Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker: The WSM Experiment

Most girls receive a piece of jewelry for their birthday. Maybe some flowers, or a new purse, or, well, actually I don't even know. Because I am not in the know when it comes to stereotypical, cliche, bland gifts.

No. What does my husband give me for my first married birthday?

This baby:



And did I slap him in the face?

Heck no. I slapped him high five. As he puts it, win-win for everyone. I get a smoker and he gets to eat smoked meat. And I'm actually THRILLED about it.

Quick back story: One day I fell upon a BBQ Pitmasters marathon. I'm pretty sure BBQ is in my DNA, as my mother is from the South and I spent many a day drinking sweet tea and eating pulled pork at Bessinger's in Charleston, South Carolina (which I will review one day, officially).



Also, if you notice, I wrote this little dandy of a review: Arthur Bryant's BBQ, Kansas City which shares my experience of driving almost entirely across the country and making sure that we made a pit stop at one of the most renowned BBQ joints in the country.



Then, we went to Nashville, TN, and I dragged Brad to numerous BBQ joints, one of which you may recognize from Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives:



And let's not forget to point out that I obviously have documented evidence of all of these establishments. So, BBQ must be in my DNA. It's certainly in my blood. Still with me?

So, I was watching BBQ Pitmasters, having an early mid-life crisis, and decided that I could do that. And then I started getting all of these grandiose ideas about rubs and sauces and smokers. And then, one of the BBQ pitmasters, Harry Soo, said he cooked with a WSM. Wheels began turning...

And then, it turned out that one of the ladies I work with has done competition BBQ before, and she gave me a whole magazine, some tips, and a sample of her rub. It was all coming together. I just needed the smoker...

And on April 9, the smoker came to me. Sincerely, set up was a breeze, and I had the whole thing ready to go in under twenty minutes. I ran towards Home Depot, which I can drive to on autopilot at this point, and purchased myself some pecan wood and some cherry wood. (Also picked up hickory, but haven't used it yet.) I threw some coals into a coal lighter, and proceeded to spend the next hour and a half trying to get the coals to light.

Not fun.

I have heard that common sense advice: Don't use lighter fluid. So I didn't. I tried tequila (didn't work). I tried paraffin wax (didn't work), and then I just gave it the old cardboard try and finally got something going. It was a cold day, in the 40s, and I quickly learned that it would take a lot more coal than the instructions recommended because of the temperature. Also, because I filled the water tub as it asked, and probably didn't need all of that water, which makes it more difficult for the little bullet to get up to temp. But, after much struggle, I finally got it smoking:



I rubbed down my boneless ribs with some applewood rub, slapped it on the grill, and proceeded to battle with the temperature gauge for the next 5 hours. I felt like the workers on the Polar Express, shoveling coals into the oven, trying to keep the fire hot. After 4 and a half hours, I opened the top, glazed the ribs with some agave, and let them try to get a nice bark. It wasn't quite hot enough, but they certainly looked pretty good:



The real test is the pink smoke ring. So I sliced them open and found:



Looks pretty darn tootin' good for a first attempt.

Tasted mighty fine also, if you don't mind me braggin' a bit.

And now that I have a better understanding of my new smoker, I think I could make some pretty wonderful things. I'm definitely excited to give it a whirl this summer. Come on over, but, as Si does, BYOB. Even if it is just sweet tea.

Until I learn how to make beer, that is...