# New WSM & DigiQ DX arrive in North Pole Alaska!



## Medo (Feb 17, 2010)

Greetings from North Pole Alaska, all,
Well, since nobody in the interior of Alaska carries the WSM, unless I take a chance and hope the Home Depot might get in a couple, they do every 3 years or so, or I drive 400 miles to Los Anchorage, I decided to bite the bullet, so to speak, and order one. Now, for all you folks that gag over paying 10 bucks to ship something....it cost 91 bucks to priority mail it from Minnesota to Alaska. No one other then the company that hooked me up would even bother trying to ship it up here, if I didnt want to pay the 200 bucks UPS wanted for their "ground" service to Alaska. What a joke. Anyways, thats the price I pay to live on the edge of the frontier. Anywho, the WSM showed up, in undamaged shape, mind you, yesterday, along with my order from BBQ guru. And to top it off, my pancake holster for my Ruger Alaskan 454 Casull showed up as well. All these goodies in one day!. Since this sunday is my 50th birthday, I splurged, and got all these goodies. I have a whole brisket in the beer fridge, which will be my first low and slow ever. Yeah, I know, start small. Well, the wife said the hell with that, lets do a whole brisket!.
So, this weekend, sub 0 temps not withstanding, I will attempt an overnight brisket cook. Alot of firsts. First time ill be 50 as well   . Unless I made it to that age back when I was a viking...i cant remember anymore, dratted former lives. 
I will let you all know on here how it goes, so you can have a chuckle at the 50 yr old BBQ noob going full bore where angels fear to tread. 
Thanks to the virtual Bullet site for oh so much information. As well as Greg and the radio show, and this site, of course. 
I bid you all a great day!


----------



## ScottyDaQ (Feb 17, 2010)

Good on ya ! 
Go for it. Don't forget the pics.


----------



## Greg Rempe (Feb 17, 2010)

Now you're cooking!!


----------



## Helen_Paradise (Feb 17, 2010)

Congrats on your WSM!!  Also, a happy early birthday you ol' fart!!!  :P


----------



## Vermin999 (Feb 17, 2010)

Congrats on the WSM and Guru. Which WSM did you get?


----------



## bbquzz (Feb 17, 2010)

Congratulations on the WSM and Guru, I use both and love'em. Happy 50th come Sunday too


----------



## BluzQue (Feb 17, 2010)

Happy Birthday Ole Man  
Great Score on all the goodies!
ENJOY  :!: 

 8)


----------



## surfinsapo (Feb 18, 2010)

Good deal.... Cook away!!!!!!!


----------



## Captain Morgan (Feb 18, 2010)

Congrats...now the fun begins!


----------



## Shores (Feb 19, 2010)

Happy Birthday to You, Medo! Sounds like you treated yourself right. 8) Really looking forward to the pics of your first cook!!!  

There's nothing like that smell of smoke when it's so cold outside! And once that brisket gets to going you'll think there's nothing better! 

Enjoy your first cook!


----------



## Medo (Feb 19, 2010)

Thanks all, for the support, and the violent attack on my age     
I got the 18 inch. Ill see if I cannot justify the 22 down the road  
So, it turns out that my inaugural brisket broke the scales at 17 pounds. I didn't realize just how big this bad boy was.
Using the brisket guide on the virtual bullet, I dived in, hacked the hell out of the thing trimming fat, learning the point from the flat,
and in general feeling like a butcher. I didn't do too bad a job if I do say so myself, it looks pretty good. 
So, after reading about 5 million brisket rub recipes, I settled on the following. 
1/2 cup Onion Powder
1/4 cup Kosher Salt
1/4 cup granulated Garlic
1/4 cup Spanish Paprika
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Black Pepper
2 Tbs Mexican Oregano
Plain Yellow Mustard for rub glue
Sounds like a lot, but there must have been 14 pounds left after trimming off that fat, and I used the whole shebang on it, without going overboard I do not think. It sure smells good. I had to wrap in in foil, then plastic wrap just to get it covered back up, its such a huge beast. I then tossed it into my beer keg freezer, which has a external thermostat that keeps it at a balmy 37 degrees, to marinade in its rub, till tomorrow night, so itll be about 20 hours or so in there. 
I hope to get a few pics of it before I throw it on, and then during and after. I should have took some prep pics, but, it was the first time I had ever worked on such a large piece of meat, and I wondered if I had being a butcher in me, let alone the mess i made on the dinner table, not having a cutting board large enough for this chunk o beef. Apparently, I do have some butcher in me, I had a hoot carving the fat off this bad boy. 
So, thanks to Al Gores global warming   , we are enjoying a small heat wave up here, its been hitting 38 above, and should continue through saturday, so when I get home tomorrow, Ill be tossing this thing in for about a 19 hour marathon. 
I have the Guru all ready to go, so, we will see how this all pans out.
Adios, for now .....


----------



## cookking (Feb 19, 2010)

Man o man! I'd like to shake your hand to wish you a happy birthday and more so for you determination to have good qued food. Hey, having that 454 in a pancake holster is something too. How bout posting some pictures of your experience with that WSM. 
We've had a colder than normal winter down here in southern Louisiana this year and I'm sure you'd consider this vacation weather(wait, some people do consider this vacation weather). Anyway have a good weekend up there and good luck with the bears and other wild critters.


----------



## Nick Prochilo (Feb 19, 2010)

Happy Birthday young man! Don't forget the pics!


----------



## TRD (Feb 19, 2010)

Happy b day.
Need to see pics how that monster fits onthe 18 1/2.


----------



## Toby Keil (Feb 19, 2010)

Congrats and don't forget to post pics of your cook.


----------



## bigwheel (Feb 20, 2010)

Dang young whuppersnapper...Happy Birthday. I can remember the day I hit the Big Five O myself...sorta. Once a person hits that particular magic number events just seem to blend themselves into a mosiac of sorts. Plain old Spanish Paprika adds some color mostly brown. Nuttin like the snow blinding bright red stuff the chili cooks use but fortunantly it dont add any flavor either. They say the Hungarian version has flavor but I cant taste it. My taste buds and nose functions ceased to work at about the age you are now. I think Mexican Oregano is the top half of corriander seeds aka Cilantro. Now why anybody want a brisket to taste like that I aint sure. Next time dont be so creative. Go buy some beef Fajita seasoning and use that. That should work. Glad to hear you got a large bore pistolo in case some old affection starved Eskimoe lady decide to attack. Now for Polar Bears just curl up face down in the snow sorta like an Armadillo. This part bound to be right cuz it come on the NatGeo channel. Plust I pay attention to Griff a lot. 

bigwheel


----------



## Griff (Feb 20, 2010)

Happy birthday kid. I hate to even mention this at this point but I just checked and Amazon has free shipping INCLUDING ALASKA on WSMs. WSMs don't always ship free to Alaska but frequently do. You have to read the fine print every time. Its UPS ground but big deal, its's free. I ordered my brother in law one on the free shipping deal thru Amazon and he lives in King Cove, AK. As you probably know, the only way to King Cove is plane or boat. But they made good on the free shipping. It was UPS ground to Anchorage and air freight on PenAir the rest of the way. They didn't make any money on that sale. Plus if you order it thru the Amazon button on this board Greg gets a little kick back to help finance this operation.

Tell me more about the Ruger .454 Casull. Is that a double action? I thought about a .454, but finally went with the S & W Alsaka Backpacker Extreme .500.

It's been real warm here in Anchortown also. Almost like an early breakup.

Don't forget to post pics of the cook.


----------



## Medo (Feb 20, 2010)

Hey Griff,
Amazon must just like you folks down south then. I even called them and they said they only ship the WSM to the lower 48. Period. So, I tried to order it online anyways. When I added it to my basket, it says the following "Special Shipping Information: This item can be shipped only within the contiguous United States."
So, I ignore that, tell it to go to checkout. It gets there and says you cannot ship this Item to Alaska and stops the checkout process. In fact, I just tried again this very minute, just to make sure something didnt change so I didnt look like a bobo. It again nicely told me that Alaska is no place for a WSM.
So, Im not sure how you all did it, but they have absolutely refused to ship it up here to North Pole. 
Guess its a mute point anyways. I cant return this one, I just did a 17 hour brisket in it!   
Soon as I can resize the pics and stuff, Ill post the whole shebang up here for all to see. 
     Oh, and that .454, its a DA. Think of a .454 Ruger Super Redhawk, with the barrel lopped off at the end or the frame extension. The only barrel on it is the barrel screwed into the extension, so its very small for what it is. I got a simply rugged pancake holster and his straps for wearing it mid chest, and it is a good to go deal. 
      Gotta run, I think dinners almost ready. I think we are having ......wait for it.......brisket


----------



## Medo (Feb 20, 2010)

Greetings all,
I am going to attempt to document what I did. Ill try not to bore. 
Last time, you remember, I had trimmed, rubbed and refridgerated the brisket. Well, I woke up sick and stayed in bed all day till about 4. I then forced myself to get up and start things.
First, heres the grate mod I did so I could attach the guru vent on the bottom hole without it getting in the way of the grate.
[attachment=9:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 007 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
I then prepare the coal and smoke wood. Amazingly, I had great success with the Cowboy lump coal I got at Lowes, and heard so many bad things about. In the end, it burnt almost 19 hours on one filling.
[attachment=8:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 015 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
I got everything ready, fired up the chimney, and got a small batch of coal going, dumped it in the middle hole of my stack, and proceeded to assemble the bullet. Thats when I found that my coal pile was so high that the water pan sat about an inch off of its holders. So, I did what any sane man would do. I put 2 gallons of boiling water in the pan, and figured it would settle in as the coal burnt up. And I did line its outside with foil.
I left out the bottom rack, put in the top rack, slapped the meat on, and setup the guru probes. 
[attachment=7:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 019 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
I goofed and didnt take a pic of the brisket raw and just tossed on. Dee dee dee. Anyways, I connected everything, and turned on the guru. And thats when the fun started.
[attachment=6:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 020 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
I kept notes which I will copy here with a few more pics.
[attachment=5:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 022 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
Ouside temp 40F
4:30 pm Placed Brisket on the Barby. Meat temp 39F
Also place Guru Insulated cover on.
[attachment=4:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 033 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
6:00 pm 30F outside, WSM 234F Meat temp 99F
7:00 pm 25F outside, WSM 225F Meat temp 144F topped off water.
11:00 pm 20f outside, WSM 225F Meat temp 169F Checked water 3/4 full
2:00 am 20f outside, WSM 225f Meat temp 169F Flipped brisket, sprayed with apple juice
[attachment=3:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 029 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
9:00 am 15F outside, WSM 225F, Meat temp 188F Sprayed with apple juice
Noon 35F outside, WSM 195F Meat temp 189F Removed from WSM
[attachment=2:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 034 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
Wrapped it, and threw it in room temp ice chest for 2 hours
[attachment=1:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 035 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
Now, to the beer freezer!
[attachment=0:3081mcdq]1st Brisket 20 Feb 2010 036 (Small).JPG[/attachment:3081mcdq]
Time for Dinner. I think were having.....wait for it....yeah....brisket?   
Ill report on the food later. 
A great day to all!


----------



## bbquzz (Feb 20, 2010)

Looks like a fine job breaking in all that new equipment. Great looking brisket .... the beer freezer is super.


----------



## Medo (Feb 20, 2010)

Oh my God....
Thats what my wife kept saying over and over as we ate dinner. I have never in our 26 years seen her make a fuss about anything I cooked, quite like this, ceptin for my lasagna maybe   
My 8 year old said it was the best food he ever ate in his WHOLE life. 
I must say, it was outstanding. I cannot believe that I cooked it all by my lil ol self.
 I cannot believe how well it came out, how well everything went,
and how fun it was. 
So, I guess me and my WSM, well, remember what Rick said to Louie at the end of Casablanca
"I think this is the beginning, of a beautiful friendship".
Happy Birthday to Me!
Thanks for the support folks. I got alot of info from here and the virtual bullet. Im sure I would have hosed it otherwise....
A great day to you all!


----------



## cookking (Feb 20, 2010)

Congrates on a job well done! You got me hungry for some brisket, NOW! This being a first for you, I'd Love to see when you master that WSM. When are you doing some bear?


----------



## Shores (Feb 21, 2010)

Medo, real nice looking first smoke. Let your new addiction begin!!!


----------



## Captain Morgan (Feb 21, 2010)

congrats!!!


----------



## Nick Prochilo (Feb 21, 2010)

Medo, with a guru, skip the water in the water pan. Crinkle up some aluminum foil, like lasagna noodles and put 2 layers of those in your water pan. Then cover the top of the water pan with 2 layers of HD aluminum foil making sure to indent it so the grease has a place to sit. When your done with the cook, remove the grease with 1 layer of foil and add a second layer and your ready for your next cook! I've been using a guru for years and this way will work fine!


----------



## Griff (Feb 21, 2010)

Great job Medo. Isn't this warm February weather something? You and your family are now officially hooked on the WSM.


----------



## Medo (Feb 21, 2010)

Thanks Everyone,
Your right Griff, the family is now officially going to try and BBQ everything. Nothing like a new addiction for my birthday.
This weather is really a nice lil break thats for sure. I was out in my t shirt most of that cook, even at 2 am when I was flipping it.
So, we took the ton of meat that was left, and cut it into dinner sized portions, vacuum sealed them, and tossed em in the freezer.
Ill turn some folks at work on and get their input. 
Well, Im going out to play before the weather turns on me. 
Thanks again for all the positive input.
And a Great Medos Birthday to all!


----------



## ScottyDaQ (Feb 21, 2010)

That looks perfect !


----------



## Medo (Feb 23, 2010)

Thanks all,
I took what was left, cut it into 6 pieces, vacuum sealed and froze them. Kept one, and gave the 5 away to self appointed critics, that I usually use to test my new beers on. They will let me know tomorrow what they think, and lets hope I can stand the critcism, I am such a tender soul you know. dont want to kill anyone for dissin my brisket  :twisted: 
Ill post the feedback on here. Boy, am I sold on brisket.....


----------

