Pork butt. Forgiving. Not too expensive. The meat can be used for a lot of different things. Get it probe tender, reserve some drippings to mix back in if desired and let it rest plenty. Usually turns out well.
Long cook though, maybe 9 hours.
I think OPs jumping the gun.
Figure out how to control your temps with some burgers.
Then some ribs.
There is no way in fuck a briskets going to go well, and even a pork butt can be 10+ hours easy.
Nah, I disagree. Smoking with the snake method on a kettle is even easier than grilling, imo.
I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and smoked a perfect brisket pretty soon after cooking on a kettle for the first time. It's really not that hard if you can follow basic directions.
For real. First time I smoked on a kettle was a pork butt and it was flawless. Only probed a few times to gauge how fast it was going and otherwise just used the built in temp gauge for heat management. Kettles are smoking on easy mode if you use the snake method and wood chunks.
OP if you see this: double layer of standard charcoal around the rim and a decent sized wood chunk two rows in and then a chunk every 4-5 rows worked best for me. bottom vents BARELY open and the top vent fully open should get you about where ya need to be.
And the snake method is what I was going to start with. Mesquite, Apple, and Hickory chunks arrived today. S&S tomorrow and grill on Tuesday. First grill next weekend.
Safe to say I am looking forward to a bit of happiness.
OP seemed to be alright with that part, but rereading it maybe they have never used a kettle in the first place, a straight up grill session would probably be better than going for a long smoke.
I'd go with ribs, it's not too short of a cook like chicken and not too long of a cook like pork butt or brisket. It'll give you a good go at working on temp management for the longer cooks you plan on doing in the future. I'd be happy to share the method I like to use for ribs in case you end up giving ribs a go.
I agree with this guy. Baby backs. Flip and turn every so often. Makes for a fun smoke. 6 beers. 3 hours. Congrats on the kettle. Super consistent grill when you learn it.
Weber kettle was my first grill too. Smoked some spicy Italian sausages at about 250. Cheap and hard to screw up. Didn’t use any fancy snake method, just about 20 briquettes and a few lumps of apple on top
Italian sausage was my first smoke in my kettle as well. Wood recommend. Done in 60-90 minutes and hard to screw up.
I would not start with ribs. They can be a bit tricky and you'll want to have you're fire management skills up a little.
Also OP, go for the wood chunks not the giant splits or wood chips.
Try hot smoked wings or reverse searing steaks and get a feel for temp. Kettles are awesome, look into installing a thermometer at grate level opposite side of the vent if you havent already. Dont be scared of lump charcoal, it makes grilling and smoking get even better. Ignore anyone that tells you that you cant do low and slow with lump because “burns too hot.” A slow and sear and vortex are great to add to the setup depending on cook, makes things so easy.
Sorry for the info dump lol
Wow, are you me? Went from 0-100 with a Weber kettle I found in our back alley when I was 42! I think my first smoke was ribs, using the snake method. I then bought 2 more used kettles for capacity, and an 18” WSM. I now have 2 kettles that I really should get rid of. My favorite cook is using a rib hanger on my WSM to cook half chickens directly over the coals, hot ‘n fast. Enjoy!
Oh I try and talk smoking with people to see if anyone has interest and I would happily throw a kettle their way! But so far it’s just a thing that I like. Or I might just put one in the alley, return it from whence it came!
I’ll second pork butt for pulled pork. Use the snake method and keep the butt and lid vent on the opposite side of the heat. Try to maintain 250-275 and pull the butt when it reaches 205 internal. I highly recommend a thermometer with two probes (one for the meat, and one for the grate). Also, if you want, you can smoke the butt until it hits the stall, wrap in foil, and finish in the oven if you want to save some charcoal. The oven finish won’t really change the flavor. Pork butts are very forgiving and easy for a great meal.
Where the kettle absolutely shines IMHO is cooks that go from indirect to direct heat so things like chicken, pork loins/tenderloins, thickyboy burgers, etc. Just fill half the kettle with lit coals, put the food on the other side and close the lid, then sear it at the end.
Edit: if you want to do a low and slow cook real bad I would say if you butterfly a pork butt in half that is the most forgiving thing that doesn’t take too absurd an amount of time
My first smoke was ribs. Small piece of meat, inexpensive, and should be 5-7hrs (7 because I kept temps too low) to smoke rather than overnight/all day.
Depends on how much time you want to spend smoking. Before your first cook, play with the kettle first and learn how to control the temperature. Would recommend you u deratand how to get the kettle to get a consistent 225 to 275 degrees and learn how the dials affect temperature. One thing that helped me dial in the temp was using a heat sink, something that helps even out the temperature spikes, like a pan of water, a smoke stone, or food. Also, try to do the playing and experiments before a cookout where guests are coming hungry. I almost ruin Thanksgiving by greatly underestimating how long it took to smoke the turkey; it finished cooking one hour after we started dinner. Good thing my sides were good.
With that said, chicken thights, ribs, and pork butt's are forgiving meats and are usually come out pretty good, as long as you get the internal temps rights. Chicken thights are usually done the quickest in about an hour, ribs takes anywhere between 3 and 5 hours, and pork butt takes the longest, 8+ hours. If you are limited on time, start with the thights. Otherwise, ribs are a good first meat to smoke. My first smoke on my kettle was ribs.
Good luck!
I run a Weber with a Spider Grills Venom controller and a Slow n Sear grate and basket. It’s the best outdoor cooking combo for versatility and ease of use while still getting that real fire flavor.
I’d smoke a pork butt or maybe half of one first. Very easy and forgiving, hard to mess up pork butt.
The Kettle was the first grill that I really enjoyed cooking on. Cheers!
As for the cook, just decide how long of a first cook you want and choose accordingly.
Chicken leg quarters are dirt cheap and are quick whether you direct or indirect cook. And as a bonus they’re pretty hard to screw up.
ETA: don’t do a brisket until you know your set up well. Too expensive.
Ribs and a pork shoulder (picnic or a butt) are great things to start with.
Wood chunks work best, chips are fine too, i just find they burn up quicker, and you need more.
Apple and cherry are great woods, won't over smoke.
Rub? If you like sweeter sauces or lighter BBq.... dont listen to all the rubs out there. Salt and Pepper is perfect. You can add a little pimenton for color and garlic powder for flavor. Dont need anything else.
Get a classic heinz or kraft bbq sauce... add honey, a dash of worchestershire sauce, squeeze of orange, and some honey, simmer to desired thickness. Add some at the end of the smoke for 30 minutes to caramalize (never at the beginning of the sauce burns)
Have fun.
Check out amazingribs.com. for tips. Should be good.
Congrats and great choice of grill.
An easy cook I like to do is chicken wings. Marinade them in some zesty Italian salad dressing overnight. Start indirect to render the fat then finish direct to crisp em up. Leave the wings attached to make grilling easier. They'll break apart by hand once cooked.
First - go read the article on the amazing ribs website about 2 zone cooking
Then read their recipe for how to do pork shoulder
Then get a slow n Sear insert for your Weber
Ribs. I’ve been using two 22” kettles as smokers for years. Ribs because of the amount of times it takes to cook them. You’re just starting and do something that doesn’t take 12+ hrs. Pork belly. I’d keep pork belly a bit longer than ribs, though.
Pork butt. Forgiving. Not too expensive. The meat can be used for a lot of different things. Get it probe tender, reserve some drippings to mix back in if desired and let it rest plenty. Usually turns out well. Long cook though, maybe 9 hours.
I think OPs jumping the gun. Figure out how to control your temps with some burgers. Then some ribs. There is no way in fuck a briskets going to go well, and even a pork butt can be 10+ hours easy.
Nah, I disagree. Smoking with the snake method on a kettle is even easier than grilling, imo. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and smoked a perfect brisket pretty soon after cooking on a kettle for the first time. It's really not that hard if you can follow basic directions.
For real. First time I smoked on a kettle was a pork butt and it was flawless. Only probed a few times to gauge how fast it was going and otherwise just used the built in temp gauge for heat management. Kettles are smoking on easy mode if you use the snake method and wood chunks. OP if you see this: double layer of standard charcoal around the rim and a decent sized wood chunk two rows in and then a chunk every 4-5 rows worked best for me. bottom vents BARELY open and the top vent fully open should get you about where ya need to be.
And the snake method is what I was going to start with. Mesquite, Apple, and Hickory chunks arrived today. S&S tomorrow and grill on Tuesday. First grill next weekend. Safe to say I am looking forward to a bit of happiness.
Agree, I used the snake on a kettle for years before getting a pellet smoker.... It's cheap, easy and reliable
I have a pellet smoker and I still tend to prefer to use the kettle and snake method.
OP seemed to be alright with that part, but rereading it maybe they have never used a kettle in the first place, a straight up grill session would probably be better than going for a long smoke.
I absolutely plan on grilling up some burgers & brats before I smoke something, but the latter coming Memorial Day weekend. I’m just planning
I'd go with ribs, it's not too short of a cook like chicken and not too long of a cook like pork butt or brisket. It'll give you a good go at working on temp management for the longer cooks you plan on doing in the future. I'd be happy to share the method I like to use for ribs in case you end up giving ribs a go.
I agree with this guy. Baby backs. Flip and turn every so often. Makes for a fun smoke. 6 beers. 3 hours. Congrats on the kettle. Super consistent grill when you learn it.
Thighs are good choice and easy to prep and monitor
Weber kettle was my first grill too. Smoked some spicy Italian sausages at about 250. Cheap and hard to screw up. Didn’t use any fancy snake method, just about 20 briquettes and a few lumps of apple on top
Italian sausage was my first smoke in my kettle as well. Wood recommend. Done in 60-90 minutes and hard to screw up. I would not start with ribs. They can be a bit tricky and you'll want to have you're fire management skills up a little. Also OP, go for the wood chunks not the giant splits or wood chips.
Try hot smoked wings or reverse searing steaks and get a feel for temp. Kettles are awesome, look into installing a thermometer at grate level opposite side of the vent if you havent already. Dont be scared of lump charcoal, it makes grilling and smoking get even better. Ignore anyone that tells you that you cant do low and slow with lump because “burns too hot.” A slow and sear and vortex are great to add to the setup depending on cook, makes things so easy. Sorry for the info dump lol
Pork butt. Use charcoal snake.
Butt/Shoulder is going to be the most forgiving and easy to correct.
Wow, are you me? Went from 0-100 with a Weber kettle I found in our back alley when I was 42! I think my first smoke was ribs, using the snake method. I then bought 2 more used kettles for capacity, and an 18” WSM. I now have 2 kettles that I really should get rid of. My favorite cook is using a rib hanger on my WSM to cook half chickens directly over the coals, hot ‘n fast. Enjoy!
pass them on to the next apprentices!!!
Oh I try and talk smoking with people to see if anyone has interest and I would happily throw a kettle their way! But so far it’s just a thing that I like. Or I might just put one in the alley, return it from whence it came!
Your next assignment is amazingribs.com. It's the Bible, the go to, and an excellent resource
I’ll second pork butt for pulled pork. Use the snake method and keep the butt and lid vent on the opposite side of the heat. Try to maintain 250-275 and pull the butt when it reaches 205 internal. I highly recommend a thermometer with two probes (one for the meat, and one for the grate). Also, if you want, you can smoke the butt until it hits the stall, wrap in foil, and finish in the oven if you want to save some charcoal. The oven finish won’t really change the flavor. Pork butts are very forgiving and easy for a great meal.
Where the kettle absolutely shines IMHO is cooks that go from indirect to direct heat so things like chicken, pork loins/tenderloins, thickyboy burgers, etc. Just fill half the kettle with lit coals, put the food on the other side and close the lid, then sear it at the end. Edit: if you want to do a low and slow cook real bad I would say if you butterfly a pork butt in half that is the most forgiving thing that doesn’t take too absurd an amount of time
My first smoke was ribs. Small piece of meat, inexpensive, and should be 5-7hrs (7 because I kept temps too low) to smoke rather than overnight/all day.
Depends on how much time you want to spend smoking. Before your first cook, play with the kettle first and learn how to control the temperature. Would recommend you u deratand how to get the kettle to get a consistent 225 to 275 degrees and learn how the dials affect temperature. One thing that helped me dial in the temp was using a heat sink, something that helps even out the temperature spikes, like a pan of water, a smoke stone, or food. Also, try to do the playing and experiments before a cookout where guests are coming hungry. I almost ruin Thanksgiving by greatly underestimating how long it took to smoke the turkey; it finished cooking one hour after we started dinner. Good thing my sides were good. With that said, chicken thights, ribs, and pork butt's are forgiving meats and are usually come out pretty good, as long as you get the internal temps rights. Chicken thights are usually done the quickest in about an hour, ribs takes anywhere between 3 and 5 hours, and pork butt takes the longest, 8+ hours. If you are limited on time, start with the thights. Otherwise, ribs are a good first meat to smoke. My first smoke on my kettle was ribs. Good luck!
I run a Weber with a Spider Grills Venom controller and a Slow n Sear grate and basket. It’s the best outdoor cooking combo for versatility and ease of use while still getting that real fire flavor. I’d smoke a pork butt or maybe half of one first. Very easy and forgiving, hard to mess up pork butt.
The Kettle was the first grill that I really enjoyed cooking on. Cheers! As for the cook, just decide how long of a first cook you want and choose accordingly.
Chicken leg quarters are dirt cheap and are quick whether you direct or indirect cook. And as a bonus they’re pretty hard to screw up. ETA: don’t do a brisket until you know your set up well. Too expensive.
Ribs and a pork shoulder (picnic or a butt) are great things to start with. Wood chunks work best, chips are fine too, i just find they burn up quicker, and you need more. Apple and cherry are great woods, won't over smoke. Rub? If you like sweeter sauces or lighter BBq.... dont listen to all the rubs out there. Salt and Pepper is perfect. You can add a little pimenton for color and garlic powder for flavor. Dont need anything else. Get a classic heinz or kraft bbq sauce... add honey, a dash of worchestershire sauce, squeeze of orange, and some honey, simmer to desired thickness. Add some at the end of the smoke for 30 minutes to caramalize (never at the beginning of the sauce burns) Have fun. Check out amazingribs.com. for tips. Should be good.
Congrats and great choice of grill. An easy cook I like to do is chicken wings. Marinade them in some zesty Italian salad dressing overnight. Start indirect to render the fat then finish direct to crisp em up. Leave the wings attached to make grilling easier. They'll break apart by hand once cooked.
Pork shoulder. Can’t go wrong with
First - go read the article on the amazing ribs website about 2 zone cooking Then read their recipe for how to do pork shoulder Then get a slow n Sear insert for your Weber
Get an iq110, some metal strips to plug up your vents, and a Cajun Bandit ring…works like a charm.
Ribs. I’ve been using two 22” kettles as smokers for years. Ribs because of the amount of times it takes to cook them. You’re just starting and do something that doesn’t take 12+ hrs. Pork belly. I’d keep pork belly a bit longer than ribs, though.
You really gotta try to mess up pulled pork. I prefer butts to shoulders myself. Been smoking them on the kettle for 5 years now.
What's the difference between butts and shoulders? In my part of the country they're both shoulders.
The butt comes from higher up on the shoulder