BBQ COOKING LESSONS

The WSM is assembled and the cook has officially begun. From this point on I don't remove the lid and I resist any temptation to peek at the meat. Everything you need to know can be read from the thermometers.

Some people like to mop or spray the butts every few hours to keep them moist. I have done a combination of maple syrup and apple juice from a spray bottle before, but I don't think it really added a lot, other than it looks good for guests. (Hey, a lot of BBQ is about the show and presentation!) After getting the fire properly burning it seems like a waste to open the lid and upset the balance.

Oh yeah, setting the fire. My desired temp range at the grate level is anywhere from 220F - 250F, which is roughly 250F - 280F at the lid. I normally start off with the air vents (the WSM has three air vents located in the bottom section) 1/3 open. That means I'll either have each of the three vents open 1/3 or I'll have one vent open 100% and the other two closed. It depends on the wind conditions on the particular day.

After giving the smoker a chance to settle, you manipulate the temp of the fire by adjusting the vents in SMALL increments. The WSM is a very stable smoker, but if you mess with the vents too much you can cause some pretty wild fluctuations in temp. It is better to make small adjustments and wait to see the results and then adjust again as necessary.

Another note: I believe it is better to have a small fire and run with the vents as open as possible than it is to have a larger fire and have the vents closed down. I believe the more oxygen the fire has the cleaner it will burn.

So, now we wait.

For the record, at the point I am typing this the pork has been on the smoker for about two hours. It has already reached a temp of 132F, which seems to be where it has plateaued. The smoker is running at 223F, with two vents open at 100% and the third vent running at 67%. This is about as close to perfect as I could have hoped to achieve,

The final preparation step -- apply the rub to the mustard-slathered butts. The mustard really is just there to help the rub adhere to the meat, you likely won't taste it at all when the cook is done.

Remember that part you must be ready to get messy? It's called a rub because you need to get in there with your hands and really massage it into the meat.

From here the butts go into a couple of large zip top bags. They'll rest in the fridge overnight and I'll start the actual smoke tomorrow.

Normally I start the smoking process in the evening before heading to bed. These butts will likely take anywhere from 15 - 20 hours and so if I want to eat them for the evening meal they really need to start the night before. However, these will be reheated in a couple of days so I don't need to start them until tomorrow. If you have the smoker configured properly you don't need to babysit these much during the smoke.