First cook on my new Backwoods Pro Clone. Birthday Ribs with lots of Pron

TTNuge · 04-14-2012, 01:35 PM

Well the time finally came to fire up the smoker and really see what it could do. My objectives in this cook were many, from determining how quickly it would come up to temp to finding out how long a full load of lump would last and more importantly how well food would taste coming off the smoker. Mother Nature decided to cooperate fully with temps that barely hit 50 and winds that barely dropped below 20mph all day as well as some light rain and drizzle scattered throughout the day. I figured she was just letting us know what we were in for when we start competing.

I started off by putting up the new EZ-Up and securing each corner with a bucket of water. At times I felt I could have used 2 buckets on each corner the winds were howling.

Got the Stoker hooked up and the laptop inside running Stokerlog to keep track of the days cook.

A Full bag of Royal Oak from RD fits perfectly in the basket. Barely enough room to add a few wood chunks but it can be done.

I started with hot water out of the tap for the water pan, nearly 15 gallons worth. Next time I think I'll heat up water on the propane burner to get it near boiling. I think that will help with getting up to temp. I also have a propane weed burner I could use to preheat the smoker a bit. As it was it took nearly 2 hours to get up to 275* and I'd love to cut that down to an hour or so. I think that will help make the basket of lump last a bit longer overall as well.

After temps stabilized I did a little biscuit test.

10 mins in..

20 mins in...

Just under 30 mins and they're done...

A little warmer at the top as expected but not by much. Very happy with the temps both top to bottom and front to back with the back corners probably being a few degrees hotter but not much.

Finished results..

Time to get the ribs ready. Three racks of St. Louis Cut spares from Costco. Not thrilled with them but they'll do.

All rubbed up and ready

And after just 4 hours of cook time....

Way overdone by Comp standards but awesome for some home eatin'

All in all it was a great day, a wonderful first cook and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Birthday. The ribs were a little overcooked but they were still some of the most moist ribs I've ever had. The flavor was great but I will add a few more wood chunks next time. The ribs tasted great but it's the last time I'll buy pre-St. Louis cut ribs from Costco, a blind butcher could have cut them better than this. I definitely need to work on my timings some but I'll be more than happy to keep practicing.

Overall the lump lasted just about 10 hours total with 8 of those hours at temp before it started falling. I think it had to work pretty hard to get up to temp and if I can cut that from 2 to 1 hour I should gain at least an hour or two on the back end. Either way it's going to be real close and just might last long enough for a comp cook the way I have it planned. I'll be sure and practice more and more.

Chicken Thighs and Pork Butts are up next!

Thanks,
Trent

halfasian · 04-14-2012, 01:42 PM

Looks good to me! What did you use to log your cook? Stoker? CyberQ?

Edit: NM, i see the stoker mention! Got distracted by all the pretty pron!

Big Bears BBQ · 04-14-2012, 01:44 PM

Looks pretty good ...............

speers90 · 04-14-2012, 02:22 PM

Just so you guys know, the ribs tasted outstanding

BadHorsieBBQ · 04-14-2012, 06:52 PM

Looking Good, just got to work out the kinks.

Chef Jim · 04-14-2012, 06:59 PM

You said it was a clone. Who, What, Where?

porkingINpublic · 04-14-2012, 07:03 PM

Looks great! love that red tint to the ribs!!!

also, I'm glad to see my kitchen counter isn't the only one with my wifes crap all over it when I'm trying to take pics of my food! lol

landarc · 04-14-2012, 07:06 PM

Very nice, looks like you built a good cooker, those biscuits are very even.

TTNuge · 04-14-2012, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef Jim

You said it was a clone. Who, What, Where?

The link to the build is in my sig. I basically built a clone of a Backwoods Smoker which is a vertical reverse flow smoker where the smoke travels up through the walls, down over the meat and out the exhaust.

Quote:

Originally Posted by porkingINpublic

Looks great! love that red tint to the ribs!!!

also, I'm glad to see my kitchen counter isn't the only one with my wifes crap all over it when I'm trying to take pics of my food! lol

LOL, I thought about excluding that pic but most the mess is mine so I figured what the heck.

JS-TX · 04-14-2012, 08:32 PM

Looks great! Hard work pays off huh?

TTNuge · 04-15-2012, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JS-TX

Looks great! Hard work pays off huh?

It's such a great feeling cooking on something I made with my own two hands. Makes everything taste better

Coz · 04-15-2012, 09:34 AM

Well at least the weather will be consistent for Mn in May ....well it may have been a lil warmer then contest weekend.Always 2 buckets on the corner for me.

frohe · 04-15-2012, 10:36 AM

Your biskits test went as expected - the top and back ones did a bit better than the rest. That's how smokers work. Yours seems to be true to form.

04-14-2012, 01:35 PM	#1
TTNuge Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 11-22-11 Location: Waconia, MN	First cook on my new Backwoods Pro Clone. Birthday Ribs with lots of Pron Well the time finally came to fire up the smoker and really see what it could do. My objectives in this cook were many, from determining how quickly it would come up to temp to finding out how long a full load of lump would last and more importantly how well food would taste coming off the smoker. Mother Nature decided to cooperate fully with temps that barely hit 50 and winds that barely dropped below 20mph all day as well as some light rain and drizzle scattered throughout the day. I figured she was just letting us know what we were in for when we start competing. I started off by putting up the new EZ-Up and securing each corner with a bucket of water. At times I felt I could have used 2 buckets on each corner the winds were howling. Got the Stoker hooked up and the laptop inside running Stokerlog to keep track of the days cook. A Full bag of Royal Oak from RD fits perfectly in the basket. Barely enough room to add a few wood chunks but it can be done. I started with hot water out of the tap for the water pan, nearly 15 gallons worth. Next time I think I'll heat up water on the propane burner to get it near boiling. I think that will help with getting up to temp. I also have a propane weed burner I could use to preheat the smoker a bit. As it was it took nearly 2 hours to get up to 275* and I'd love to cut that down to an hour or so. I think that will help make the basket of lump last a bit longer overall as well. After temps stabilized I did a little biscuit test. 10 mins in.. 20 mins in... Just under 30 mins and they're done... A little warmer at the top as expected but not by much. Very happy with the temps both top to bottom and front to back with the back corners probably being a few degrees hotter but not much. Finished results.. Time to get the ribs ready. Three racks of St. Louis Cut spares from Costco. Not thrilled with them but they'll do. All rubbed up and ready And after just 4 hours of cook time.... Way overdone by Comp standards but awesome for some home eatin' All in all it was a great day, a wonderful first cook and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Birthday. The ribs were a little overcooked but they were still some of the most moist ribs I've ever had. The flavor was great but I will add a few more wood chunks next time. The ribs tasted great but it's the last time I'll buy pre-St. Louis cut ribs from Costco, a blind butcher could have cut them better than this. I definitely need to work on my timings some but I'll be more than happy to keep practicing. Overall the lump lasted just about 10 hours total with 8 of those hours at temp before it started falling. I think it had to work pretty hard to get up to temp and if I can cut that from 2 to 1 hour I should gain at least an hour or two on the back end. Either way it's going to be real close and just might last long enough for a comp cook the way I have it planned. I'll be sure and practice more and more. Chicken Thighs and Pork Butts are up next! Thanks, Trent __________________ http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123907 - My Backwoods Pro Clone

04-14-2012, 01:42 PM	#2
halfasian On the road to being a farker Join Date: 11-22-10 Location: Phoenix, AZ	Looks good to me! What did you use to log your cook? Stoker? CyberQ? Edit: NM, i see the stoker mention! Got distracted by all the pretty pron! __________________ 22.5" WSM, 22.5" OTG, Smokey Joe, Electric ECB, KichenAid SS Gasser

04-14-2012, 02:22 PM	#4
speers90 is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 08-28-11 Location: Waconia, MN	Just so you guys know, the ribs tasted outstanding __________________ Ryan The Beast: 500 Gallon Homemade Reverse Flow [url]http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187401[/url] Weber 22" Cajun Fryer FF2

04-14-2012, 06:52 PM	#5
BadHorsieBBQ On the road to being a farker Join Date: 01-29-10 Location: West Texas	Looking Good, just got to work out the kinks. __________________ 1 -22.5 Weber Kettles, 1 -ECB, 1 -Basic UDS (Completed 03/01/2010)

04-14-2012, 06:59 PM	#6
Chef Jim Babbling Farker Join Date: 02-07-10 Location: Tequesta, Florida	You said it was a clone. Who, What, Where? __________________ Judge Jim, Given to me by Terry @ Git R Smoked. Chef Jim, Gym, Jim, or CJ. [B][COLOR=Black] I'm not a Chef, but I play one on the internet.[/COLOR][/B] [URL]http://www.chef-jim.com[/URL] [FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3][FONT=Tahoma]A veteran is Someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life." That is honor, and there are far too many people in this country who no longer understand it. Author unknown.[/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT] [COLOR=Red][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][/COLOR]

04-14-2012, 01:44 PM	#3
Big Bears BBQ is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 03-06-11 Location: Hillsdale,Mi.	Looks pretty good ...............

04-14-2012, 07:03 PM	#7
porkingINpublic is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 09-30-11 Location: Beebe, ar	Looks great! love that red tint to the ribs!!! also, I'm glad to see my kitchen counter isn't the only one with my wifes crap all over it when I'm trying to take pics of my food! lol __________________ Myron Mixon Smoker 60 h2o

04-14-2012, 07:06 PM	#8
landarc somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 06-26-09 Location: sAn leAnDRo, CA	Very nice, looks like you built a good cooker, those biscuits are very even. __________________ [COLOR=DarkGreen][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1]me: I don't drink anymore Yelonutz: me either, but, then again, I don't drink any less [/SIZE][/COLOR][/COLOR][SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed] [COLOR=Pink]SSS[/COLOR] [/COLOR][/SIZE]

04-14-2012, 08:32 PM	#10
JS-TX is Blowin Smoke! Join Date: 02-17-10 Location: San Antonio, TX	Looks great! Hard work pays off huh?

04-15-2012, 09:34 AM	#12
Coz is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 10-05-07 Location: Georgetown , Ky	Well at least the weather will be consistent for Mn in May ....well it may have been a lil warmer then contest weekend.Always 2 buckets on the corner for me. __________________ Stumps Clone "RAINMAKER" Stumps Clone RIP 9-20-08 Stumps Clone "LIL RAIN " Stumps Clone " CHRISTINE " ONE Evil Biotch and another in process BRINGIN' THE HEAT BBQ Team just Cloning around

04-15-2012, 10:36 AM	#13
frohe Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 02-26-12 Location: central Texas	Your biskits test went as expected - the top and back ones did a bit better than the rest. That's how smokers work. Yours seems to be true to form. __________________ Jesus is my Lord! ... an old 55 gallon horizontal smoker, a gas grill & a CharBroil Big Easy