babyback help!

[LoneStarMojo]

Originally Posted by LA 433

ive done ribs on my weber kettle but after watching youtube people do the 3-2-1 method and the come out good so im a little confused but i will take your guys word for it and try 2-1-.5 on sat to test it before the big game....

There is merit to the success of multiple methods. If you like ribs that are really tender and the meat falls off the bone if you just bump into them, then 321 is way to go.

A lot of us like the meat to mildly resist when bitten and to stay on the bone till we bite it off. They're still tender when cooked like this but some of find that the 321 method is basically overcooked and mushy.

You can decide which you prefer and the great thing is that there is no wrong answer as long as you like the way the ribs turn out.

Let us know how it goes and hopefully we'll see some pron

[Pappy]

I've had some BB ribs from Sams that were 2" thick. They took every bit of 7 hours (no foil). That was for bite from the bone ribs. 250 degrees. Must have been Hogzilla! I'm sure using foil would speed up the cook. Rememder, they are done when they are done. You can't rush it. Nothing worst than tough under cooked ribs.

[boogiesnap]

you can use our search feature and find great recipes all day long thats for sure.

but, maybe, for your first cook, for detailed, concise recipes, right now(i can search here for days to compile a recipe, you seem to need ones kinda quick) take a look at amazing ribs and patio daddio.

BTW, FWIW, brisket is a bear, might be alot to ask to knock em dead first time out.

*edit* or if you have a kindle fire or ipad buy the book wicked good bbq. very good and detailed instructions there. excellent read.

[Lake Dogs]

There are merits to the different ways. Different ways/methods, different cooking temperatures [measured on the cooking surface; NOT the external mounted thermometer], all yield slightly different results and hugely different times.

I do BB's, cooking surface temp is 260+-, 1.5 on smoke, 2.5+- in foil, and I then apply heated sauce ever-so-lightly on it and serve; no 3rd out-of-foil cook. It works for me, you're mileage may vary. I also soak them overnight after pulling the membranes in a water, apple juice, worchestershire, and ice mixture before putting on the rub and cooking them. BB's done like this, on average, the meat will pull cleanly from the bone with a slight resistance. It's an MiM/MBN/GBA standard (for what it's worth). KCBS would be more of a bite-through rib, and for that rib I'd do a 1.5 on smoke and probably a 1.75-2.0 in foil. For just falling apart, try 1.5 smoke and 2.75-3.0 in foil. The amount of time on smoke (before foiling) has more to do with the type of wood you're smoking with, the amount of smoke your smoker imparts to the meat, and the amount of smoke you desire in the taste of your ribs...

Brisket, I trim the fat cap enough to get the really hard fat off but not remove it, inject it lightly with a thinned solution from Butchers (which was made the day before), apply the rub just before putting on the smoker; smoke for 4 or 5 hours, then foil for the remainder of time; also cooked in that 260 range. Takes roughly 1 hour per pound.

Not that you should do exactly as I do and have done. There are LOTS of ways to get there. However, dont use one persons temperature range and expect to get them done in another persons time frame. Also, when talking temperature, let me stress again that we're talking cooking SURFACE temperature, measured on the surface itself. Most external mounted thermometers, depending on where they're located and how hot a fire you have going, are off, high or low, some by 50 degrees or MORE. I have one offset that consistently measures the temperature 40 degrees HIGHER than the surface, another offset (different design and placement of the thermometer) measures the temperature 30 degrees LOWER than the surface temperature.

I havent seen where anyone above has talked about their first cook on a new smoker. Some go very well, others are a disaster, with most being somewhere in between, most not being nearly as good as they'd hoped. Know that it's a learning process; dont expect to win the superbowl the first time you play football. Same with BBQ... What I'm suggesting is have a plan B at hand. It's very possible that you may want to call Domino's... I hope not; I hope it works out great. However, in looking at the questions that you're asking above, it seems to me that you're at the very beginning of this journey. Expect that you'll have failures along the way. It's all part of the learning.

Good luck; I hope your team wins.

[Ron_L]

There is lots of good advice here, but I had to throw in my $.02 worth, too :)

1. The probably with generalizations is that they are generally wrong

2. 3-2-1 was originally developed for full slab spares. St. Louis trimmed spares or baby backs will require less time. BUT... how much time depends on the pit temp and the size of the racks. There is no way that any of us can tell you that 2-2-1 or 2-1.5-.5 or whatever is right for you. they are all just guidelines.

3. There is nothing magical about 225, 250, 275 or 300 degrees. You'll find that you WSM has a sweet spot where it will cook all day. Figure out what that it and cook at that temp and you have fewer headaches and get great results.

So... Having typed that, here's what works for me

Ribs - I buy baby backs that are between 2.5 and 3 lbs per rack, peel them and trim off any excess fat. I rub a couple of hours before cooking and let them sit in the fridge or cooler to let the rub rehydrate and then put them in my cooker at 260 - 270 for 2.5 hours, then foil for 1.5, open the foil, sauce and set the sauce for 15. If they aren't done I go longer until they pass the bend test or the toothpick test.

Brisket - I buy full packers that are 12-15 lbs. If I'm going to invest the time and fuel for a brisket I want to cook enough to have leftovers for chili, etc. I also rub at least 2 hours before cooking, typically 4 hours and let it rest in the fridge or cooler. Brisket goes in at the same temp range and cooks until I get the bark color that I like, typically a dark mahogany and then gets wrapped and finished until it probes like butter in the flat. I like to rest brisket for at least two hours in a dry, preheated cooler with clean towels for insulation.

But, as I said, YMMV.

Finally, I know it won't matter, but I think cooking on a new smoker and cooking something that you have never cooked before for a big event like a Super Bowl party is a mistake. You're putting a lot of pressure on yourself. Personally I would get the brisket today and cook it overnight tonight just in case something goes wrong. That give you time to recover. You can slice the brisket, vac-u-suck it, and then reheat it in the bag in boiling water to serve. (If you don't have a vacuum sealer, get one )

[HankB]

This

Originally Posted by Ron_L

... how much time depends on the pit temp and the size of the racks. There is no way that any of us can tell you that 2-2-1 or 2-1.5-.5 or whatever is right for you. they are all just guidelines.

Any time suggestion is meaningless without a temperature recommendation. It should be pretty obvious that anything will cook faster given a higher temperature.


And this.

Finally, I know it won't matter, but I think cooking on a new smoker and cooking something that you have never cooked before for a big event like a Super Bowl party is a mistake. You're putting a lot of pressure on yourself. Personally I would get the brisket today and cook it overnight tonight just in case something goes wrong. That give you time to recover. You can slice the brisket, vac-u-suck it, and then reheat it in the bag in boiling water to serve. (If you don't have a vacuum sealer, get one )

I could not agree more. Best not to experiment with company. Cooking really good 'Q is a skill worthy of the time and effort to learn, but you want to know that you can hit your mark before you have a bunch of hungry friends waiting for food!

[LA 433]

Originally Posted by Lake Dogs

There are merits to the different ways. Different ways/methods, different cooking temperatures [measured on the cooking surface; NOT the external mounted thermometer], all yield slightly different results and hugely different times.

I do BB's, cooking surface temp is 260+-, 1.5 on smoke, 2.5+- in foil, and I then apply heated sauce ever-so-lightly on it and serve; no 3rd out-of-foil cook. It works for me, you're mileage may vary. I also soak them overnight after pulling the membranes in a water, apple juice, worchestershire, and ice mixture before putting on the rub and cooking them. BB's done like this, on average, the meat will pull cleanly from the bone with a slight resistance. It's an MiM/MBN/GBA standard (for what it's worth). KCBS would be more of a bite-through rib, and for that rib I'd do a 1.5 on smoke and probably a 1.75-2.0 in foil. For just falling apart, try 1.5 smoke and 2.75-3.0 in foil. The amount of time on smoke (before foiling) has more to do with the type of wood you're smoking with, the amount of smoke your smoker imparts to the meat, and the amount of smoke you desire in the taste of your ribs...

Brisket, I trim the fat cap enough to get the really hard fat off but not remove it, inject it lightly with a thinned solution from Butchers (which was made the day before), apply the rub just before putting on the smoker; smoke for 4 or 5 hours, then foil for the remainder of time; also cooked in that 260 range. Takes roughly 1 hour per pound.

Not that you should do exactly as I do and have done. There are LOTS of ways to get there. However, dont use one persons temperature range and expect to get them done in another persons time frame. Also, when talking temperature, let me stress again that we're talking cooking SURFACE temperature, measured on the surface itself. Most external mounted thermometers, depending on where they're located and how hot a fire you have going, are off, high or low, some by 50 degrees or MORE. I have one offset that consistently measures the temperature 40 degrees HIGHER than the surface, another offset (different design and placement of the thermometer) measures the temperature 30 degrees LOWER than the surface temperature.

I havent seen where anyone above has talked about their first cook on a new smoker. Some go very well, others are a disaster, with most being somewhere in between, most not being nearly as good as they'd hoped. Know that it's a learning process; dont expect to win the superbowl the first time you play football. Same with BBQ... What I'm suggesting is have a plan B at hand. It's very possible that you may want to call Domino's... I hope not; I hope it works out great. However, in looking at the questions that you're asking above, it seems to me that you're at the very beginning of this journey. Expect that you'll have failures along the way. It's all part of the learning.

Good luck; I hope your team wins.

thanks for the detailed input :) ive been learning a lot and i sure didnt think that i would get such a good turn out on this post lol but thank you all so much

[LA 433]

Originally Posted by HankB

This
Any time suggestion is meaningless without a temperature recommendation. It should be pretty obvious that anything will cook faster given a higher temperature.


And this.

I could not agree more. Best not to experiment with company. Cooking really good 'Q is a skill worthy of the time and effort to learn, but you want to know that you can hit your mark before you have a bunch of hungry friends waiting for food!

i agree also but im keeping really low key so only a few of my best buds are coming over and know its my first time so if they want free food hahah

i told them 50/50 chance its good or bad haha

[boogiesnap]

with the ribs you're looking at 90/10 they're good.
brisket well, best of luck first time out.

[HankB]

Originally Posted by LA 433

i told them 50/50 chance its good or bad haha

That's good. At worst you will give them the opportunity to remind you "Remember that time ... Ha-ha-ha"

Personally, I think that any time I can bring that much joy into the lives of my friends with so little effort on my part, that's a win. (Of course there will be a bit of effort that goes into the food prep.)

Originally Posted by boogiesnap

with the ribs you're looking at 90/10 they're good.
brisket well, best of luck first time out.

Agreed.
I think the brisket will taste good regardless. It just might be tough.

[BayoustateBBQ]

Forget the brisket with ribs. grab one or two pork tenderloins, that's always a crowd pleaser and similar cooking time/ temps as ribs. Almost set it and forget it really. Dude I just did a bacon wrapped tenderloin yesterday that knocked my socks off.


RIBS: Mine fall off the bone. Temp 250 approx 3 hours
You need to marinade overnight with:
1 liter ginger ale
1 qt orange juice
1 1/4 cps soy sauce
1/2 cup salt
2 1oz packets of dry ranch dressing mix.

This will cover about one good rack of ribs so adjust accordingly
I put mine in 2 gal zip lock bags

My rub is:
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp chili powder
1tbsp dry mustard
2 tbsp salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon dried basil


My Sauce is:


Ingredients

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ tablespoon hickory liquid smoke
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions
In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 1 hour 15 minutes.





After 45 minutes of smoking spritz ribs every 15 minutes with:
mixture of the following in a fine spray -spray bottle

3 cups apple juice
2 cups white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons imitation butter (comes in like a vanilla extract bottle in the seasoning section)

after 2 hours of smoking, put in a pan with apple juice and cover with foil for about an hour.

I use a combo of pecan wood and apple wood- promise you these will be the best ribs you have done!

Dont forget, after you take them out of the pit, leave them covered for 15minutes to rest

[BayoustateBBQ]

just noticed baby backs, i use that marinade for spare ribs so you could probably get 2 racks in one bag of that marinade.

[NorthwestBBQ]

Originally Posted by BayoustateBBQ

just noticed baby backs, i use that marinade for spare ribs so you could probably get 2 racks in one bag of that marinade.

Marinating or boiling ribs is a BBQ Abomination. You are leaching out the pork flavor.

[NorthwestBBQ]

Originally Posted by HankB

Any time suggestion is meaningless without a temperature recommendation. It should be pretty obvious that anything will cook faster given a higher temperature.

BBQing Ribs is not done by time and temp. It ain't baking a cake.

[Freddy j]

Originally Posted by Ron_L

3. There is nothing magical about 225, 250, 275 or 300 degrees. You'll find that you WSM has a sweet spot where it will cook all day. Figure out what that it and cook at that temp and you have fewer headaches and get great results.

I've found that the higher temp of 270 results in the ribs not being greasy like they were when cooked at 225-250