 to 1 1/2 hours per pound for most meats. If you're tending a wood-burning smoker, figure on adding fuel every 30-45 minutes.

2 It helps to be a semi-good cook in the kitchen before you get into barbecue. If you can't boil water, let someone else do the barbecuing. I'll bet that almost all the old hats here on the BBQ List were pretty decent cooks in the kitchen before they learned to grill and barbecue.

3 Opening the lid to peek too often. This lets out the heat and the smoker will be below temperature. Open the lid only when necessary to mop or move or turn the meat. The meat's not going anywhere, so you don't need to keep checking up on it.

4 Trying to do a brisket or spare ribs the first time you use your smoker. Start off on the road to "Perfect Q" with the simplest meat to smoke--a whole chicken or a pork picnic roast. They're cheap and hard to ruin. Don't fill up the smoker with meat until you've had some successes. Start with just one item.

5 Using lighter fluid to start your charcoal briquettes. This can give you some really awful odors and tastes in your smoked meat. Use a chimney starter for charcoal. If you must use a charcoal lighter fluid, let the coals burn for at least 30 minutes before you put on the meat.

6 In a wood burning smoker, making the fire too big and closing the inlets and exhaust dampers to control the flame. This is a no no. Open that exhaust damper all the way. Regulate the oxygen intake with the inlet damper. Be careful how you close that inlet damper--your fire can smolder and give you some nasty-tasting smoke. Best advice--keep your fire low and your dampers open. Remember, a bad-smelling smoke=bad-tasting meat.

7 Using green wood. You must use seasoned wood to get good results when you begin barbecuing. The old pros can use a mix of green and seasoned wood, but beginners should not use the green stuff until they know about fire and temperature control. Using green wood without knowing what you're doing is the surest way to ruin the meat. You'll get creosote and that will make bitter meat that cannot be saved.

8 Trying to adjust too many things at once. Don't adjust everything on the smoker at once. Change one thing, see what happens, then change another.

9 Changing things too much at once. Make small changes to the smoker. Open or close the intake vent a little bit, not a lot. If you are continually making big changes, you will continually overshoot the correct temperature point. Your temperature curve will look like a giant sawtooth. Make the changes in small increments.

10 Putting cold meat into the smoker. This can lead to the condensation of creosote on the surface of the meat if you don't have a clean-burning fire. Beginners should allow the meat to warm up on the counter, but for no more than an hour, before you put it in the smoker. Experienced smokers can put the cold meat directly into the smoker. Some say this helps smoke penetration.

11 Don't invite the family, the in-laws, and the preacher and his wife over the first day you get that new smoker. Practice some, get to know your smoker on a personal basis. Do a pork picnic shoulder, some chickens, then some ribs and finally when everything's coming together, do a brisket. Then invite the whole gang over and wow 'em good.

 

[mballi3011]

All I can add is make sure your thermo-meter is calibrated correctly. If it's wrong so is the snoke.

 

[coffee_junkie]

I would say to give yourself plenty of time. Especially working with three roasts. Also don't get discouraged when you hit the plateau, it seems like it lasts forevor. Don't plan on doing much else unless it is just around the house. And have plenty of beer on hand. Don't forget to give your self some extra time to "finish" in a dry cooler...it is sooooooo worth it. I would plan on getting up early and eating late. There have been a couple of times that we had pizza instead, which is okay because for me I believe the PP is better the next day anyways.
As far as common mistakes I would say that it would be to spike the temp during the plateu..

 

[bmudd14474]

Allow more time than needed. You can hold the pork wrapped in foil in the cooler for a long time. Its better to have extra time then to run out.

 

[the dude abides]

Oh and one more thing to back up what coffee junkie said...

when your temps spike or fall off, make small adjustments and wait 15 minutes and see where they go. Making big changes will cause it to go the other way and you'll spend all day chasing your tail.

Stay out of the wind if you can. I run the top vent wide open at all times and only have the 3 bottom vents open about a 1/3. Then if your temps are low, open the one facing the wind and it will feed the fire better. Too hot and shot that one down first.

At the "average" of 1.5 hours per pound your looking at a 9 hour smoke. I would add 2-3 hours to that. Plus allow another 2 hours for it to rest in a cooler wrapped in towels for the juices to redistribute. If it gets done early, great. No harm there. They'll sit for hours in that cooler staying plenty hot.

Oh yeah, beer and a comfortable chair and quality thermometers for both the meat and the grate temp. I set my grate probe on the top grate and know that my bottom grate runs about 15* cooler.

 

[daddio]

all of the above!!! and as you get better and try more techniques,some of these ideas you'll keep some you'll improve on yourself....my piece of advice....get a notebook or journal for nothing but smoking, recipes for rubs you try and note what you did or didn't like about them,on your smokes make plenty of notes ...temps of cooker what time you started how long you cooked how much fuel you used what time meat went in and came out..at the end of the cook not what worked and what didn't and what you think you need to change....how you prepped meat.....keep it all and refer back to it...i've got one i started years ago and everytime i get a new cooker i pull it out and start a new section about it.... just my 2 cents and have fun

 

[coffee_junkie]

The one thing that everybody forgot to mention (which makes me wonder if we aren't all just rookies pretending) is to grab your camera and take lots of pictures. Cuz if there aint no Qview it never happened!!!!
Oh and have fun and enjoy your complements from whomever is eating it.

 

[waysideranch]

With all the advice and other info you picked up here plus your own instincts, you will prevail. I promise. Get lots of paper towels and licking fingers is allowed.

 

[gnubee]

What Cowboy junkie said!! You only have one oportunity to take qview of your very first wsm smoke and this is it!

My #1 tip is don't peek, and don't let anyone else near your smoker who might peek either. I have a sis in law who just has to peek. I have a super soaker near the smoker to keep her off. Peeking will delay your smoke by almost a 1/2 hour every time you do it.

Organize your lid opening times carefully. Don't saunter into the house with the plate of meat then realize you cant find the foil or the wife is in the kitchen and you have to work around her. Have a work table set up next to the smoker with everything on it that you will need. Have the foil already cut to size and ready to go the minute the meat is ready for it. Do it quickly and get it back in there.

I Have an oven thermometer placed on each rack to double check that what the probe is telling me is correct. I check each one quickly then slam the lid shut. I never trust just one probe to tell me what the smoker temp is. Oven thermometers cost about $5 and are the best insurance you can have. I position the top rack thermometer right under the top vent leaned over so that it can easily be read thru the vent opening. Careful not to lean in too close or you will get smoke in your eyes.

If you have a large afghan dog visiting make sure he doesn't grab a piece of chicken and knock over your table in the process. ( Don't ask ) I now have a really sturdy work table and a dog kennel for visiting hounds.

It is really easy to forget to spritz the ribs or add moisture during the foiling process, I have done that more times than I care to admit.

I now have a list of stuff to do and in what order they shoud be done. Its stuck on a pole right beside my smokers so I don't forget stuff. Its saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

Remember to have fun. Part of that fun is taking some qview for us here at SMFto drool over.