Have a WSM on the way...

It should be here before the weekend and I would like to put it to use right away. What would be a good first project for someone who's never smoked anything before?

Also, will I need anything other than charcoal and utensils to get started?

Pick up a Boston butt / pork shoulder (or 2) and do pulled pork. Mmmm.

Aluminum tray with water (do they come with that?).

If you are smoking, perhaps some hickory chips. Soak overnight before using. Do you have a local bbq / grill shop?

Remote (wired or wireless) meat thermometer. This is a must have I think.

Beginner's Grilling/BBQ book with recipes (I love this one). It has excellent rubs and sauces, with a billion pictures. EVERY recipe has numerous pictures. You might find this book at Home Depot or local Weber dealer.

I also plan on ordering a WSM in the next couple of weeks. Did you end up buying the biggger one or the smaller one?

I haven't had much experince with smoking measts but have been doing alot of online reading and looking around for good recipes. Have you seen this website dedicated to WSM smokers,

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tour.html

tons of good info.

Looks like there is a water pan as part of the setup.

Does anyone know if the thermometer in the lid is useful. Should I get a remote thermometer to monitor temp within the smoker in addition to the meat itself?

I got the bigger one. Not sure I will need that much room to start, but I figured down the road I might.

I'm on the virtual bullet site now reading up.

Frank-Likes-Beer said:

Looks like there is a water pan as part of the setup.

Does anyone know if the thermometer in the lid is useful. Should I get a remote thermometer to monitor temp within the smoker in addition to the meat itself?

Click to expand...

I would guess the built-in Weber thermo is better than some of the other brands, but you really want to know the temperature of the meat, too. I've cooked multiple pork butts at once and had them each finish at different times.

I just use a couple of the digital thermometers with the long probes and stick them in the meat after the first few hours.

passedpawn said:

Pick up a Boston butt / pork shoulder (or 2) and do pulled pork. Mmmm.

Aluminum tray with water (do they come with that?).

If you are smoking, perhaps some hickory chips. Soak overnight before using. Do you have a local bbq / grill shop?

Remote (wired or wireless) meat thermometer. This is a must have I think.

Beginner's Grilling/BBQ book with recipes (I love this one). It has excellent rubs and sauces, with a billion pictures. EVERY recipe has numerous pictures. You might find this book at Home Depot or local Weber dealer.

Click to expand...

I would reccomend not using chips and using chunks instead. Other than that I agree with all of the above.

Frank-Likes-Beer said:

Looks like there is a water pan as part of the setup.

Does anyone know if the thermometer in the lid is useful. Should I get a remote thermometer to monitor temp within the smoker in addition to the meat itself?

Click to expand...

I do not personally have a WSM but I have heard that the thermo is very accurate but the only problem is that is only gives the temp in the lid and not the temp on the actual grates. The top grate should be about the same but the lower grate will probably be considerably warmer.

On the VB site, it says the top grate is actually hotter than the middle grate. Would that be because the water pan is directly below the middle grate?

In BBQ you always want to know what the temp is where the meat sits (grate). You can buy temp gauges that actuall sit on the grill, but then you have to remove lid to see what temp is or you drill a hole and thd a temp gauge at the grill level or you can get fancy and get one of these:

http://www.academy.com/index.php?pa...essories&start=16&selectedSKU=0260-00575-0993

Frank-Likes-Beer said:

On the VB site, it says the top grate is actually hotter than the middle grate. Would that be because the water pan is directly below the middle grate?

Click to expand...

I think it depends if you're using water or not. With water the lower grate will be the hottest, without water it's the upper grate.

Personally I don't use water. It's just a heat sink to control temps easier. You won't be able to get higher temps than 225-250 with water.

If you watch the smoker carefully, you don't need water to soak up all your heat. You will save a lot of charcoal. Just foil the water pan to make cleanup easier.

I know many people fill the water pan with sand. It still works as a heat sink but doesn't make steam.

I Live in the desert where its super dry. I fill the pan with half Apple juice and half water. It holds temp right at 225 upper grate temp and hte only time Ive had to refill it is on a 16 hour cook while doing a brisket. The WSM is almost too easy to use. But it give you time to work on perfecting recipes since you dont have to worry about temps......ever

w00t

It arrived today. Problem is it won't fit in my car, so I need to bum a truck to get it home from the UPS store.

I just recently started smoking meat but here are few things I've learned:

Not enough smoke flavor is still good, but too much smoke flavor isn't. 5-7 oz. of wood chunks is the sweet spot for me.

Allow 20-30% more time for smoking than what is suggested. Mine always seems to take longer.

If you're doing a boston butt, you can't beat a good eastern carolina vinegar based sauce. I've found the one Edwort posted here to be very good.

I like my boston butt to hit 200 degrees on the smoker, then pull it off, let it rest for 30 minutes or so, then pull. It's juicy and tender but with good texture.

Frank-Likes-Beer said:

w00t

It arrived today. Problem is it won't fit in my car, so I need to bum a truck to get it home from the UPS store.

Click to expand...

It should fit if you take it out of the box unless you have a small car. I can fit a 55gal drum into the back seat of a corolla and a camry with no problems and the WSM is pretty much the same dimensions.

The bigger WSM is massive!

Frank-Likes-Beer said:

w00t

It arrived today. Problem is it won't fit in my car, so I need to bum a truck to get it home from the UPS store.

Click to expand...

Nice. I have to order mine soon. Hold on, I get payed today. Sweet

Yeah, I have a Jetta and the box the 22.5 comes in is huge. I got a buddy that's gonna grab it tomorrow so hopefully I'll put it to use this weekend.

ruffdeezy said:

The bigger WSM is massive!

Click to expand...

Thats the one I am talking about. It is almost identical to a 55gal drum.

ruffdeezy said:

The bigger WSM is massive!

Click to expand...

QFT. I put it together tonight and it's way bigger than I imagined it would be. Don't think I'll have time to do a butt this weekend like I wanted, but I'm thinking some ribs and/or brisket are not out of the question.