My first smoke... trial and error, and error, and error...

[lay3r3]

With the delivery of my smoker I thought I'd jump right in the deep end and do a couple of slabs of ribs after the smoker was seasoned and let run for a while to burn off any oils. I learned some valuable lessons... Here are my notes and some pictures. Would LOVE any additional feedback you all may have. I'm not discouraged as I knew I'd have to learn how to get some good product off this thing. I am concerned that the Stubbs charcoal has too much of it's own smokey-ness vs. just using a kingsford. However, this thing held temperature amazingly.

1) ribs were baby back from local butcher. Prep was just salt and pepper and used the brazilian lacquer recipe of S, P, V, and Honey (as noted on another thread).

2) While the prep of the smoker was more for the seasoning and burn-off I still kept notes for the first smoke... used Stubbs hardwood briquettes and stacked them three wide and two high in a single line along left side of the pan. Lit a small amount in a chimney with my texas torch and dropped them in the front of the line once they were lit and added two chunks of cherry.

3) Grill was holding constant on the face dial about 225 but gizmo showed 285. Against tons of advice I just held everything based on the face dial.

4) Basted the ribs about each 45 min to an hour

5) pulled the ribs at about 3hr15m. I did NOT do the 2-2-1 process as I read on amazingribs that it wasn't super necessary. I wrapped the ribs in foil to hold heat in as the timing burned me a bit... had to get the kids bathed and in bed So I put them back in the smoker for a half hour to warm them up. But I'm afraid I was already over-cooked and thus this may have just made it that much worse.

6) sliced the ribs and the crust looked great, everything smelled awesome, but there just wasn't that much flavor in the ribs themselves. So I used them to deliver good sauce to my belly. (no such thing as bad ribs... right?)

So the changes I'm going to apply on the next rib run is:
A) drop the temp notably to between 225/250 based on the guru and ignore the dial on the front of the smoker

B) either be more aggressive with the S&P coating of the ribs or just go with a rub - I have a ton complements of Pitmaker so no excuse for not trying it

C) Now that I know timing a little better do better about eating after resting.

 

[biggiefries19]

I think you're doing it right, start off easy and just cook, cook, and cook some more. What might be tasty to one person may not be to another. It's really trial and error when you start doing BBQ and what your taste buds like. Just from your pics there above I would say yes, you may want to season with a little more for flavor. Also do a search for the Johnny Trigg method, you may like that. Keep it up!

 

[dadsr4]

In terms of flavor, you probably did nothing wrong. Baby backs don't have much flavor by themselves. Think of them as a blank canvas to apply other flavors to. If you want to cook ribs for their natural flavor, whole spares or St. Louis cut ribs are the ones to cook.

 

[IamMadMan]

In terms of flavor, you probably did nothing wrong. Baby backs don't have much flavor by themselves. Think of them as a blank canvas to apply other flavors to. If you want to cook ribs for their natural flavor, whole spares or St. Louis cut ribs are the ones to cook.

I agree.....

Baby backs are from the loin end and are lacking the fat and marbling found in St. Louis style ribs. It doesn't mean they are a poor choice for smoking. St Louis used to be my favorite, but now I prefer the loin ribs.

I undoubtedly would trust the temperature guru probe over the smoker thermometer.

Also, I prefer to dredge the ribs with rub, and this works best for my taste. While these are pictures of my St Louis ribs with rub, my Baby Backs are coated in the same manner a few hours before going into the smoker. Sometimes I have to touch-up the application of rub just before they are placed into the smoker.

 

[Bonewagon]

I'd definitely go heavier on the rub. I wouldn't worry too much about the temp running 285 though, lots of us here like to cook ribs at about that temp. I would figure out which of your thermos was reading correctly though.

All in all not a bad lookin' rib!

 

[...Dave]

I did NOT do the 2-2-1 process as I read on amazingribs that it wasn't super necessary.

on st louis i did the 2-2-1 at 275 and it worked well, was 1st time i passed the bend test too :clap:

 

[Bludawg]

You'll get a juicer rib with higher temps, I prefer Spares or ST Lou's. Try 'em TX stlye
Slater with Valentina Hot sauce dust with Slap Ya Momma, a little white sugar and course black pepper.

 

[pitbossJB]

They look pretty good to me, add some turbinado Sugar and garlic powder to your rub and use more rub.

 

[landarc]

It looks like you made food, there is never fail if you made edible food. And it sounds like you already know some of what to do next time. Timing is always tricky, even for experienced BBQ cooks.

I prefer St. Louis spares, or regular spares, over baby backs. More flavor and meat. I also tend to use more rub than just salt and pepper on pork ribs.

These sat about an hour, piled into the container like this.

 

[tmac4183]

I would definitely put more S&P on those pretty things. They look so under seasoned. I can count all of the black pepper flakes. lol They do look great coming off the smoker

 

[Gore]

Looks good to me. I certainly wouldn't turn those down and would go back for seconds and thirds. I normally cook ribs between 250 and 300* or so. It really doesn't matter too much. The more I cook, the lazier I get. I think I select temperature based on when I want to eat and how many chores I need to get done in between.

 

[spider22]

I might try a rub with either brown or turbinado sugar. I think a sweeter rub is good for pork.

Definitely smart to go with your guru rather than the smoker thermo.

 

[BIL'S BBQ]

looks like a good cook! but I agree with most folks above, add more spice up front. I always go sweet with my spices on ribs, brow sugar/sugar in the raw and honey!

 

[BoLiles]

For me, pork in general needs a heavier rub...I'm not sure it's scientific but ribs have less fat than a brisket or a shoulder and so they need a rub for smoke to really adhere to and transform into smoky goodness. I have always had luck with a generous rub with some sugar in it to get a nice smoky caramelization on the surface.

 

[THoey1963]

I agree with the above. Cook at 275* and use more rub. Here's some SLC Spares I did recently:

I cook them for two hours nekkid, sometimes I wrap for an hour, sometimes I just let them ride nekkid, and then the last hour nekkid again. I look for about 1/2 inch of pull back when done and that they pass the bend test:

I like to use cherry wood as it creates a great color:

 

[lay3r3]

Man those look good! I just put a rack of STL style on there Dropped the temp and used a healthy portion of rub. Will post a new thread with the outcome.

 

[Yendor]

We all tend to learn by denial and error, that's the way she goes.

I don't know about the others, but while I agree that you need more rub, I don't think that salt should be amped up too much as it can give a ham like flavor to the meat, especially if let to sit on the meat for too long prior to smoking.