Hey all. I bought a 18" WSM a few weeks ago and the first smoke went great. I did the basic chicken recipe on this site, and while it took a little longer than expected (~2.5 hours) the chicken was awesome.

Today I am trying my hand at the basic rib recipe. I have 3 slabs on now. But after about half an hour, the dome temp is only about 160. Should I not worry about it? Too much water? I'm concerned it won't get hot enough and they will never finish.

Thanks. Awesome site here.

make sure all your vents are open....you can also prop open the door to help get temp up.

How much charcoal did you put in and how many coals did you light to start with?

I have all the vents at 100%. I lit half a chimney and set that on a chimney full of unlit.

Currently the temp is at 200 on the dome lid. I have a Maverick thermometer I could slide through an eyelet to check the temp at the rack...But from everything I have read, a dome temp of 225-250 is ideal.

Thanks James.

Make sure your charcoal is dry, and your lit charcoal is shooting flames at the top before you pour it on to the unlit stuff for a quicker start. Your lit stuff may have not been going that good. Sounds like you may have not tightly closed a bag after opening it, which is a must. Here in Florida that's essential. Are you are using a Weber chimney, some others are a bit smaller. What kind of charcoal are you using. Myself and a bunch of people on here use Kingsford Blue Label. Some claim that it taints the taste of your meat, but I don't have any problem with it. It burns hot and last long, and sells for $14.97 for 43lbs at Sam's Club or $15.97 at Home Depot. If you can find the 21.6# bags at Walmart and use the coupon found on our website you can get another $6.00 off those or smaller bags.
A cheap way to check your grate temp is an oven thermometer, mine seems to run close to my dome temp on my new 22.5 WSM.

Brian, it seems my bag did have a hole on the bottom. I am using the Kingsford Original (white and blue bag) and a Weber chimney.

Temp on the dome is steady about 220 now. A quick peak through the door showed that most of the water has evaporated.

I am going to put my mop on them and close the vents some to try and keep the temp between 220 and 250.

I will go back and check them in an hour and see how they are doing.

Thanks guys.

All is well guys. I pulled 2 racks at the 4.5 hour mark and they were great. They weren't really "fall off the bone," but they had great texture and flavor.

How would I upload a pic?

Welcome to The Virtual Weber Bullet. Here's how to post pics:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/howtouse.html#photo

quote:

Originally posted by Marques Reed:
All is well guys. I pulled 2 racks at the 4.5 hour mark and they were great. They weren't really "fall off the bone," but they had great texture and flavor.

How would I upload a pic?

Good going Marques, sounds like your spare could have used more time. I smoked four racks of St. Louis spares yesterday at a higher temp. of 250F. showing on my Weber lid thermometer. Seems to be pretty close to the correct temp. at the grate according to my oven thermometer. They were perfect after five hours with a weight of around five pounds each trimmed. This temp. also produced some nice crispy bark on the ribs. Three weeks ago I cooked some spares at 225F. for six hours and were fall off the bone tender, but hardly any bark. So that's where I'm at fooling with different temps.
The Kingsford will absorb moisture big time, probably true of any charcoal, so you need to keep the open bags sealed and tight as best you can. Once the charcoal has absorbed moisture it lights slower and will not burn well, hence lower temps. to deal with, but 225F. is not bad. Saw a special container at Lowe's just for that purpose that would hold a 22lb bag of charcoal. I recommend them, try cooking your spares until they pull apart easily. The internal temp will be 195-200F. when they do. But I've learned on here you can't go just by temps. Your ribs may just reach that temp. and need to stay at that for awhile longer before being pull apart tender.
A few more cooks and you will be a ole pro yourself. This WSM just amazes me how it cooks. And the guys on here will jump in and answer any question you have, even the ole pros.
I forgot to mention the water pan is just for temp. control so if you want higher cooking temps. take it out, some guys on here do not use
any water in there WSM's at all. I like it for pork because with enough charcoal I can leave the WSM for five or six hours and it will maintain its temp, actually with a full load, it will go for ten hours or more with pork shoulders.
Can't help you much with the pics.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Brian Curtis,

Thanks y'all for the responses. They probably could have stayed on a bit longer, but they turned out very tasty. Everyone said they loved them and said they couldn't wait until I smoked some more.

On to the pics.

This is the 3rd of the 3 racks. I took this one off at the 5 hour mark as it was a bit bigger than the other 2.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44013740@N03/4048160715/

And here another pic. I was excited to see the smoke ring!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44013740@N03/4048905536/

I am planning to smoke a shoulder or 2 later this week, but I will probably have to make a new thread with all my questions.

Here are your pics: