Water in Pan First Time in Five Years

I've been working on improving my St. Louis Cut ribs for 2 months and Chris says repetition is the key to good Q. I have been using Harry Soo's technique and different rubs and sauce.

Simple technique. Cook 3 hours at 275°, foil with Apple Juice but I don't do his Agave Nectar and Brown Sugar and cook an hour in foil. Check tenderness and, if they're tender, sauce, remove the foil, and put back on the smoker for 30 minutes. The technique gave me tender ribs every time I used it and the ribs are ready in 4.5 hours.

Without water in the pan the ribs were tasty but not as moist as I was looking for. I'm using the 14.5 now so clean up is easier and I used water for today's cook. I didn't put enough hot coals in the charcoal ring so it took a good while to get my temp up to 275. A dowel under the lid finally got me to 275. The water pan was more than half full after 6 hours. Lesson re-learned. Use more hot coals with water in the pan. I went through this learning curve 6 years ago.

Today's ribs were quite tasty, very moist, and I got a good smoke ring. I have tremors so I don't take pictures of cooks anymore. Sorry bout that.

My wife noticed the difference, and liked the ribs so it looks like I'm going back to using water when I cook ribs.

Always good to try different approaches and then evaluate the results fairly. Personally, I always use water in the pan and my family and I love the results. If it works for you and your family then go with not.

Mike

275F is about the top end on mine if I have water in the pan. I need quite a fire going and all the vents wide open to get it that high. That water is an enormous heat sink. I've been having qualms about the need to close down the vents almost entirely to keep the heat under control without the water so I may try using it again next time I do a low and slow cook, but for anything above 250F I'm definitely sticking with a dry pan.

I've used something close to the Soo method the last few times with my ribs. I use honey instead of agave nectar. I really fell in love with that hint of honey the first time I used it and I've stuck with it ever since. I'd have to check my notes but I'm pretty sure I didn't go as long as 3 hours before foiling. 2-1/2 hours maybe. Never had a problem with them seeming at all dry without water in the pan

I agree that 275 is about as high as I can go with water in the pan. I've been wondering about the Honey and Brown Sugar addition. Gotta try that.

When cooking dry the ribs weren't dry but I wanted to see if I could get them even more moist with the water. Both ways produce great Q. I just enjoy fiddling with stuff and the 14.5 lets me fiddle with smaller quantities. Just playing with my new toy.

I get the whole fiddling thing. I'm always looking for ways to tweak this and that to improve the results. Of late I've been thinking about ways to get low temps in the WSM without having to practically close down the vents. I've had a few things that tasted fine but initially smelled a bit like they'd been in a house fire and I suspect it's due to the smoldering fire. I've started experimenting with controlling the pattern of the fire and the amount of burning fuel.

If you go the honey/brown sugar route, use restraint with the honey. I use one of the bear bottles and give it a good squeeze while moving back and forth over the top of the ribs at a height of a foot or a bit more. I end up with a few dozen "threads" of honey covering maybe 10% of the surface. I drizzle rather than slather. I think you could definitely overdo it with the honey. I'm looking for there to be a hint of honey in the final product and that's all. You, of course, may have different tastes.

IMO, 275 is too hot for a relatively thin cut of meat (ribs) and the reason you are using too much coal.

When I foil I take a tbs of honey and drizzle it on the center of the foil, sprinkle brown sugar and rub on it. Then I place the ribs on it and shape a "boat" out of the foil leaving 1 end open and turned upward. I use 1/4 C of HEATED apple juice. I noticed heating the AJ does not cool the meat down and extend the cooking time.

I've never noticed much difference between water or not, but I'm tempted to try it again now. Thanks for the post!