I usually will put 4-5 fist sized chunks of wood and then fill the maze with charcoal. It usually takes about 10 lbs of charcoal to fully fill the maze. The maze is about 5 inches deep.

I just had to send my camera off for repairs. When it gets back I will take a pic of it and post it.
[Reply]

I've got the day off Friday so last night I picked up a 10 lb. brisket and an 8 lb butt to smoke.

I've done one other brisket, but it's my first pork butt.

Figure I'll get up early when my girlfriend gets up for work - 5:30-ish, and get started. I've got plenty of work around the house to do, so it should be a productive day!

Woo hoo! :-)
[Reply]

Thanks!
[Reply]

Great looking meat. I just wish I knew 35 people.
[Reply]

Picked up 5 lbs of hamburger meat, a rack of dino bones and 5 racks of ribs. Still need
to get out tomorrow and get another cryo of ribs. As many as I run through, they really
need to be gotten onsale. :-) Looking forward to light off.
[Reply]

Doing either Brisket or Pulled Pork this weekend.
[Reply]

Being from Alabama I almost feel embarassed to admit it, but I've never personally owned a smoker. Well, the old birthday was yesterday and I solved that problem. Told the Missus I wanted a Weber Smokey Mountain and she had her wrapped up and waiting for me when I got home last night. It's been driving me crazy for a long, long time. Not anymore.

And I figure about the time I get her almost perfected I'll be about ready to build my outdoor kitchen complete with a built in Green Egg. At least that's the game plan. :-)
[Reply]

Webber Smokey Mountain is where I cut my teeth on the art of backyard BBQ. I now have a Large Big Green Egg and am thrilled to death with it. Enjoy that webber. It is a helluva smoker. I still have mine and use it occasionally for overflow.
[Reply]

:-):-):-)
[Reply]

Dont forget to wipe down the inside and run some smoke for a couple of hours to season it before cooking any meat in there. :-)
Good Luck!
[Reply]

Nice man! Pics are soon to come I hope.

I got two nice size (8-9lb a piece) boston butts in the brine right now. Will start smoking them about 6pm tomorrow and they should be done by morning. Then ill throw the 3 racks of ribs on.

Never brined ribs before and want to try.. how long do you guys suggest? I figured half the time of a butt (which i do for 24hr) since they are much smaller in thickness.
[Reply]

Richie... (drawn out to about 5 syllables). You need to bring that up here, hang out with me, cook overnight, drink a little Jim Beam, smoke a few smokes, and let me show the art of cooking on a WSM:-)
[Reply]

:-):-) do it richie!!
[Reply]

I've never brined ribs before, I probably wouldn't brine them at all, but let's say I were to...

There isn't that much meat on ribs nor is it that thick, so maybe 2-4 hours for BB, 4-6 for spares is probably all I would do, at least the first time.

I look at it this way, if I under brine them, then it's no loss, I can still eat them and I can always do it longer next time. But if I over brine them, they won't be edible and I just wasted a rack (or more).

Also, keep in mind I don't know how strong you make your brines.
[Reply]

Tomorrow will be beef ribs. Letting them marinade overnight in a vidalia onion bar-b-que sauce I got in Peach Co Georgia:-)
[Reply]

THAT, sounds like an offer NOT to refuse!
[Reply]

good advice. i might do 1 rack in a brine to see how it turns out
[Reply]

I just pulled 2 butts off the smoker and omg they turned out good. I think i hit the money on teh brine, i made it a bit stronger than i normally do which i think paid off because this meat is to die for! even my wife at 1am was like holy crap. im tired and I already wrapped them up in foil to rest for the remainder of the night, but ill post a pic tomm, i got a great smoke ring in it as well from teh soaked hickory i used.

I just had to post real quick not to brag but more to give a praise to CA folks and their mad cooking skills. If it werent for you guys, i wouldnt be so obsessed with making good quality tasting bbq and ribs and would have never known about doing brines at all! Thank you all. Now its time for bed. /delirious out
[Reply]

I love hearing a good "well, I had an idea, and so I experimented with it and WOW it came out great!" story. :-) :-) :-)

What did you use in the brine besides salt?

BTW, I've noticed that some woods leave more pronounced smoke rings than others. I think the most pronounced ones that I've had were from cherry, but hickory was definately up there too.
[Reply]

Stop and Shop has brisket on sale this week. Picked up a 4.5 lb to cook tomorrow morning.

As a refresher, what is my time calc for WSM? I thought it was 75 min a lb? I usually wrap the last 90 minutes.
[Reply]