Drewed's 22.5 WSM thread

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FIRST SMOKE:

I thought I'd start with something easy for a first smoke.   BEER BUTT CHICKEN.


Instead of beer, I went with hard cider.  Not sure it was the best move as not only were the cans to tall, but the subtle flavor of cider didn't come threw.  


Had to pour the cider into soda cans for "insertion."

Water pan is full of sand.  

Next issue I found was that a with full charcoal basket in a new WSM the temp will "run away," even with a auber fan control.  I was running a steady 250ish for the first hour or so, then the rest of the coals took and I was over 350 next time I checked.  Whoops!  

I disassembled the smoker and shoveled most of the coals into my grill.  I then loaded up a "fuse" method.  Just a ring most of the way around the outside of of the fire basket.  This worked much better.  You really don't need a lot of fuel to keep this thing at temp!

Gasket kit and cover hinge are on the way, but even so, I'll be sticking with the "fuse."
 
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Good so far , Drewed . no failures yet
confused.gif
 .

Use screw-ups as a re-make into something else  .  .  .

Have fun and . . .
 
Nice looking chicken. I have done quite a few beer can, cider can, pop can chickens and honestly can say that I've never really got much flavor from whatever was in the can. I think its more a novelty than anything else. Adds a bit of moisture to the bird, but you can achieve a moist bird without it too.

As for lighting this is how I light my 18.5 WSM, my mini-wsm's and my UDS.

1. Fill the entire charcoal ring with briquettes or lump. Add you smoke wood (3-4) 2"-3" chunks on top.

2. Place the body and lid on the base unit. Open all vents wide open.

3. Light torch and stick in one of the lower vents. Run torch until pit temp is 25°-30° above your preferred pit temp. remove torch and allow smoker to settle in. If the smoker drops 20°+ degrees below where you want to be repeat the torch.

4. Adjust vents as smoker comes up to temp you want to be at.

Using this method I can get a 14-16 hours @ 265° cook time on the mini and a 20+ hour cook @ 250° on the 18.8 or UDS. You will also not have the white smoke that you get when initially starting.


Body and lid removed for clarity
 
4th of July weekend.  The perfect time for pulled pork!  Here is a shot of the "fuse" I tried to use to keep the temperature at a sane level.  It didn't work.  Not enough fuel to keep the temp up.  The fan never stopped running.  I rebuilt it about 2 hours later.  Much better results


Mid smoke shot.  Just added the beans so there is a lot more smoke than normal.  


Bean shot!


The Beans were great!  However, I didn't foil the butts, and while they were still tender and juicy, the bark was too heavy in places and was bitter/ burnt.  I also ended up with pork shoulder, and not boston butt.  Not sure if there is much of a difference.

I've decided that people who don't foil also like to set their marshmallows on fire when they toast them.

A little bit of finishing sauce fixed all problems

Just for fun I thought I'd try ABTS!.  I ended up with some "vegetarian" as I ran out of bacon!  Oh the humanity!


I over cooked them!  How do you get the back cooked all the way through with out torching the outside?  2.5hrs @225.  Still, we ate them all!  I will be making these again.  I just need to fix the cook problem.  Perhaps with a pre-bake of the bacon?

 
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I don't use that much wood. Maybe that's why it was bitter? I am sure others will chime in that know a lot more than me.
 
As far as i know there is 2 parts to the pork shoulder the pick-nick side and the Butt side and i am going to agree with trueteam on the too much wood has caused your bitterness
 
Gotta say, I agree with Case about the beer can chicken.  Thought maybe I was the only one, but I've NEVER been able to taste the beer.  Tried a dark, med, and light ale side-by-side, and couldn't tell the difference.  About the only difference I saw was moister chicken--and you can get that by brining.

Gary
 
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