Barry McCorkle
TVWBB Super Fan
I cooked spare ribs this weekend on my WSM with somewhat of a twist and the results were great! I have been toying with the idea of using wood coals instead of charcoal lately and no water pan to recreate authentic(?) barbecue. I had always put it off since it seemed like a lot of work to keep two fires going, but I can now say that it was well worth the effort.
The cooker maintained a steady 225 - 230 for the first 3 hours and then I kept it at 250 - 275 for the last 3 hours. Used the BRITU recipe on 2 slabs of spares that I trimmed to a ST. Louis cut. Wished I would have spent more time trimming fat and some other unwantables, but that is another story. As mentioned above I did not use the water pan and I only put in white oak coals three or four times during the entire session to keep temps where I wanted them. Also, I did not mop or baste the ribs at anytime during the session.
End result? The ribs were only slightly dry, but they were tender and had the best taste of any ribs that I have cooked to date. They came off the bone cleanly but with a very slight tug, not mushy. I really think cooking over wood coals is the way to go.
Next weekend, I am going to cook some Boston Butt in the same way.
The cooker maintained a steady 225 - 230 for the first 3 hours and then I kept it at 250 - 275 for the last 3 hours. Used the BRITU recipe on 2 slabs of spares that I trimmed to a ST. Louis cut. Wished I would have spent more time trimming fat and some other unwantables, but that is another story. As mentioned above I did not use the water pan and I only put in white oak coals three or four times during the entire session to keep temps where I wanted them. Also, I did not mop or baste the ribs at anytime during the session.
End result? The ribs were only slightly dry, but they were tender and had the best taste of any ribs that I have cooked to date. They came off the bone cleanly but with a very slight tug, not mushy. I really think cooking over wood coals is the way to go.
Next weekend, I am going to cook some Boston Butt in the same way.