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WSM - 4 chickens - top grate

Blue Bag KingsFord (since the B&B let me down with inconsistent charcoal, including foreign matter)
*3 pecan wood chunks (B&B bought from Ace)

Going low and slow for a couple hours then I’ll bump it up.
The goal is for pulled chicken lettuce wraps.
 
for herbed chickens sometimes i will fill can with stock/juice and a whole bunch of fresh herbs, but i usually just half or spatchcock them like you have


as for charcoal, i am assuming you have tried RO's regular ridge briqs, but the brown bag "natural briquettes" for the same 50c/lb price as Kingsford seem to taste a little more strongly (in a good way) than KF.


waiting for the finish!
 
FAIL!!

Temp was going to lower, high 80s to low 70s. I anticipated this and opened the vents the storm came through and passed. Went out to check the. Chicken….. very sooty!! I could literally swipe my finger and streak the chicken. I wiped the chicken off as best I could with paper towels and re-seasoned with kosher salt.
The temp had lowered to below 180 on the lid thermometer, I know it’s not accurate but it’s usually within 10-15 from true grate temp.
I’m ordering pizza!

I’ll still try to salvage this cook but I’m very disappointed in my WSM/myself. I’ll have to determine what went wrong. There’s definitely bad smoke/charcoal heat on this chicken…I’m glad it was cheap. This is how I learned the Shirley cooker, with chicken.
No pics, too embarrassed. Wow! Back to novice stage!!!
 
I like lump in the WSM.
KBB work well in a HOT grill but suck in a minion situation.
Unfortunately RO briqs have gone to ****.
 
SMOKE FREAK said:
I like lump in the WSM.
KBB work well in a HOT grill but suck in a minion situation.
Unfortunately RO briqs have gone to ****.
Click to expand...

Lump for the chicken most definitely!!
I’ve never screwed up dinner so royally!

On top of everything I went past the 40-140 and the wings tasted like camel cigarettes!!
Finished the chicken in the oven but it’s garbage.
 
Hmmmm, having quit smoking this year, caramel cigarettes sounds like something i'd like to eat. Recipe??

Hey, we've all been down this road at some point or another. I know it hurts the ego when the wife and kids don't want smoked anything anymore, been there done that. What I was wondering from your first post I thought to myself......that's a lot of chicken crammed onto one grate, is there enough space for proper air flow there? Maybe the loaded grate choked down the fire?
 
Am I understanding you correctly that a storm rolled in while you were cooking? Cooker soaking wet? This could have a lot to do with the results. Even if your charcoal was dry the moisture in the air might effect the air into the cooker and impede the combustion and making dirty smoke. It would absolutely plummet the temperature. My WSM runs like a dream on briqs and lump but I've never ran it in a storm. Sorry to hear about your bad cook but I wouldn't give up on the WSM, they are good cookers.
 
The WSM 22.5 is a great cooker, but there is a bit of a learning curve. When doing a minion cook, the biggest stumbling block is learning to wait for the smoke to clear up before putting the meat on. Scatter about a 1/3 of a chimney of lit briquettes evenly over the top of the unlit briquettes, open the intakes wide open, then wait for the temp to come up and for the smoke to thin out. Close the intakes down some as the temp approaches your target. It takes 45 mins to an hour from the time you add the lit coals before it's ready for meat. Longer if you want the smoke to be barely visible.

And there's nothing wrong with using KBB for a minion cook. I've turned out lots of great food with it.
 
WilliamKY said:
Am I understanding you correctly that a storm rolled in while you were cooking? Cooker soaking wet? This could have a lot to do with the results. Even if your charcoal was dry the moisture in the air might effect the air into the cooker and impede the combustion and making dirty smoke. It would absolutely plummet the temperature. My WSM runs like a dream on briqs and lump but I've never ran it in a storm. Sorry to hear about your bad cook but I wouldn't give up on the WSM, they are good cookers.
Click to expand...

Yes, the WSM is very sensitive to weather, both wind and rain. I set mine up in the lee of the house to protect it from wind, and I use a patio umbrella if there is any chance of rain.
 
Live and learn. I did something similar when I first started cooking on my WSM. You choked your airflow with too much meat on one grate. Split the meat between the two grates and rotate as necessary.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
That is a lot of meat on one rack, might have effected your temps due to lower airflow to the top vent.
 
All things being equal, there is always less chance of that happening with lump.

This is how I start a cook that I want to go low or low for a couple hours, then crank it up:

Pour in lump, make a small indent in center of lump pile, light 1 Weber cube there.

To each their own, but I always recommend lump in the WSM. (or pellets, per the Best Pellet Smokers thread). :p:p:p
 
Regarding airflow, the single small exhaust daisywheel on the lid is likely the limiting factor. The total empty space on the grate is more than the cross sectional area of the exhaust vent, so I doubt that the meat impeded the air flow.
 
charrederhead said:
All things being equal, there is always less chance of that happening with lump.

This is how I start a cook that I want to go low or low for a couple hours, then crank it up:

Pour in lump, make a small indent in center of lump pile, light 1 Weber cube there.

To each their own, but I always recommend lump in the WSM. (or pellets, per the Best Pellet Smokers thread). :p:p:p
Click to expand...

How long do you wait to put the meat on? My experience has been that lump also makes thick smoke when lighting off. But I'm wondering if it clears up quicker than briqs due to the lower density. I used lump in mine once or twice, but I don't really remember how that went.
 
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