Second cook but first ribs on UDS

I am loving this UDS more and more every time I cook on it. Here is some pron of some ribs I did Saturday. I would have done the 3-2-1 method but got a late start. So I just maintained 225-240° until they were done which took about 4 hours. I then let them rest for about 1/2 hour wrapped in foil and covered with towels. Internal was about 180° and when you bit into them, you would get a nice bite with no falling off the bone. You only got what you bit off.





Two full slabs of StL style ribs from BJ's sliced in half to fit on the rib rack. I coated the ribs with honey mustard my wife makes then put my dry rub on. Don't ask me what's in the dry rub. I just threw a bunch of spices together. I know there is paprika, salt, pepper, garlic and not sure what else. I had a couple of store bought dry rubs that were almost out and I combined them and then added more to taste...lol.



Here is one of the halves after resting and getting ready to be devoured.



Here it is sliced in half so we can see the juices and smoke ring. No BBQ sauce was used.


So I have done two 4-5 hour smokes on my UDS since I built it and I think it's time to try an over-nighter. Maybe a pork butt. I am loving this thing like I said. I actually was able to take a 2.5 hour nap during this smoke and it would have been longer but my wife woke me up asking if I forgot about the ribs. When I woke up the UDS was still sitting at 220° and the meat was at 166°. It is so nice not having to babysit while it is cooking.


Chad

Thanks everyone. They were perfect...for me anyway. My wife said they were a little spicey but she's not a huge fan of spicey foods. Which surprises me because she makes a mean BBQ sauce that has some kick to it. My son doesn't like spicey food either and he said they were awesome and the best ribs I have done to date. It was another one of those dinners where the dinner conversation was moans and mmmm's everytime someone took a bite. That's when you know you did good.

Chad

Just BS said:

Great job Chief. How do you like the rib rack? Did you turn them over during the cook? I've never used one. I can lay three whole racks of St Louey's on my UDS and they come out great, but the ends come out a little over done because its hotter around the outside.

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I am liking the rib rack. Only issue I had so far with it is the height when the temp probe is placed in the ribs. The rack adds about 2" of height. Then depending on how wide your slab is and how long your meat probe is, you might get 2-3" of probe sticking out of the meat. Depending on the smoker design and where your shelves are set at, the temp probe might interfere with the lid or vice versa. Before you light your smoker, make sure you have enough room between the lid and the grate to allow the temp probe to clear. I hope that makes sense.

Next time I do them though, I am going to keep them as whole slabs and just bend them so they'll stay on end. Will probably have to put a skewer through them to keep them from straightening out.

I have never turned/flipped the ribs over on the rack. I put the ribs in the rack bone down.

Before I started smoking ribs we would cook them in foil in the oven for a couple of hours and then finish them off on the grill smothering them in BBQ sauce and laying them flat. Nothing wrong with that way at all, but after smoking a couple of slabs on the ECB, we haven't done it that way since. These ribs on the UDS blew my ECB ribs out of the water. I think mainly because of the steady temps and not yo-yo temps like I would get on the ECB.

Sorry for the long winded reply, but yes, I like the rack, no I did not flip, and I put them in the rack bone down.

Chad

3-2-1 method if I understand it right is 3 hours in the smoker, 2 hours wrapped in foil with some type of baste (this steams the ribs), then 1 hour out of the foil to crisp them back up. I haven't done it yet but sounds really good. I would have done them on this smoke but got a late start and we had somewhere we had to be. Do a search for "3-2-1 Ribs" in the search bar at the bottom of the page and read about it. Sounds awesome and can't wait till I get a chance to try them.

Chad