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Slagel Farm spare ribs cut to St Louis from Butcher & Larder, kimchi liquid/black garlic wet rub. Spin in the Big Green Egg with apple wood, finished with black garlic butter. Eminently edible.

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Just ran across this 2000 pic of my made in Texas New Braunfels Bandera. Haven't used it in quite a while, think I'll dust it off tomorrow.

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Nice...that cabinet is full oh meat.

Learned a lesson yesterday. I was smoking a brisket and I didn't leave myself enough time. It was an 8 1/2 pound flat and at the 7 hour mark it was hovering at about 140°. With 8 hungry people and the salad course beginning, I really needed to have this cooked in 8 hours and knew I needed to speed up the process. I removed the water pan and sure enough, at the 8 hour mark it was the requisite 197°, albeit more charred than usual. I let it sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and it was dry. The taste was good but that's the 1st brisket I've done that wasn't mouthwatering juicy. I guess you can't speed up low and slow.

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"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day." Frank Sinatra

You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes

Sorry to hear about that.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

We smoke some excellent Mint Creek Farm mutton chops last night, based on Derrick Riches' recipe. We marinated the chops for a half hour in a mixture of red wine vinegar, a little balsamic, and Dijon mustard. Then applied a rub made with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and mustard powder. Smoked for 2 hours. They were excellent and quite tender.

20 hour smoke time on a 14 pound brisket and some homemade spicy Ethiopian knackwurst that I did over the weekend. This was for an event that I did at my shop, pinch. The rub on the brisket is an almost Texan brisket rub with salt, pepper, ancho, chipotle, mustard, cumin, garlic. The sausage is an emulsified smoked sausage with dried milk, ethipian berbere, garlic, touch of pink salt, pork and a little love. I started the brisket around 6pm Saturday and pulled it off the smoker around 1:30pm Sunday. I let it rest for about an hour and half before cutting into it. The sausage smoked for about 2 hours. I served both with a chipotle bbq sauce and some homebrew.

Beautiful brisket. I smoked a modest 3 pound pork shoulder hunk yesterday, and while the rub and mesquite (intense smoke ring) made it absolutely delicious, it never slumped, and I honestly can't tell if it was overcooked or undercooked. One side of the bone registered 180, the other (the main meaty part) never above 145, and the thing was on from 9 AM until 7 PM, in consistent 250 heat. The result was firm, tasty, sliceable pork more like a tenderloin. Still happy with the result, but no evidence of that total breakdown one wants.

Never hurts to wrap it up in foil for a bit. For example I wrapped that brisket about 12 hours into the smoke session.

I love the idea of berbere as a sausage seasoning

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Well I got drunk and I ate a chicken
I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen
Not just a leg and not just a wing
I'd like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing

It worked out perfect. The spice from the chili's and then all the nice aromatic spices really went well with a sausage. Plus the novelty of making and Ethiopian knackwurst is just priceless.

I know this isn't exactly the right place on LTH but this thread does have tons of BBQ folk paying attention.

Our neighborhood cookoff contest, Meat on Milwaukee 2012, being held this Sunday, Father's Day, at the Six Corners BBQ Fest, in Portage Park, Chicago, still has a couple of openings for contestants. The contest is our first so it's about fun first and competition second. It's for bragging rights and trophies. Although we do have a prize that will be raffled off just for contestants. Barry at Smoque has kindly donated his nicest gift certificate, for one of everything on his menu. a $120 value.

Find the details and the online entry form here:

http://cookoffcontest.wordpress.com

I've been using less and less water in my WSM bowl after reading about your success. I find that I have a hard time getting the WSM in the 220-250 range if I use a full water bowl. Almost empty of water, I can get it to about 230. For some reason, I just can't keep heat in that thing.

I think the first few smokes I had too much charcoal (lump) and it smothered the "fire." Then I scaled back and used less but it didn't seem like I had enough to get it to temp. So then I started playing with the water and realized that if I used less water, I'd get a little higher temp. Now, it's a royal PITA as I have to check the coals every hour or so and stoke them a little to keep the heat but the water trick is helping. I was following "Low and Slow" by the book but realized I wasn't having the same results as mentioned in the book. It was close but variables like lump charcoal brand/size, amount of charcoal (the book's recommended amount just didn't fit in the smoker with the water bowl), outside temp, water levels, etc kept getting me frustrated. BTW, before you ask, the vents are all wide open but the WSM doesn't seem to draft well enough. It's been frustrating, especially after smoking ribs for 5 hours only to have to finish them in the oven. I'm a bit jealous of my neighbor's Big Green Egg at this point. Maybe a b-day present for myself.

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"It's not that I'm on commission, it's just I've sifted through a lot of stuff and it's not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance." - David Lebovitz

Tyrus,

Something doesn't sound right. I've never experienced the issues you are describing with my WSM. Unless it's an extremely cold and windy day, mine seems rock solid temp wise. Now, I'm not saying that smoke/roasting without the water pan is something I never do, but I do it to achieve a heavier bark when cooking at higher temps for things like roasts, etc. I've never had the temp fluctuation issues you describe. I wonder what's going on?

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Yeah, I'm not sure. Here's sort of what I do - fill up the bottom of the WSM about 1/2 to 3/4 full with unlit charcoal (inside the fire ring of course), then pour a chimney full of white hot coals on top. I always use lump wood charcoal and try to buy the "better" brand. Sometimes I use Cowboy but it tends to have little pieces so if I can, I opt for either Big Green Egg brand or something called Wicked Good charcoal. The Wicked Good stuff has huge chunks, almost too big as they have a hard time lighting in the chimney (today I used two whole WS Journals to get the coals white hot).

As I mentioned the first time I had an issue with temp, I thought I had put too much unlit charcoal at the start, which may have suffocated the fire. After that didn't work too well, I tried less unlit charcoal to start and used two lit chimneys full but it burned out too fast and I had to add more.

I haven't used briquettes, so maybe that's an option? I know it's a learning process and I only have about 2 years under my belt but honestly, it's frustrating. I can see why people opt for the "auto" smokers or something less temperamental like the BGE. I do really like my WSM though. I mostly use it for grilling though since I'm not confident enough to try it for a party. We'll see how it works out tonight. I have a 6lb brisket flat that's been on since 9am. I'm going for an 8 hour smoke (hopefully) but I've been messing with the fire all day - adding another chimney at about 12 noon to get the temp above 200 (I also emptied most of the water). It's been hovering in the 215-250 range for the past two hours. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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"It's not that I'm on commission, it's just I've sifted through a lot of stuff and it's not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance." - David Lebovitz

Here's another quick question. I have that 6-7lb flat on the smoker now. It's 3:30 and at about 175 internal temp. Do you think it'll get to the 195 mark in the next 2 hours if I can maintain that 220-225 temp? Would wrapping it help? Should I move it to an oven (gosh, I'd really hate to do that at this point - it may be the last straw that prompts me to get that BGE!)?

I don't have a WSM, so I can't comment on that (I use my standard 22.5" Weber for everything, including smoking), but this one sentence had me scratching my head. Two whole Wall Street Journals?! Maybe there's something wrong with your charcoal - I never use more than a sheet or two of newspaper to get a chimney full of hardwood charcoal going.

-Dan

These last posts probably make me seem a bit crazy. There may be something wrong or at least different with this charcoal. It seems to take a while to get white hot but once it is, it lasts for a while. The chunks are huge so there's a lot of air in the chimney. The problem I had yesterday is that is was also a little rainy - so - I use three sheets, then it burns out but the charcoal wasn't lit (it wasn't wet either - charcoal was a new bag and placed indoors). Then I used three more - then more, then a new paper and finally, I got white hot coals. It did take a while.

Well, the end result was just fine. Foiled the brisket at about the 8 hour mark, pulled it an hour after that, let it rest and sliced away. Pretty good. Not a great bark but good enough. I'm guessing that the low temps for the first couple of hours lent to the bark being not as dark as I wanted but overall, I was pretty happy with the result.

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"It's not that I'm on commission, it's just I've sifted through a lot of stuff and it's not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance." - David Lebovitz

Are you sure you're using charcoal and not actual coal?

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

I would think that foiling would create steam and thus turn the bark from crispy to soft.

You shouldn't need more than a sheet or two of newspaper to start a chimney starter's worth of charcoal. One trick is to wipe a little cooking oil on the newspaper before you crumple it up. This will slow down amount of time it takes the paper to burn.

I use Lazzari sometimes, which contains some really large pieces. These large pieces are great for the smoker because they take so long to burn, but you don't want them in the chimney because they take up too much space and take too long to light. The ideal pieces for the chimney should be roughly the size of your fist -- not so small that they clog up the chimney and prevent air circulation, but not so large that they take too long to light.

However, based on these pictures of Wicked Good, the pieces are so big that they'd cause a problem.

Tyrus,

I also have a WSM and have a very difficult time getting it over 200.

I plan to give mine another try next weekend with different charcoal (I've been using Cowboy).

FWIW, I always use Royal Oak and I've been very happy with it.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

This does sound like a strange problem. I don't own a WSM but every time I've worked with one it's been easy to get it up to temp and keep there (including roasting birds at 300-400 degrees). Combustion is simple, and I think you've already identified the only two possible causes - the fuel or the oxygen flow. Your problem with smothering the fire through an imbalance of lit/unlit coals would be my first thought as well (assuming air intakes aren't blocked). Adjusting to a ratio of even more lit coals and chunks could help. Also, if the unlit lump pieces are very small they can effectively block the airflow through to the fire. If you have a propane turkey fryer burner they work very well for lighting a chimney.

Like Steve, I use the Royal Oak lump quite a bit and have always had very good results in a variety of smokers. Their "Chef's Select" briquettes are very good as well and are worth buying if you choose to try that route.

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It is VERY important to be smart when you're doing something stupid

- Chris

Not experienced with a WSM, but I did use an R2D2 style water smoker for a good long time. I scrapped the included charcoal grate and built a charcoal basket for it. I had a major issues with smothering charcoal in the ash prior to this. I kind of assumed that the WSM's were built much better and didn't have the issue as severely. That being said, on any long smoke you need make sure your coals aren't getting smothered. If you want to kick the heat up you could also add some oak chips or chunks as well.

Side note on brisket.....all good things take time. Kind of like watching a pot boil watching a brisket come up to temp is a frustrating process.

Same here. Never had any sort of temp issues. The few times I've used a grate thermometer, it's usually in the 250-275 range. I have the older WSM model, and this is using the coal method outlined by Gary (basically, the Minion method.) A typical 8-10 pound shoulder usually ends up taking about 6-8 hours to get to the pull-able stage.

For the folks having problems. I assume all your vents are open, right? Also, be careful not to let charcoal spill over into area between the ring and the smoker's shell, as that could suffocate airflow, too.

I've also used briquettes in a pinch, and have found the same thing. The briquettes burn longer (I've done a full 9/10-hour or so brisket smoke on one load of briquettes in the WSM), and the temp seems to stay around 250F for me, too.

Thanks to everyone that replied with their suggestions as well as those who PM'd me. This is why I always highly recommend the LTH community - very helpful folks.

I tried some ribs on Sunday and also had the same temp issues at first and then as the smoke went on - maybe 2 hours in - I stoked the coals and got them hotter. This worked well but also shot the temps way up to the 250-275 range - a bit hotter than I needed. The ribs were a bit overcooked but still were pretty good.

I think the suggestion upthread is the one I'm going to try - lit/unlit ratio. I think that there is just too many unlit coals at the beginning and it stunts the fire. I going to try to get the smoker nice and hot with a couple of chimneys of hot coals and use the water bowl and vents to manage temps.

It's a learning process but it's a fun one. I mentioned earlier that I wasn't getting the same results as the Low and Slow book but that's okay. I think the overall lesson in that book is to learn how the manage the fire, get a feel for temp, and be better able to judge where the meat is in the smoking process. I feel so much more confident about these things because of the book and probably wouldn't have even gotten to these posts if I didn't have the confidence gained from a few early successes with that particular book.

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"It's not that I'm on commission, it's just I've sifted through a lot of stuff and it's not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance." - David Lebovitz

That's a great thought. Also, remember that one of the great lessons in that book, and one that I learned long ago, is to not rely on the temp as much as to get to know how your smoker cooks and get a feel for when the meat is done by the way it looks and feels. I haven't used a thermometer in years. (My WSM is one of the older models that doesn't have one built in).

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Actually, 250-275 is not a bad place to be, esp on a hot day with little wind (I realize you are in MN). You can turn it down from there by closing the bottom vents a little bit.

Also, how long do you wait after you dump your lit coals on top of the unlit coals before you put the body of the WSM on? The longer you leave the body off, the more oxygen the fire has, and the faster your unlit coals will light.

Another great point. My answer is probably not long enough. I think I'll spend more time at the front end, prepping the fire/smoker rather then try to deal with it over the course of a 4-9 hour smoke. It's just so hard to wait for those coals to get hot in the chimney, then light in the smoker - I probably rush a bit and take that 45min-1 hour process down to about 25-30 minutes. Not enough time.

Just picked up some Royal Oak yesterday so I'll be practicing some more.

Has anyone ever smoked a tri-tip (ala Lillie's Q)? I'd like to try that...

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"It's not that I'm on commission, it's just I've sifted through a lot of stuff and it's not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance." - David Lebovitz

A tri-tip is a cut that is more suited to grilling hot and fast, rather than a low and slow smoke. Here's a link to a basic recipe. http://americanfood.about.com/od/califo ... ri_Tip.htm

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child