Smoker thread alert... When I first bought the Weber Smokey Mtn I would document temperature and vent positioning for future reference. Well, it turns out this little champ is too damn easy... Sunday I bought two 13lb packers at HEB ($.68/lb). Here's my smoking log - 9:30 pm Food on. 10 pm Temp at 250, vents at 25% That's it. Sucker stayed pegged at 250 all night. Didn't touch it. Took the briskets off, wrapped in foil, and put on some chicken and added a couple handfuls of charcoal at around 10 am. A couple hours later we're eating. Sorry - no pictures. Old timer with limited computer abilities.
I've heard 225 is ideal, but figured since my thermometer read 250 in the top vent at the hottest point the brisket on the racks wouldnt be in bad shape. Turned out fine, nice smoke ring, not dried out (pulled them off at about 185 internal temp). Cooked them a little faster than on previous tries (about 12 hrs) but that was fine by me.
I had my most stable WSM session this weekend. With all vents at 25%, it was steady at 220-225F for about 12 hours. I think I used to allow too many coals to light before getting going. Now I do one full chimney starter's worth, and don't give it too much time to spread before assembling the whole thing. I also found that starting with hot water makes the temp stabilize faster. So yeah, WSM is like smoking for dummies. Or lazy people. Or just folks like me that like overnight brisket, but also like sleeping.
I like the idea of a WSM. I just need more space in my smoker for the amount that I end up smoking. Try fitting 4 racks of pork spareribs on a WSM. Hell, even gettin 1 rack on there is tough.
I like low-and-slow. Lots of people try to get around it. I haven't seen that work yet. Maybe THIS method does. I'll let somebody else try it first.
I just wish that the WSMs held more meat. Here is a graph from a recent cook on my offset. The graph stops when I wrapped the brisket. The smoke ring was a bit thick. I should have wrapped it a little sooner.
What did you use to chart your fire and meat temp? That's exactly what I'm looking for. I make process control equipment for a living and was thinking about using obsolete equipment to monitor and historize those temps. It would be the equivalent of having a $50k control system on a $400 backyard smoker. I'd rather not have to go to that extreme if I don't have to.
