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The Silver Eagle and the Black Bomber

Wait maybe I got that backwards . . .o_O

Anyhow after 6 hours the temperature had dropped from a steady 245° to 220°.

I poked up the coals and it's back at 245°.
 
It ran another 2 hours. The temp declined very slowly until finally after 8 hours it had fallen below 200 on the dome. I did poke it a second time, but it was useless.

But the 10lbs charcoal and a handfull of applewood it was more than enough to do ribs.

Next time it will be mixed briqs and more applewood. I should have smoked the ribs with more apple but a shorter time or slightly cooler too.

I have some cod in the freezer. Maybe I'll try smoking that Friday. The applewood seemed plenty delicate for fish. My beef ribs definately needed more apple.
 
This went 5 hrs before we peeked. It looked done enough, and it was.

The temp was steady as a rock the whole time, and I never touched the door or poker once.

I cook ribs until they crack easily when bent. I never use time as a gauge. Looks like you hit the mark just right with five hours.

That "steady as a rock" temperature level is what sets the WSM miles above any other affordable smoker. They stay so steady you would swear the thermometer is stuck. No other smoker under $1,000 can do that. Those crazy offset deals are just horrible at keeping a steady temp without constant monitoring and tweaking and feeding fuel.
 
I'm always amazed at how even the temperature is. When I initially lit it I let it hit 265° then I closed the vents about 95%. It dropped down to about 245° and stayed there for over 5 hours.

After six hours it had dropped to 220° but when I poked it up it went back to 240° and it stayed there real close for another 2 hours & slowly it dropped below 200.

I would say you could easily run in for 8 hours on 10 pounds of charcoal.
 
Okay I'm doing chicken quarters and beans today. Geez I should open a cafe. I'm having way too much fun.

But my cooking's not that good yet.

I'm hoping this will help me learn to do this: I bought a cheap digital meat thermometer.
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The Dome thermometer is 265° right now but the chicken is cooking much slower because of the beans and the water.

I've got three huge chicken quarters in there and 4 or 5 pounds of baked beans plus 2 gallons of water in the water pan.

Regular Kingsford Charcoal & no wood chips, but some dry lumps of charcoal that I accidentally made from expensive hickorywood. That should provide enough smoke.

I'm shooting for a 4-Hour burn on this one. People say foil the water pan and don't fill it up because you'll get crispy skin. I'm trying to do this a little slower and I'm going to put barbecue sauce on towards the end to slow it down even more.
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Those are from huge California chickens and they're probably full of hormones and things you don't want to think about as you eat them.

I didn't actually buy the thermometer to do chicken but I had to try it out.

I bought a big pork butt and injected it with marinade. It's wrapped up in my fridge right now with a mustard base type rub.

I'll save that for Sunday.
 
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This is something that I've always wanted to do, but have never really had enough time for until retirement.

It was a rare day when I could invest much time in cooking.

Now, I'm going to indulge myself.

:D
 
Obligatory chicken photo:
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I started out with the beans on the bottom rack to catch all the chicken drippings as they smoked. About 2 hrs. Then I moved them up.

Moving them to the top rack was a little tricky, but I had to taste them.

The beans were fabulous and the chicken was very good. I could have cooked it 30 minutes in foil and it would have been better, but the bones pulled right out and the meat was quite juicy.

Normally I would buy a better quality free-range chicken but these were already marinated and they were huge.

Unfortunately this manufactured Factory chicken creature was not the same as what you grow in the country and you can taste the difference. They don't get enough bugs in their diet . . . No exercise, too many hormones, I dunno.
 
20170422_112936.jpg Well today is my first big chunk of meat. This is a 7 pound pork butt. It's only been marinating for a few days but I injected it with my own marinade concoction wednesday.

I'm using a combination of Applewood and Hickory again. I will let this one go about 8 to 9 hours.
 
Well I cheated and ran the temperature up about 255, and the meat still stalled at about 165 degrees after 5 hours.

I don't know if it makes any difference but this is a bone-in roast.

I gave in to Temptation and wrapped the meat in foil and stuck it back on the grill and cranked the vents open so it went to 275.

When it hit a hundred and ninety internal temperature I opened it back up, saved the juice in the foil for gravy, and put it back on the grill.

The grill stabilized at 255 degrees and the meat right now is stalled at 196. Some pieces pulled off on the foil and they were quite tender but wrapping it in foil ruined the bark. It's all going to wind up in the gravy.

I Also just threw in a couple potatoes on metal skewers and a foil package of vegetables. It's been on since noon, so nearly 8 hours so far, and I'm going to let it go another hour. I'll let the surface bark up a little bit more, but I can tell already I'm not going to like the aluminum foil method. I really never liked it on the propane grill either.
 
Almost 10 hrs since I lit the coals:

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The bark developed okay, but it was so done that when I tried to pick it up off the grill it split apart along the bone. I need a giant spatula.
20170422_213408.jpgCrookneck squash, zucchini, smoked sausages, baked potatoes & country gravy.

It came out great. Really better than I expected I thought I had messed it up by putting on foil. Not a bit, and the gravy was teriffic.
 
CMQ~

I have a ten-pound (yellow mustard and dry rubbed) pork butt on my WSM right now. Gonna check it about four AM but I really think it will go much MUCH longer. Four AM is just to make sure that the WSM is holding its temp. My ten pound butts usually ride about 10-12 hours before they reach 198-degrees. I know the WSM will keep a steady temp for at least eight hours totally untouched, so I will check it for the first time them.

This evening I also made some fantastic cole slaw to go with it. The slaw needs a day to really blend its flavors. Just in time for pulled pork being ready to take to work wiff me.
 
Well it sounds like great minds think alike.

Monday I pulled pork & bagged it with sauce then made cole slaw , so it was quite ready tonite. I braised up some of the pulled pork & made big pork sandwiches with slaw and opened an Angry Orchard (I'm kind of a cheap date when it comes to alcohol) which I think goes good with BBQ.

I don't know why, but slaw just goes with pulled pork.
 
CMQ,

Every now and then rather than slaw I sub with "bread and butter pickles" with my pulled pork and a nice wet sauce.

Angry Orchard is some tasty beverage!
 
We always used to get Mrs. Fanning's bread and butter pickles out here, but for some reason I don't see them on the shelves anymore.

Other companies do make bread and butter pickles, but they're not the same. They don't know about the secret drop of whatever that makes them different.
 
Its Friday crunk up the weber rib time. Baby backs simple dry rub. Light the fires and kick tires. 5 hours to go.20170519_142232.jpg 14952227038911104068819.jpgI just use chimey worth of quality charcoal couple soaked hickory chunks. I have an old cast iron skillet in there for a water drip pan. Had this old kettle quite a long time i look at the new ones with the ash trap eeasier intake vent adjustment and built in thermometer i get close to grabbing one but im such a cheap bastard and this one keeps putting out good food. Ive enjoyed reading your post on the wsm your putting out some good meat looks like. Not sure if i want to fidget with all the little doors and such though. Am i being to stuck in my old ways. 20170519_142232.jpg 14952227038911104068819.jpg
 
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