First Cook – Weber Searwood

I finally bought my first smoker. I already own a Weber kettle, so I was looking for a low maintenance smoker that can also get up to a high temperature when needed.

I decided to make pulled pork for my first cook. I would love any feedback as this is my first time making pulled pork or using a legit smoker.

My main reason for posting this is to share a learning lesson. I followed the traditional method of smoking at 250 degrees until you reach an internal temp of 160, then wrap and continue cooking until you reach an internal temp of 204. Fast forward 6 hours, and the internal temp was still hovering around 120 degrees. Everything I read online indicated that it should take 3-5 hours to reach an internal temp of 160. For context, it was an 8lb pork butt and it was 62 degrees and sunny during this time.

I gradually increased the grill temperature to 300. 2 hours later, the internal temp was now stalled at 130. At this point I started to panic. The weather was starting to take a turn for the worse, and I knew I would still need to cook the pork a few more hours once it was wrapped. I had been using the meat probe that came with the Weber grill for the duration of the cook. So I decided to grab my old ThermoPro for a quick comparison. Sure enough, the ThermoPro showed a temperature of 172 degrees. To make sure I wasn’t crazy, I tried the ice water test. The ThermoPro showed a temp of 34 degrees, while the Weber probe showed 6 degrees. I was incredibly frustrated to see how far off the Weber probe was, but I’m glad I checked when I did.

TLDR – make sure your meat probe is accurate before attempting your first cook.

Overall, I’m happy with the ease of use and hands-off cooking. I travel frequently for work and have a 15 month old child, so I don’t have the luxury of babysitting a fire all day. I’m looking forward to additional cooks in the near future.