Help First Cook this Saturday on my new WSM 18.5


 
C

CGariepy

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Howdy all....

what kind of advice would you give to a greenhorn?

I have a ton of charcoal, wood types, time, etc for a nice cook Saturday. I'd like to try ribs but is that toooo much to bite off??

my goal is to figure out how to make killer dry rub ribs (no real sauce added) or at least not in mine......

I would like to learn how to smoke salt, and cheese after the main stuff...............

Something about this site makes me fat..............er

Thanks for such a great site and posts.................

chris
 
My advice would be to get started smoking and not stress out over it. To me a simple Sea salt and black pepper rub is a good option,doesn't matter if cooked High Heat or Low and Slow. Also remember if your looking your not cooking.
 
Don't sweat it man. This hobby is suppose to be about stress relief.......not the opposite.

I've had good success with the 3-2-1 method for ribs. Simple rub, 3 hours in the smoke, 2 hours in foil with a little apple juice in foil (on smoker), 1 hour back on smoker no foil (sauce optional at this point). This will produce some very tender ribs. If you prefer a little more "pull" left on the meat, less time in foil.

Use briquettes for your first smoke IMHO, lump takes a little more effort in the WSM. As for dry rub there are a zillion and a half recipes on the Google box.....I will leave that up to you because there is no real right or wrong with rubs, just what you like and don't :)

Best advice..........if you make mistakes, (we all have and do), take it as a lesson and move on to the next smoke.
 
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I'm new to the WSM as well.. I did a Tri tip first, then a pork shoulder, then ribs... The ribs were very easy... Once the temp comes up in the smoker I put the ribs on and let them ride at 225-250 for 3 hours... Trying the 3-2-1 method ... (Just don't let any portion of the meat hang over the water pan.. I scorched the tips on one rack...
Trying to keep stable temps is the key IMHO...
Just go for it... You'll learn more and more with every session...

Mike
 
Ok, that's what I thought, I have only cooked baby back ribs twice and i did it for 2-1-.5 at 225. Is that usually what it takes?
 
Foiled ribs are good, but I recently stop foiling. It much easier, and less messy. I'll smoke'em for 3hrs give them a check, maybe sprits with apple juice or water. I fill the water pan with boiling hot water, about half way. At the 4hr mark I do the tear test for tenderness. Theres lots of ways to do ribs. Experiment with it, and find what you like. Have fun!
 
Thanks Ribs it is..................I have some of the Rendevous rub from Memphis so I plan to use some of that.

getting hungry

chris
 
wow, my first cook went great..

we did ribs and I would say for around 5 hrs or so.....they came out great... I love the dry rub and the others wanted them more tender so we foiled a few half racks and left the other (for me) out.

the temp was super easy to keep in range and I have decided to go without water in the water pan..... I do have a bunch of pics but I can't get them to load up on this site from my iphone.....someday I'll figure it out.

Thanks for all the advice. WSM rocks.

chris
 
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