BGE: Ribs!

[R2Egg2Q]

The ribs look great to me!

I think you might be right that the WSM gives a heavier smoke (at least when my buddy cooks ribs on his WSMs, they always have a heavy smoke taste but he tends to put in a lot more chunks than I do in my Egg).

I'd be curious to here if other brethren who have both WSMs and Eggs have had similar experiences.

Adding some pics of some of my rib pron to compare to yours:

Baby backs (done near temps like yours and foiled):

Spares (3-2-1 at around 230):

Admittedly I'm color blind so I have a harder time seeing smoke rings. I do think I could probably use a little more smoke in my ribs.

 

[Buster Dog BBQ]

Just pour tender quick imbuing ribs if you want a smoke ring. Does it add flavor? I never personally put a smoke ring as a high priority. Did you use any wood chunks for smoke flavor? I like 3 pecan 2 cherry buried in the lump.

 

[cmcadams]

The ribs look great. You can also just wrap the platesetter in foil to help with clean up.

 

[OneHump]

@John: Your ribs look good. Here's a random picture of some ribs that I did recently. Big ring with no effort on a WSM. My ribs looked nothing like this yesterday.

@Buster: A smoke ring isn't a priority for me, but more of an indication of how much smoke was put on the meat. I didn't taste any smoke on my ribs yesterday.

 

[Buster Dog BBQ]

@Buster: A smoke ring isn't a priority for me, but more of an indication of how much smoke was put on the meat. I didn't taste any smoke on my ribs yesterday.

Smoke ring is a chemical reaction of the nitrates and doesn't really have impact on amount of smoke in meat. That's why a product like Tender Quick can give you a better smoke ring then any smoker in 30 min or less.

 

[Cook]

A smoke ring isn't a priority for me, but more of an indication of how much smoke was put on the meat.

:mod:

A smoke ring has nothing to do with how much smoke was put to the meat. As already said, it is a chemical reaction that is a product of the heat source being used.

That is why you "generally" do not get a smoke ring when using an electric smoker...even though you may have plenty of smoke taste on the meat.

You can also get a smoke ring when baking ribs in the oven. Just use TenderQuick. No smoke taste, but plenty of ring.

 

[greg of the BGE]

What I have found to work on the BGE to get a nice smoke ring is I get the lump to about 125 and give it a stir, add in about 5 nice pieces of wood and put the meat on the grill. I let it get to 225 real slow (like 1 to 2 hours). I have a dandelion tool that is about 3' long and made of steel that is great as a poking tool. Trying to stir the BGE when you have the place setter on is a pain but the tool works great and helps the smoke kick back up. I stir it about every hour or two for the first 4 hours to keep a nice smoke level enfolding the meat. If I let it get too hot I have to add new wood to keep the smoke level right.

 

[OneHump]

:mod:

A smoke ring has nothing to do with how much smoke was put to the meat. As already said, it is a chemical reaction that is a product of the heat source

Thanks Cook, I definitely appreciate that. However, you can't get a smoke ring without burning wood. My big concern here is that I'm not burning wood, which results in no smoke ring and no smoke flavor. Smoke ring aside, I'm not getting enough smoke on my meat. I need to adjust my process when smoking on the Egg and will start with Greg's advice.

Just to be clear, my understanding is that the BGE's extreme efficiency will prevent enough fuel to be consumed to burn the wood. Greg's advice looks good. Alternatively, I may do something extreme like add a crapload of wood with my lump.

Ultimately, I'll probably do most of my smoking on my WSM, but I'm having a lot of fun with the Egg right now and will continue to learn and experiment on that.

Thanks again guys.

Dave

 

[Yleekyoti]

Fine looking ribs in this thread. Im hungry now lol

 

[OneHump]

I just had some for lunch! Now, if I can just find ANYONE who has a damned packer. Costco and local stores are only selling flats... sigh

 

[JazzCat]

0hYeaH Great Lookin' Ribs!!!
...not sure your foil job is required...butt whatever works for you.
Nice work!

 

[R2Egg2Q]

I just had some for lunch! Now, if I can just find ANYONE who has a damned packer. Costco and local stores are only selling flats... sigh

Smart & Final has packers but usually just select grade. I've been lucky to find a choice there @ a select price twice in probably 8-10 visits. I've had good luck with their select grades. Other than them you usually need to order in advance from places like Gene's Fine Foods in Pleasanton. Main Street Meat & Fish in Pleasanton told me they can get briskets with 24 hrs notice.

Good luck!

 

[Groundhog66]

I picked up a choice flat today at Costco, I have yet to locate a good packer.

 

[OneHump]

Thanks guys. Lunardi's in Danville has one left according to the "butcher". I'm not sure these guys know what a packer is as everyone has just flats. If that doesn't work out I'm going to skip the brisket this week and see about Gene's or Main Street for next weekend.

Speaking of which, I was at Costco today looking for my packer and they had a 17lb choice rib roast for $7. It was a massive misprint as the one next to it was $127. I thought about it for a second but ended up taking it back to a worker and told him to relabel it.

 

[Groundhog66]

Gene's doesn't carry packers, but they will order them for you.

 

[Bacon_99]

Did back ribs on the BGE tonight - rubbed - went into fridge for an hour or so - got fire to 275 - went straight from fridge to egg and did 2-2- 45 mins.... they were great - a little overdone as they came off the bone real easy (no bite through) but I like them like that anyway ; ) Great smoke ring too - cold when they go on means a better ring IMHO

 

[trza]

Those are nice looking ribs. I think we'd all be proud of cooking them.

I've never had a problem with the smoke ring. I'll either use wicked good or Humphreys, and 1-2 good chunks of wood. I use a 1/2 size foil cambro pan on top of the grate, and then a toaster oven rack fits right on top of that. Then I use a rib rack so that I can stack 1/2 racks in there. I add a bit of water in the drip pan and smoke uncovered until they are done (about 5 hrs).

 

[Bar]

Love the egg but I have not been able to get good smoke on my indirect cooks either.