Hello all. I received my first smoker (18.5 WSM) earlier this week and had my first smoke yesterday. I have been reading through the forum for about 2 weeks. Originally, I was set on an expensive pellet grill (Mak), but decided to go with the trusty WSM.
I tried to follow the basic baby back recipe in the Big Bob Gibson book - except using the rubs and sauces I had on hand. I used a Costco baby backs and their Sweet Mesquite Rub and cooked for about 3.5 hours around 250. I was shooting for 4 hours but pulled them off a bit early because the temps sometimes ran a bit hot.
I had a bit of trouble keeping the temp down with Cowboy lump charcoal. I finished with a basting of Sweet Baby Ray's and put back on for about 20 minutes. I used water in a foiled pan.
A couple of first-time observations. The uncooked Costco baby backs were too long for the 18.5 rack without creative bending - so I cut them in half and cooked three half racks on each grate. I almost bought the 22.5 for this reason. The lump charcoal did seem to burn very hot at first, then died and needed stirring. The inconsistent sizes left some air pockets. Also, while most of the ribs were juicy, a few end pieces seemed a bit dry.
All in all, they turned out fantastic. My relatives have already put in an order for future smokes.
You can check out a few pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47576147@N06/
I tried to follow the basic baby back recipe in the Big Bob Gibson book - except using the rubs and sauces I had on hand. I used a Costco baby backs and their Sweet Mesquite Rub and cooked for about 3.5 hours around 250. I was shooting for 4 hours but pulled them off a bit early because the temps sometimes ran a bit hot.
I had a bit of trouble keeping the temp down with Cowboy lump charcoal. I finished with a basting of Sweet Baby Ray's and put back on for about 20 minutes. I used water in a foiled pan.
A couple of first-time observations. The uncooked Costco baby backs were too long for the 18.5 rack without creative bending - so I cut them in half and cooked three half racks on each grate. I almost bought the 22.5 for this reason. The lump charcoal did seem to burn very hot at first, then died and needed stirring. The inconsistent sizes left some air pockets. Also, while most of the ribs were juicy, a few end pieces seemed a bit dry.
All in all, they turned out fantastic. My relatives have already put in an order for future smokes.
You can check out a few pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47576147@N06/