Doing My first smoke this morning with my new 18.5" WSM. I was planning on only doing two pork butts, but I told people I was going to smoked some meat today and they gave me meat to throw on for them.

Got started about 4:00 CST this morning lighting a full chimney of K. I filled up my charcoal ring with unlit K and added 5 pieces of apple wood to it. Coals got hot in about 25 minutes and I put them on the unlit coals and smoke wood.

Then I foiled the bottom of the water pan and put it in the smoker and added probably around 1.5 gallons to it. I put the lid on to let it heat up, but the lid temp shot up to over 350F so I closed most of the vents and let the water cool the flame back down. Once it got down to about 250F I added 2 pork butt to the bottom grate and 2 to the top grate that I had seasoned with a mustard slather and rub. I stuck in my temp probe to one of the butts and put the other on the top grate and closed it.

Right now the transmitter is reading 234F and the lid is reading 200F, not sure why such the discrepancy. It is a bit windy outside this morning and that may have something to do with it.

I couldn't find my camera this morning so I took some pictures with my cell phone. I'll post them below.

I'll keep posting through the day. Hopefully it turns out ok.

your high initial temp was due to the full chimney of k; you really only need to use 20-30 briqs worth (see here) but GREAT job in getting the temp back under control. sounds like things will turn out fine!

quote:

Originally posted by Sean S.:
your high initial temp was due to the full chimney of k; you really only need to use 20-30 briqs worth (see here) but GREAT job in getting the temp back under control. sounds like things will turn out fine!

Agreed. How ever I go with even less lit about 10-15. and when the cooker hits 200* I shut all vents down to see where she sets in. then slowly start opening the vents to bring it up to temp. I do not use water, never have so with water you may need the higher amount of lit. As far as the dome temp, the thermommeter could just be a bit off. Things look good , Keep the pics coming.
Graz

After about 1.5 hours my temperature probe on the top grate has settled in at about 220-225 after playing with the vents a bit. The dome is still reading lower ~195F, but it may just be off. Between the two I am still in a good range. From what I have read on here, with water in the pan, its pretty hard to screw this up too much. I only have two vents open about 20% each.

Meat temp has started to slowly rise and right now is at 102F after starting cold at 45F.

look forward to the finished product

Hey Derek, Here is a link talking about the difference in temps that you are noting. Also there was talk on here (i couldn't find the thread) about how the Weber Term. is reading lower than the actual. Stick with the grate temp and you should be fine. Sounds like everything else is under control and enjoy the PP tonight!!!

quote:

Originally posted by KevinJ:
Stick with the grate temp and you should be fine.

Yeah I have been sticking with the maverick temperature reading at grade. I checked the vent temperature with a meat thermometer this morning and it was reading pretty close to the temp probe.

I plan on opening it up to take a peak here in a little bit, I'll post a picture after I do. The WSM has been running steady between 220-230 all morning with no problems. Its a bit windy today (of course) but at least its warmed up a bit here in KC. Right now the butt is reading about 163F after about 7 hours.

Here are the pics at ~halfway through. I am guessing they will get a darker bark more near the end of the smoke?

close that baby up! you're letting all the wonderfully controlled heat out.

what are the temps up to internally?

Yep they will get darker as you go. I cooked 3 butts (24 pounds) for party tonight on my 18.5, i put all three on top rack. Started at 9PM last night and cooked all through the night. They just finished. I use sand in the pan foiled. Works alot better for me than water. Burn less fuel and one less thing to maintain. You just cant let the temps get high initially. Like someone said earlier when they hit 200 I close down til i stabalize and than open a crack........You have it under control though!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Sean S.:
close that baby up! you're letting all the wonderfully controlled heat out.

what are the temps up to internally?

Right now, the butt I have the probe in on the top rack is at 163F. I hope to be done around 7:00 tonight or earlier.

Looks Great Derek!
Please, don't forget to bring some of that over here when you're all done

Just a comment, the temperature has stalled at 163F for about the last hour or so...is this normal? I know eventually it will keep going up, just seems odd that it has kind of plateaued.

Plateauing is normal. I will sometimes have a butt plateou at say 160 for 2-3 hours.....

Derek,

How did everything turn out? Any pics of the finished PP?

I meant to post last night, but I did not get them off till 11:00 last night. Took 18 hours to get ~195F. I had to take one off after about 15 hours and had only reached 180F, but it stilled pulled relatively easily and tasted amazing. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the pork after it was pulled. I foiled the other three last night and put them in the fridge and went to bed. I am reheating one of them today so I can pull it and freeze it.

Here is a picture of the finished product.

I skimmed off the solidified fat from the water pan this morning and I am thinking about using it to make BBQ sauce. Are the drippings still good to use if I heat them back up to kill any bacteria?