New/Used Summit - First Cook

[xring01]

Well, I was fortunate enough to pick up the used Summit that was advertised here the other day.

Decided I would share my thoughts on it, based on my first cook.

Go big or stay home.. I picked up a USDA PRIME, Prime Rib from a local meat market. 2 Bone at 5.5lbs, Yep it was pricy, but it was worth it.

So I prepped it with Olive oil, and Weber Chicago Garlic and Herb I think. Let it come down to room temp.

During that timeframe, I was cleaning up the Summit and getting it ready for its first cook. Being brand new to this thing, it was a bit of a learning curve. I have some lessons learned which I will get to later...

So I fired up 3/4 chimney of (Kingsford Apple) charcoal, with the plan of using the summit just like a kettle with the coal on one side, reason for this, because I wanted to do a reverse sear at the end of the cook.

Got the coals lit pretty good, poured on one side, added a few chunks of apple to the coals and shut the lid. As the smoker was coming up to temp I installed my guru and shut the bottom vent as it hit 225, but left the top wide open. Because that what I have done with kettles all my life. I never really adjust the top, just the bottom..

Well the temp spiked all the way up to 260, and the guru set at 225, never came on.. So I literally shut the top vent down to 1/8 or smaller open, and slowly the temps came down.

Put the prime rib, and 4 foiled baked taters, 20 mines later temp dropped below 225 and the guru kicked on a bit. So I thought I dont want stagnent smoke, I will open up the top vent all the way open, the guru has it now..

Wrong: That temp spiked again hit 260 pretty quick, closed the top vent down to 1/8 open and it quickly dropped back to 225ish. The guru never came back on. Please note, it was pretty windy at my house, and when the wind picked up, the temp would climb, even though the bottom vent was closed.

I cooked the prime rib to 129 internal temp, did a quick reverse sear on it, Opened all the vents, set the guru to max degrees, and watched that temp climb in a hurry to 500 plus. Quickly seared it and took it in the house to rest, while I put a foil pan of veggies (asparagus, zuccini, squash & red onion with garlic/butter) on the hot side of the pit...

Lesson Learned:
Summit holds heat like a champ
Summit hardly uses any charcoal
Easily regulated with the top & bottom vents.
Love it, so I am selling the WSM 22 - I have a offset for bigger cooks, summit for smaller cooks/grilling
A bit of a learning curve, but I am a fan, it was worth what I paid for it,, USED...

[Josh G]

Nice looking cook!  Good write up and review. You have to keep the summit pretty closed up for 225 at least that has been my experience. 

[JEBIV]

Awesome first cook and nice write up

[addicted-to-smoke]

The Summit doesn't have to run wide open up top. You can also turn the vent like on a regular kettle.

[HoosierKettle]

Nice!  I know nothing of how a summit works but On kettles I regulate with bottom vent first but I still close the top to a 1/4-1/2 when needed. I don't see where that causes any problem at all even though it seems to be taboo with a lot of folks.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[xring01]

Nice!  I know nothing of how a summit works but On kettles I regulate with bottom vent first but I still close the top to a 1/4-1/2 when needed. I don't see where that causes any problem at all even though it seems to be taboo with a lot of folks.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

On a kettle, for low/slow, I used a snake method, with top vent open, and regulated from the bottom... I never had to close the top to maintain the temps I wanted.... Thats just how it worked for me...

On the summit, one of its key advantages is being able to get super hot for searing in a hurry.... I was able to take it from 225 to over 500 in less than 10 minutes... opening the vents, and cranking up the guru... honestly I think it hit over 550... it seared the crap out of that prime rib.