- Joined
- Sep 5, 2013
- Location
- Auckland...
Hi there
Done a heap of cooks on a 22" WSM over the last few years. Took the unit to a friends place a couple of weeks ago and did a back-to-back cook that kinda failed. I normally cook at about 300, water in, have to recharge the charcoal if over about 6-7 hours, as boiling water sure chews through the coal :razz:. By back-to-back I mean I did the beef short ribs first, wrapped them and did the pork ribs. My intended timeline was 7am-1pm for the beef, then 1pm-4pm for the pork (these at 325). With a serving time of 6-7pm, this would then give me 2-3 hours cushion.
Now, the problem was, I just couldn't get the WSM over 250... so, even though I had the charcoal on by 6:45am and well underway, by 8am at 240, I couldn't wait and had to put the beef ribs on (8 plates, enough to cover the two racks). They then stayed on until 3pm, when I had to take them off, they were wrapped until 7pm then. So the ripple effect continued and the pork wasn't on more than 3 hours (at 250), when I took them off and shoved them in a 400F oven to try and finish.
Well, the beef was the best ever and I had 70 people pretty convinced American BBQ was the world's best cuisine, but of course the pork was underdone - tasted beautiful, but well underdone, which was understandable given they simply didn't get enough time - no complaints about the state of the meat.
So, my question - why couldn't the WSM get over 250, when I NEVER have trouble getting over 300 and holding there for hours? Some thoughts...
1. Windy day (mildly), raining, humid atmosphere (we were under cover), and my usual cooking spot is very well protected. I did try and counter this by having the bottom vents open full all day.
2. Heavily loaded smoker, I rarely cook on both racks, in this case one cook of 8 beef rib plates flat on the two racks, the second cook of pork ribs had 10 racks, 5 to each rack on ribracks. These were big, heavy ribs though
3. All other things were normal (water was put in boiling, charcoal the usual brand)... maybe because people were watching and they put the mokkas on me!!!
4. My guess is that each thing contributed a little and the combination was enough - a bit of wind, a bit of a damp atmosphere, very full smoker.
Your thoughts?
Done a heap of cooks on a 22" WSM over the last few years. Took the unit to a friends place a couple of weeks ago and did a back-to-back cook that kinda failed. I normally cook at about 300, water in, have to recharge the charcoal if over about 6-7 hours, as boiling water sure chews through the coal :razz:. By back-to-back I mean I did the beef short ribs first, wrapped them and did the pork ribs. My intended timeline was 7am-1pm for the beef, then 1pm-4pm for the pork (these at 325). With a serving time of 6-7pm, this would then give me 2-3 hours cushion.
Now, the problem was, I just couldn't get the WSM over 250... so, even though I had the charcoal on by 6:45am and well underway, by 8am at 240, I couldn't wait and had to put the beef ribs on (8 plates, enough to cover the two racks). They then stayed on until 3pm, when I had to take them off, they were wrapped until 7pm then. So the ripple effect continued and the pork wasn't on more than 3 hours (at 250), when I took them off and shoved them in a 400F oven to try and finish.
Well, the beef was the best ever and I had 70 people pretty convinced American BBQ was the world's best cuisine, but of course the pork was underdone - tasted beautiful, but well underdone, which was understandable given they simply didn't get enough time - no complaints about the state of the meat.
So, my question - why couldn't the WSM get over 250, when I NEVER have trouble getting over 300 and holding there for hours? Some thoughts...
1. Windy day (mildly), raining, humid atmosphere (we were under cover), and my usual cooking spot is very well protected. I did try and counter this by having the bottom vents open full all day.
2. Heavily loaded smoker, I rarely cook on both racks, in this case one cook of 8 beef rib plates flat on the two racks, the second cook of pork ribs had 10 racks, 5 to each rack on ribracks. These were big, heavy ribs though
3. All other things were normal (water was put in boiling, charcoal the usual brand)... maybe because people were watching and they put the mokkas on me!!!
4. My guess is that each thing contributed a little and the combination was enough - a bit of wind, a bit of a damp atmosphere, very full smoker.
Your thoughts?
