My first smoke guidance please

[appwsmsmkr1]

Hi all
So I finally got enough courage to do my first smoke. Here are the stats

It's 29* in north jersey today.
I have a 22.5 wsm bullet smoker
My first smoke is 1 slab of baby back ribs and 10 chicken thighs.
Water is in the pan
1 bag of charcoal
Apple wood chips (lowes doesn't sell chunks. Def going someplace else next time)
Temp of the smoker is about 205*
All vents are open

Should I add more charcoal?

 

[pgsmoker64]

Are all the coals lit or did you use the minion method?  You will need about a half ring of coals for a 5 hour smoke.

If you want to get the temp up on a WSM try taking the lid off for a few minutes.  This provides a chimney effect and the temp will go up considerably, but be careful.  A little goes a long way.  Remember, you will also be removing the lid to put the meat on.

For the BB ribs I do a 2-1.5-1.5 method.  Bare on the smoker for the first two hours, foil for 1.5 with a splash of apple juice, sometimes brown sugar, parkay, and honey in the foil - meat side of the ribs.  Remove from the foil and back on the rack for 1.5 hours.

I don't do thighs much but from what I can remember about 3 hours at 225 should do it.  For chicken I like to crank the temp up to about 275 for the last hour to get the bite through skin.  You might want to do that in the oven.

Good luck and let me know if you need anything else.

Bill

 

[appwsmsmkr1]

Bill thank you so much!! So far it did go up 10 degrees. Yes I did the minion method. It took a while to get it all lit. I'm guessing bc it's cold (no wind today) I'm going to lift the lid now. Brb

 

[pgsmoker64]

My pleasure.  I'll be checking on you to make sure everything is okay.

Bill

 

[appwsmsmkr1]

Oh man that worked!

 

[pgsmoker64]

Awesome.  Make sure your top vent is wide open and control the temp with the three bottom vents.

Be careful when you put the meat on because the temp can run away.  I usually close all three vents when opening the lid unless I want the temp going up.  This won't stop the temp from going up but it will slow it down a touch.

Hang in there!   Let me know how those ribs turn out and be sure to post a Q-view.

Bill

 

[appwsmsmkr1]

Omg thank you Bill so much!! Oh I plan on posting pics!!!