The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

I'm still rocking the weber smokey mountain and use it all the time. Taking out the water pan allows the top rack to get to temps up around 350-400 with a decent sized fire in the summer, and if hotter temps are needed, the middle section can be removed and the rack can be put right on top of the coals. I've gotten rid of the sidebox/charcoal/gas grill I had and just use the wsm for everything now.

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lukethedrifter
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by lukethedrifter »

Vertical smoker? Seems like easy way to control one leg of the smoker triangle- consistent temp reaching the meat- aka heat on the meat. How is it with maintaining consistent fire temps?

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

lukethedrifter wrote:Vertical smoker? Seems like easy way to control one leg of the smoker triangle- consistent temp reaching the meat- aka heat on the meat. How is it with maintaining consistent fire temps?
Yes, it's a vertical smoker and does a great job at maintaining temps. The biggest complaint I have is getting it hot enough, especially with the water pan in even if it the water pan is dry. That seems to block air flow or something. But, it's a great little cooker and Weber has great customer service.

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lukethedrifter
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by lukethedrifter »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
lukethedrifter wrote:Vertical smoker? Seems like easy way to control one leg of the smoker triangle- consistent temp reaching the meat- aka heat on the meat. How is it with maintaining consistent fire temps?
Yes, it's a vertical smoker and does a great job at maintaining temps. The biggest complaint I have is getting it hot enough, especially with the water pan in even if it the water pan is dry. That seems to block air flow or something. But, it's a great little cooker and Weber has great customer service.
What temp are you shooting for?

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Like 300 or so.

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lukethedrifter
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by lukethedrifter »

Seems high. 225-250F is the range I’m familiar with.

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33anda3rd
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by 33anda3rd »

I use the same rig as AW. I like it. My wood guy sells me bags of oak cut down to 5-6 inch chunks and I have no problems maintaining 225-250, which is where I like it to sit. I also, like AW, will pull out the middle and make a hot grill when in the mood. Japanese binchotan charcoal is great for this.

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lukethedrifter
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by lukethedrifter »

Do you burn the oak by itself or for smoke with coals?

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

lukethedrifter wrote:Seems high. 225-250F is the range I’m familiar with.
That's a pretty normal range. But, for some items especially poultry, I like a higher temp at the end to get a little crisp on the skin. Brats don't need to cook at 250, either, I've found. They get plenty of smoke and lose no moisture a little hotter. Jalapeno poppers (jalapenos stuffed with creamcheese/cheddar cheese and wrapped with bacon) need to start slow to get the cheese hot and inner side of the bacon hot, but need the heat at the end to crisp the bacon. Etc.

For those instances where you'd want 250 to climb to 300 pretty quickly, it has trouble doing that especially with the water pan in there. With a big green egg or pellet grill or electric smoker, I think you can get that extra temp much more quickly. But, to be fair, we're talking about a very specific complaint. And, as I mentioned, without the water pan, this problem is somewhat mitigated.

Still, if you're asking if I like it because you're in the market, I can't give it a big ole thumbs up and lead you down a path without pointing out any faults as well.

Another thing, at first I noticed that it 'leaks' a lot of air. So I went ahead and got some gasket to put around the door in the middle section and around the top ring where the lid sits. That seemed to restrict the flow of air out of the smoker and as such prevented hotter fires/higher temps. This makes sense as there are three vents letting air in and only one letting it out. The gasket at the lid burnt off after about 6 months and I haven't replaced it. The gasket around the door remains in tact though. Probably because the hot air rose and kept trying to get out at the lid melting the gasket adhesive.

But, yeah, for a pork butt or ribs or anything that requires a constant 225-250 temp for hours on end, it's great, imo.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

lukethedrifter wrote:Do you burn the oak by itself or for smoke with coals?
Weber recommends/maybe even states that only regular kingsford charcoal should be used with wood chunks. There was a reason for this that escapes me now. But, cooking with only wood would oversaturate the food with a wood flavor, imo. And, I say this based on using more than a chunk or two of wood with a coal fire can do that on sensitive foods. Even poultry can get a woody flavor with more than a couple chunks of wood.

Personally, I load up on kingsford charcoal when home depot sells the two ~15 lb bags for $9 around memorial day and labor day and use that then buy the big kingsford bags of cherry, apple, hickory with hundred or so chunks for $15. They last forever. There's also a shop around here that sells individual chunks of wood for like $0.50 a piece of more specialized wood.

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