New WSM

[jeffc]

Hi all,

I got a new WSM a week ago, and have a couple questions.  I smoked some spare ribs and country style beef ribs last weekend and some chicken legs this week.  I noticed particularly on the country style ribs, but also on the legs that they kind of had a burnt flavor.  The heat on the ribs never got above 230, and the legs never got above 250.  It was Jeff's rub with the brown sugar.  I have used this same rub before at thos heat ranges and never had an issue.  Water pan was full too.  Any ideas?

Thanks!!

 

[thesmokist]

To much smoke would be my guess

 

[jirodriguez]

Also keep in mind the WSM runs hot when you first get it. The lid therm is only good for a rough rule of thumb, you need to use a calibrated therm to get an accurate reading on each grate level temp. Once you have that compare it to the lid therm, then you can make the mental adjustment on future smokes.

 

[b-one]

What type of wood and how much are you using. I normally use 4-5 chunks and let the heavy smoke burn off before putting the food on.

 

[b-one]

And the thermometer at grill level not the dome is great advise.

 

[jeffc]

I used pecan with the ribs and apple with the legs. May have had too many chunks of wood in fire bowl. I will lighten it up & keep at it. Thanks for all the answers!!