New Years Day WSM Adversity Overcome! Inspirational w/pics!

So, I posted my frustrations with the weather New Years day here. I had 6 slabs of babybacks that I was looking forward to smoking on the WSM but the weather had me concerned. But, because of the posts following mine on that thread, I was inspired and decided to forge ahead regardless of the bitter cold. However, as you'll read below, there were challenges presented, but there's a happy ending here for sure! Here we go:

First, of course, I had to prepare my babybacks with my rub:

Easy enough...

Next, I figured I should shovel my concrete deck, which was relatively easy:


Time to open up the WSM and get ready to light up right? Well, this is when I faced a hurdle, to say the least:

I don't know if you can tell clearly from this photo what's going on but it was frozen! Frozen water--a block of ice with old coals mixed in. All I could say was "Holy sh*t, what the hell do I do now?"

BUT, I had an idea:

As you can see, I figured why not just light my starter on that mess and maybe it will melt everything? I just added that extra sheet of newspaper for a little more burn.

I also decided to place the middle cylinder over the starter with the side door removed. In just a few minutes, it was a beautiful site:

It's working!

After the chimney was nice and hot but yet a few minutes away from being ready for the cook, I took it down and dumped out what, hopefully was going to be a bunch of dirty water from the bottom of the WSM.

The good news: the icy mess definitely melted and it did pop out of the WSM. The bad news: It hadn't melted completely and was essentially a dome of ice and the small grate that holds the charcoal was stuck on the bottom of the dome. (sorry no pic--I forgot to take one)

So, lifted this dome and started to smash it on my concrete deck hoping that it was loose and melted enough to break apart. After about 5 good wacks:


And the bottom of the bullet which was a mess was now ready:



I even fired up my gas grill for the sole purpose of heating up the 2 WSM cooking grates so I could clean them with ease:

Little tip from me to lth. This method works great if you have a gas grill. You need some good heat-resistant gloves though. BTW, that's some pulled pork burning away which was left on the grill grate from a few months ago.

Eventually, things got back to normal and the bullet was ready to roll:


And about 3 hours later...

Although the bullet was consistent at approx. 190 degrees through the whole cook, and it was about 0 degrees outside with the windchill, the ribs were done surprisingly quicker than the last time I made babybacks. BTW, in case Prof. GWiv is reading this, don't be pissed about the oven thermometer! I already graduated!

Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the adversity. Mainly, I'm proud I didn't give up and that the ribs were a hit!

Wow. Impressive dedication -- and impressive results.

great-looking ribs.

and i think you may have inadvertently hit upon the easiest way to clean your WSM. let the whole thing freeze up and then just pop it out all in one piece.

you just reminded me how much i am not looking forward to opening mine up after not using it since last summer. yuk. but you also provided some inspiration for breaking it out.

hmm...'sposed to be fairly warm this weekend......

elakin wrote:hmm...'sposed to be fairly warm this weekend......

it sure is... and I've got a few slabs left in the freezer, and shoulder is 99c / lb all over town. I'll be firing it up for sure.

the sleeve wrote:Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the adversity. Mainly, I'm proud I didn't give up and that the ribs were a hit!

Sleeve,

Kudos, using the WSM, or any outdoor cooker for that matter, when the outside temp is in the zero range presents real challenges and the trick with the charcoal chimney is inspired.

the sleeve wrote:BTW, that's some pulled pork burning away which was left on the grill grate from a few months ago.

A few months? Months...........

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

the sleeve wrote:BTW, that's some pulled pork burning away which was left on the grill grate from a few months ago.

A few months? Months...........

Enjoy,
Gary

Hey, what can I say? I'm man enough to admit that I'm still a beginner. However, my wife just reminded me of the fact that I just finished my 3rd bag of 40lb Nature glo since May--95% of which was used on the bullet. Just imagine how many I'll go through in 2008!?

the sleeve wrote: Well, this is when I faced a hurdle, to say the least:

I don't know if you can tell clearly from this photo what's going on but it was frozen! Frozen water--a block of ice with old coals mixed in. All I could say was "Holy sh*t, what the hell do I do now?"

I committed the same mistake that you did, but fortunately for me, I did it in the summer---My WSM was loaded with water.

The WSM's top lid fits into a channel in the middle section----Unlike a regular Weber charcoal grill ( The lid fits over the bottom section ). This little design difference allows water to deflect over the side (regular grill) but drip into the WSM.

As much as I hate to, I keep my WSM covered when not in use to prevent "flooding"

Hi,

My WSM is 27 years old. The only section I have replaced is the bottom fire chamber due to this water catching feature. Fortunately it cost less than $35 to accomplish this.

Regards,

seebee wrote:

elakin wrote:hmm...'sposed to be fairly warm this weekend......

it sure is... and I've got a few slabs left in the freezer, and shoulder is 99c / lb all over town. I'll be firing it up for sure.

Well, 60 degrees on a January Sunday in Chicago? Little prodding was needed for me. I didn't have as many slabs as I thought I had, but it's time to start the New Year's diet anyway, so I didn't buy more. I also didn't do a shoulder, but decided to smoke roast up a few whole chickens. I did this a few times over the summer, and the last time I did one, I froze half of the chicken after vacuum sealing it. When I thawed and warmed it up, I vowed right then and there that I was going to do quite a few of them next year, and load up the freezer. REALLY good stuff, and it held up very well flavor/ texture, everything. what I've been doing with these smoked birds has been one of those meals that I'm proud of: smoked chicken in mole. I haven't come across a decent store bought brand of mole yet, but it's fun trying the different brands. Any suggestions for some GOOD stuff out there? I haven't tried the telopatlan (pricey stuff) just yet. I have tried the Rogelio (bland) and Dona Maria (ok after doctoring, but still not 'good')

60 degrees on wildcard Sunday? No brainer snack at the seebee household. The tips were stellar if I do say so myself. I am so glad I learned how to do these right. The smoke ring may not be as pronounced as others I've seen that do great work, but these had some really good smoke flavor:


On to my birdies. I rub em down with my secret stuff that is pretty much a standard rub, but with a good amount of different ground chiles namely ancho, chipotle, and pequin. Then I fill the cavity with something citrusy - whatever I have around. I was using lemon balm and kefir lime leaf over the summer, today I only had the lime leaf on hand (forgot to clip and freeze the lemon balm before summer was over.) These birds were just absolutey SPILLING juice when I lifted them off the smoker setup:


After a healthy 30 minute rest, it was time to carve. I love how the lime leaves permeate the flesh. I highly suggest anyone try this, and watch your dcs' faces light up with amazement at the citrusy zing:


Um, you know when you roast up a bird just right, when you actually start thinking, damn, even the breast meat looks good?


Final plating. Listen, this was just me and the s/o. We drank a lot of very expensive tequila last night, and though not hungover, I was just not up for going to far overboard. If it was a dinner party, I would have jazzed it up by doing a sour cream, chipotle and cilantro in a blender sauce, and drizzled it over everything, but this was still good.


By the way, after being a staunch single malt guy for the past 5 or so years, I am slowly turning to the dark side of tequila. I had a few last night that were smoother than one of my current favorite single malts lately, a Balvenie 30 yr. I also had a tequila that had almost no tequila flavor at all, and finished like smooth caramel. I think my friend (whose bar we were in) said the bottle of that was like 700 dollars - 20 years ago when he bought it. He is fastly becoming my favorite neighbor.

Anyway, please try smoked chicken in mole. The smoke from the chicken and the earthiness of a good mole are absolutely made for each other. And if you know of a good storebought brand for me, please let me know.

Happy belated New Year as well!

P.S. 60 degrees on a January day in Chicago. Should we be getting scared??

Here's how I spent a bit of my Sunday afternoon in Montreal today:




Just a bit over a meter of snow. Yee-hah!

So now I'm ready. Altho' it's the bottom end of an electric bullet, I use it for charcoal smoking and cooking as well. I start the coals with the electric, then let them go it alone, usually with some local Quebec apple wood thrown in for flavor. Messy, but effective.

A couple of flatirons for tomorrow...

Geo

My hat's off to you Geo. I don't think I have it in me to brave that. but, really, you never know. If I saw some decent spares at 99c lb, or a shoulder or brisket for an unbelievable price in the dead of winter here, I might think otherwise.

I received my WSM as a Christmas gift a couple of years back so I was like you guys...smoking ribs amidst the snowdrifts. But since my WSM was brand spankin' new I didn't have frozen water to deal with.

Good looking ribs, Sleeve!

And Seebee, with the mild temps yesterday, I had the same thought as you. But, I was too lazy to go procure the necessary pork for a smoke.