It's been a long cold winter and despite a couple of nice days, it was hanging right around the freezing mark yesterday. I was itching to get my new 18.5" WSM out and give her a test run.
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I decided to go with something non-critical for the first run and do a double smoked Easter ham. I followed Jeff's recipe from the newsletter and made up some rub and his BBQ sauce as well.
I filled the charcoal bin with a mix of lump charcoal and also some Kingsford Blue briquettes. I got the chimney going and did the minion method. My wood of choice was some lumps of hickory.
I got the spiral cut (already cooked/smoked) ham ready and gave it a smothering of spicy mustard. It was then rubbed down with Jeff's original recipe rub.
I placed the ham in a foil tray on the lower grill and also filled the water pan with some hot water. I decided to try this as I have so often read that the WSM cookers run hot at first. On second thought, with the freezing outside temps, it might have been better to let it go without the water! I set up a folding table as a bit of a wind baffle even if it was a bit on the short side.
I was able to maintain a good temp overall. I played with the lower vents a bit and was able to hold around 245 to 255 deg during the whole 3 1/2 hour run. I let the smoker go even after removing the ham and found that I was able to hold a good temp for about 5 1/2 to 6 hours on that initial fill of fuel. This seems so much more efficient than my Reverse flow offset.
Overall, I was pleased with this inaugural run of the WSM and look forward to some great BBQ off of it this summer! BTW, just after dinner it snowed and covered the ground!
Here is the final product after a couple of bastings with Jeff's Dr. Pepper/BBQ sauce/ honey glaze. It tastes fantastic and I had sammies tonight with leftovers!
.
I decided to go with something non-critical for the first run and do a double smoked Easter ham. I followed Jeff's recipe from the newsletter and made up some rub and his BBQ sauce as well.
I filled the charcoal bin with a mix of lump charcoal and also some Kingsford Blue briquettes. I got the chimney going and did the minion method. My wood of choice was some lumps of hickory.
I got the spiral cut (already cooked/smoked) ham ready and gave it a smothering of spicy mustard. It was then rubbed down with Jeff's original recipe rub.
I placed the ham in a foil tray on the lower grill and also filled the water pan with some hot water. I decided to try this as I have so often read that the WSM cookers run hot at first. On second thought, with the freezing outside temps, it might have been better to let it go without the water! I set up a folding table as a bit of a wind baffle even if it was a bit on the short side.
I was able to maintain a good temp overall. I played with the lower vents a bit and was able to hold around 245 to 255 deg during the whole 3 1/2 hour run. I let the smoker go even after removing the ham and found that I was able to hold a good temp for about 5 1/2 to 6 hours on that initial fill of fuel. This seems so much more efficient than my Reverse flow offset.
Overall, I was pleased with this inaugural run of the WSM and look forward to some great BBQ off of it this summer! BTW, just after dinner it snowed and covered the ground!
Here is the final product after a couple of bastings with Jeff's Dr. Pepper/BBQ sauce/ honey glaze. It tastes fantastic and I had sammies tonight with leftovers!