VIDEO- Harry Soo (of Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ): "Getting The Most Out of Your Weber Smokey Mountain" (1hr:24m)
Harry Soo is an award-winning Grand Champion pitmaster and cooking instructor, specializing in easy, mouth-watering recipes for the home cook on the inexpensive 18.5" Weber Smokey Mountain smoker.
Winner of season one of BBQ Pitmasters on TV, he has 27 Grand Championships and more than 80 first place trophies including a history-making first place in all four categories in the 2009 Way Out West BBQ Championship.
Incredibly, he competes against the $10,000 rigs with Weber Smokey Mountains! Yes, you read that correctly. His website, SlapYoDaddyBBQ.com has recipes, a blog, his class schedules, catering info, giveaway drawings, and more.
In his Seminar we will make him give up all his secrets so we can get the most out of our WSMs. Optional homework in advance is to read his blog article on WSM seasoning and fire control and my article on the same subjects. Harry and I disagree on some minor things, so we'll see if he can convince me.
As a student of Harry Soo, I can say that my knowledge, perspective, and passion has been advanced by 2-3 years. I have a 22.5 WSM and thanks to Harry and Meathead my mistakes are far and few between!
Yes I took is class and it was awesome. I highly recommend it. As much as I disagree with competition style cooking, I learned quite a bit. I don't compete, I eat!
That right there was worth the price of admission... Great Interview!
Glad you liked it GB! There's a lot more great info and fellowship to be had in The Pit so I hope you're planning on sticking around and being an active member. When you have a moment please read my Welcome Letter as well as my Tips post. Tip #1 is especially super awesome as it will show you how to complete your signature. Huskee also has a great write up on how to post photos.
Nice hat Harry. I just signed up today and this interview was worth the cost. I have a 22"Weber Smokey Mountain and once I broke it in I can cook at 225 F to 275 F. I still have not made the 16 hour mark but I am close to that mark using the Minion Method.
I agree Fred! I have not hit the 16 hour mark either. I am considering sealing the feed door on my WSM 22.5. I gave up on the Minion Method. I have difficulty controlling temp after 2-3 hours. The Fuse Method is what works for me.
I am unclear about a couple points in Harry's interview hopefully someone might be able to shed some light on. First, I tried placing a brisket above my butt, letting the brisket drip onto the butt as Harry says he does in competition, and it washed nearly all the rub off the butt. So possibly the butt goes in an hour or so earlier?
Second, I'm unclear about the spraying schedule and how it's accomplished. On one hand Harry says he sleeps until about 4am and gets up to wrap his meat, and on the other hand he says he sprays every 20 minutes! But how's this spraying accomplished? Is it misting indirectly through the door, to increase humidity in general? Or do you think he directly sprays the meat, popping off the lid and opening the door every 20 minutes? And again, what about the rub being sprayed off with early spraying?
I tried his version of the Minion method, burying six pieces of tennis-ball sized chunks of wood at the bottom of the charcoal, and then put a little over half a chimney of coals into the volcanic depression. After about 5 minutes I don't think there was a piece of wood left and the monster plume of white smoke had blocked out the sun!
I watched this for the first time last night, and I had the same question as your second question. I went to his website and looked at some recipes. Three rib recipes called for three different processes. One had spritzing once bark began to form (recipe said 2 hours), with no wrapping. Another had no spritzing, just wrapping after the crust formed. The last combined the spritzing and wrapping - spritzing after 90 minutes and then wrapping once crust formed. The brisket recipe also called for 3 hours of spritzing after 6 hours, then wrapping at the 9 hour mark.
Clearly, this is all different. In the comments section he explains that yes, sometimes he sprays and sometimes he doesn't. Here's my best guess:
- When he says he sprays every 20 minutes during the last third of his cook, that could be talking about more of a backyard cook rather than competition.
- During competition, for ribs at least, it depends on when the dryness starts to occur with the fingernail test. If he feels it is drying relatively quickly, let's say 60 minutes in, he'll spray, based on his two-thirds, one-third guideline. You don't want to wrap it for too long. Ultimately, it seems this decision can only be answered with experience, which makes sense.
The same logic could be applied for bigger meats. If you want to wrap a butt at 160, and it passes the fingernail test before 160, you can spray. Once the crust is formed, spraying and wrapping should not remove any rub if done properly. Now, how does he decide whether to spray his butt/brisket in competition, or just say eff it, sleep til 4, then wrap? I don't know, probably because he's not human and is actually a wizard.
I'd love to hear from people more knowledgeable than me to see if this makes sense.
Last edited by OneCharmingPig; March 9, 2015, 03:50 PM.
Reason: Gave it more thought
I just want to thank you, MH, for putting this together. Between Dr Blonder's salt seminar and Harry's WSM info I've gained a lot of knowledge that I have started to put into practice. BTW my pit is an 18.5 WSM, so I was very happy to see Harry doing this program. Just the few nuggets of WSM info he gave will move me to the next level of Back Yard BBQ. I am extremely happy that I became a Club Member! Thanks
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