theTastyCat
Full Fledged Farker
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2014
- Location
- Nashvill...
Hey all - got brave enough to try my first ribs today, thanks to the kindness and generosity of all of you on this fine forum.
The plan was to build a small, hot fire and run the intake wide open to get as clean a smoke as possible since my previous smokes have been plagued by bitterness. Wanted to run 225-250 with RO lump and chunks of apple and hickory.
I gotta be honest - when I tore into that package of spares, the smell brought me right back to seventh grade science class where we dissected any and everything. Man, that takes a little getting used to! Flailed around with the knife for a bit, finally crunched through all the necessary cartilage, and got it apart.
Phew...glad that's overwith.
Had been soaking the jalapenos for ABTs to see if that would take some of the heat off...I've got to bring something for a volunteer luncheon at church next week, and I didn't want to kill off half the old ladies with uranium-235 ABTs. So I put them in my toilet bowl to soak for a few hours.
Not really...but sure looks like it in this pic.
So I tried to create a sort of minion/maze in my charcoal basket...as always, it was a dismal failure! Must not be big enough.
The temp went way high and eventually went way low...I sort of had to start over! But I was determined to keep the intake WIDE open; I wanted a clean smoke at any cost. That's a whole other story - and I'm going to post another thread about it. Bottom line is that I think it was *too* clean a smoke - no bitter flavor, used a LOT of lump and frequently added chunks of apple and hickory, but very little smoke flavor! Looking forward to getting some feedback in the other thread.
Also took the opportunity to smoke my first fatty! Went nekkid, no rub (will probably rub next time); pictured here with some rib tips.
I stuffed the ABTs with a mixture of wee fatty pieces and cream cheese; also used toothpicks, which really did a great job holding things together and helped them from looking as much like culinary accidents.
INTO THE FLAMES!!!
Also did some corn, husk and all (thanks aawa!)...left one side on a little long but it was tremendous!
THE RESULTS:
I made a big ol' pot of sauce that my friend's in-laws had made for his wedding, and I swore it was the best I'd ever had. Well, it became completely irrelevant. The ribs were wonderfully moist but not the least bit greasy; they took just the slightest tug to come off the bones. I was absolutely elated! Plowboys for the win AGAIN...the first time I licked my fingers, this wonderful, primeval, viscerally addictive sort of feeling came over me. That stuff is gold. So I tried some sauce on a few ribs and some ABTs, but it really was just a distraction! I've long known the "real q doesn't need sauce" theorem but this was one of the very few times in my life I've been fortunate enough to experience it firsthand.
Again, there was very little smoke flavor - but that's for the other thread. Took about 8 hours total since I just couldn't get it above 210 for like 45 minutes. Finally ran it around 270 since it was 9 PM and I was starving!!! Otherwise kept it between 225-250 for the rest of the cook. Used a metric *buttload* of lump...but it was worth it! Man, I gotta find a good source for wood so I won't go broke on lump!!
ABTs were good. I left them on around 3 hours, and everything seemed a bit softer and more blended. There was basically zero heat to them - I may not soak them quite as long next time nor carve them out as much. I must say that I think simple is key for these - I'll leave out the fatty pieces and just put cream cheese next time.
Thanks for looking, all!
The plan was to build a small, hot fire and run the intake wide open to get as clean a smoke as possible since my previous smokes have been plagued by bitterness. Wanted to run 225-250 with RO lump and chunks of apple and hickory.
I gotta be honest - when I tore into that package of spares, the smell brought me right back to seventh grade science class where we dissected any and everything. Man, that takes a little getting used to! Flailed around with the knife for a bit, finally crunched through all the necessary cartilage, and got it apart.
Phew...glad that's overwith.
Had been soaking the jalapenos for ABTs to see if that would take some of the heat off...I've got to bring something for a volunteer luncheon at church next week, and I didn't want to kill off half the old ladies with uranium-235 ABTs. So I put them in my toilet bowl to soak for a few hours.
Not really...but sure looks like it in this pic.
So I tried to create a sort of minion/maze in my charcoal basket...as always, it was a dismal failure! Must not be big enough.
The temp went way high and eventually went way low...I sort of had to start over! But I was determined to keep the intake WIDE open; I wanted a clean smoke at any cost. That's a whole other story - and I'm going to post another thread about it. Bottom line is that I think it was *too* clean a smoke - no bitter flavor, used a LOT of lump and frequently added chunks of apple and hickory, but very little smoke flavor! Looking forward to getting some feedback in the other thread.
Also took the opportunity to smoke my first fatty! Went nekkid, no rub (will probably rub next time); pictured here with some rib tips.
I stuffed the ABTs with a mixture of wee fatty pieces and cream cheese; also used toothpicks, which really did a great job holding things together and helped them from looking as much like culinary accidents.
INTO THE FLAMES!!!
Also did some corn, husk and all (thanks aawa!)...left one side on a little long but it was tremendous!
THE RESULTS:
I made a big ol' pot of sauce that my friend's in-laws had made for his wedding, and I swore it was the best I'd ever had. Well, it became completely irrelevant. The ribs were wonderfully moist but not the least bit greasy; they took just the slightest tug to come off the bones. I was absolutely elated! Plowboys for the win AGAIN...the first time I licked my fingers, this wonderful, primeval, viscerally addictive sort of feeling came over me. That stuff is gold. So I tried some sauce on a few ribs and some ABTs, but it really was just a distraction! I've long known the "real q doesn't need sauce" theorem but this was one of the very few times in my life I've been fortunate enough to experience it firsthand.
Again, there was very little smoke flavor - but that's for the other thread. Took about 8 hours total since I just couldn't get it above 210 for like 45 minutes. Finally ran it around 270 since it was 9 PM and I was starving!!! Otherwise kept it between 225-250 for the rest of the cook. Used a metric *buttload* of lump...but it was worth it! Man, I gotta find a good source for wood so I won't go broke on lump!!
ABTs were good. I left them on around 3 hours, and everything seemed a bit softer and more blended. There was basically zero heat to them - I may not soak them quite as long next time nor carve them out as much. I must say that I think simple is key for these - I'll leave out the fatty pieces and just put cream cheese next time.
Thanks for looking, all!
