Finally Got the First Cook on the Camp Chef


 
Rich Dahl

Rich Dahl

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
After a month of owning our new Camp Chef we finally got to smoked some St. Louis ribs
Seasoned over night with my rub and some #5 waiting for the sauce.
Used Cooks apple pellets for the smoke.
Dialed up 275 for the cooking temperature. After about 10 minutes it was ready to go.

It was fairly windy and I was concerned about that, but it never became an issue.
The grill stayed between 270 -283 for the whole cook.

Seeing it was running fine I made up my version of Cliffs root bear beans and heated them on the gasser.
Barb made up her O’Brian potato salad.

At 2 ½ hours we foiled the ribs with some brown sugar, honey and apple juice. And let it go for another 1 ½ hours. Took it out of the foil let it cook another 15 minutes sauced it and let the sauce set up for another 10 minutes.
The ribs were some of the best we have ever had. Not fall off the bone, but just a little pull. Very tender and with just the right amount of smoke.

Overall I am very impressed with the Camp Chef certainly glad we got it. As much as I like the mini and WSM I know in the wind we had I would have been chasing temperatures all day. Only time I came out was to wrap and unwrap the ribs. I monitored the grill temperature with one of my mavericks, worked perfectly..

With the pellet dump and ash dump cleanup was quick and easy.
Pellet usage was about two pounds for the cook.

Next up I’m going to try the high heat searing feature with a strip steak. I don’t intend to use it as a high temp grill as I have two gassers and the performer for that. Just want to see how well it works.

We've gone over to the dark side and we like it.:)


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Thanks for stopping by.
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Rich, how would you say the smoke flavor was compared to a WSM if that is what you used to make them before.
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It was Brian, I have an 18.5 WSM and a mini 14.5. On this cook I went at 275 I didn't use the low temp or high temp heavy smoke option and apple is pretty mild smoke. I would say it's comparable to the WSM. Barb and I like a lite smoke so it doesn't cover up the flavor of the meat, so I go light on the smoke wood.
 
Those look like some tasty ribs, Rich! I'm glad you're enjoying your new cooker. I look forward to seeing those steaks.
 
Sounds like you are doing your ribs about the same way I do mine basically using high heat IMO no drop off in the results. On my smoker 275 -280 I do spray them down with some fake butter after an hour to help out the bark then every 20 minutes spray them with some water then alternate with the fake butter. This is Harry's method, when I press my finger on them and no rub comes off I foil them the last cook was 2 hours and 20 minutes so pretty close to what you had.

Then I foil like you I use brown sugar, honey and also use Golden Light Blue Agave and throw some Cayenne Pepper on them. I started using V8 peach mango instead of the apple juice for the liquid again this is Harry's recipe not mine set my timer on my phone for 2 hours and opened them up they were done threw them on for about 15 minutes this got them fall off the bone that is the way my family likes them.

Impressed with your results really wish I could grab that potato salad out of the picture along with the ribs, not a big bean guy.
 
Great looking ribs and sides! Rich got his Camp Chef about the same time I got mine. I've only done two cooks of babybacks. First cook was excellent except for the rub I used that was too salty. Second cook was not so good due to the quality of the ribs, not the grill. That rack was sandwiched by two good looking racks from Sam's Club. I haven't found a good babybacks like you get from rib joints. Albertsons, Smiths, Vons, Sams Club, and Costco all seem pretty fatty. Too much fat that doesn't always rend out. I've been using the 3-2-1 method with apple pellets and apple juice/vinegar spritz at about 225 degrees. I use my Thermoworks Smoke and the temps closely resembles what is displayed on the Camp Chef. Should I be getting St. Louis ribs instead? I'm nowhere ready to try doing brisket or something like that. I'm not even going to try the sear feature since I am more than happy with my Genesis for grilling.
 
Dan, my own opinion is you should try St Louis ribs that is what Rich cooked and I buy mine from Costco and they need very little trimming. St Louis are cheaper than back ribs think I paid 2.39 a pound the last time I bought them but its a 3 pack. Try the high heat method you will be done much quicker than the 3-2-1 and I have done them both ways I would not ever go back to low and slow.

Do you wrap yours it makes a difference IMO. Costco and Sams as well as Supermarkets do not sell Baby Back Ribs, they sell back ribs big difference.

Just wanted to add even if your rub is to salty when you wrap them use the brown sugar and honey it will fix that generally, Rich uses Apple Juice for the liquid I use Mango in the wrap. I really doubt it makes much of a difference.
 
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Brian:
Thanks for that info. Yes, I do wrap with foil for the 2 hrs. in the middle of the cook. I've got one rack left to cook and then I will try the St. Louis ribs. Where do the BBQ places get their baby backs? I've always liked the smaller ribs a tad better. I'm on the same page with Rich about the Camp Chef. Fills the bill for the few smoking cooks I do a year. Easy to clean out and easy to change pellet flavors. The Genesis is used probably 3-4 times a week for our dinners. Our weather allows that and it saves on HVAC costs. Also do things like fries in our Calphalon tabletop oven which keeps the house a lot cooler than our gas fired range.
 
Dan,
Give St. Louis ribs a try they are a little bigger and the higher heat will render the fat out quicker. We love BBs, but the St. Louis ribs are a little more predictable when cooking. Ours are from Safeway and are Swift Premium not the best of the ribs but still very good.
Stay tuned next week Barb and I are going to do a strip steak to see if the sear feature really works. Like you I have other grills for grilling.
 
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So happy you got to test it out! Looks great. Temperature stability is great too. Pellet usage seems very reasonable.
Using a rib rack how many could you get on there? How many briskets? Pulled pork?
Lookin' good
 
Tony-Chicago said:
So happy you got to test it out! Looks great. Temperature stability is great too. Pellet usage seems very reasonable.
Using a rib rack how many could you get on there? How many briskets? Pulled pork?
Lookin' good
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I have a rib rack but prefer not to use it. I would guess that looking at the top shelf, the silver racks the one below the top one slides into the same channel as the top one making a shelf slightly smaller than the bottom rack. With that configuration I would say two racks on top and at least three racks on the bottom. At least two briskets on the bottom and one up top.
It would depend on the size of the butts maybe three on the bottom, moving both top racks to the lower channel maybe two up top if they weren't too big.
I'm not sure with rib racks as the vertical clearance might make impossible to use the top shelf with a rack.
 
Dan Leighton said:
Brian:
Where do the BBQ places get their baby backs? I've always liked the smaller ribs a tad better.

I imagine they buy them from Restaurant Supply outfits, do you have a local butcher should be able to get them there. I did a google a few minutes ago looks like Aldi carries them not sure at every store also got a hit from Walmart which was Tyson, if you have a Restaurant Depot location you could try there. You could go look the Aldi ones may be in barbecue sauce not sure. If it was me and you had a butcher nearby that is where I would try first to ensure you are getting Baby Backs and expect to pay up they are going to be more expensive.
Click to expand...
 
Tasty looking ribs! Glad you're enjoying your new smoker! Now I need some ribs!
 
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