WSM: it makes me look good

last week i held a party. about 10 people attended. i smoked 3 st. louis cuts of spareribs, plus the trimmings, plus a 3 lb pork shoulder.

despite the ravages of the sun (keeping my temps 50F too high no matter what i did), despite pathetically bad operator error (top vent closed for first 3 hours of smoking, just when the vent needed most to be open), despite this being only my second use of the smoker, and despite doing far, far more meat at once than i've ever cooked by any method: everything came out awesome.

frustratingly, the pork shoulder wasn't tender enough to pull, so i chopped it, and took quite a lot of guff from my guests. it wasn't as crispy as i'd have liked, either. this may have been because it was on the bottom rack and spent 7 hours being dripped on by the ribs.

the ribs, eh? they came out incredibly well, the best ribs i've made to-date. smokey but not too smokey (due to operator error, the smoke escaped through the door for the first 3 hours, mostly bypassing the ribs), tender but chewy, juicy but not watery. close to perfect.

i got some accolades from the only admitted southerner of the bunch. he's taste-tested most of my ribs and i think these were his favorite so far.

now, i've brought myself up to speed on theory during my grilled rib attempts, so i am not entirely a newbie. i trimmed those three racks like i was a certified butcher. but mostly, it was the WSM making me look good. the next day, i spent 30 minutes cleaning up and that was that. it's really an incredible smoker.

they say water smokers don't make crispy pulled pork. they also said a grill makes a poor smoker and they were right. but maybe they're wrong about my water smoker. we'll see.