Making Char Siu In The 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM)

This was the first time making Char Siu in the 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) smoker instead of in the oven.

I cooked the meat at 360 degrees in the smoker... a lot hotter than I normally make pulled pork!  I make pulled pork normally around the 250 degrees range, but since I wasn't going to pull this pork and needed it whole, fast and hot was best.

After 1 hour 15 minutes in the smoker, the internal temperature of the meat had reached between 145 and 150 degrees.  I brought the trays back inside and put them under the broiler to sear the meat a bit.

The meat was cut into strips and put on an aluminum pan.  Typically you would hang the meat directly over the coals, but I didn't want to deal with the mess it would probably make.  But the dripping of the fat onto the charcoal imparts a different flavor and that most likely would have been best for taste.

Overall, the charcoal smoking only added a slight flavor of smoke to the meat.  I blame this on the trays and also the fact that I did not use any wood on the charcoal.  Plus, I didn't hang the meat for the dripping of the fat onto the charcoal.  Still, the char siu was very good.  Again, I used the America's Test Kitchen recipe for making the char siu maranade (done overnight), but I skipped the sesame oil and also did not glaze the meat to minimize the added sugar and calories.

For ease, I think it's still easier making this in the oven than in the smoker.  But if I will do it in the smoker again, I'll have to get a hanging rack (don't have one and really don't intend to get one either).