First Cook......Inlaws


 
Again, THank you for all the input. I went with the cinn after reading the post when i got home. So i put them on around 2 and the temp at the lid was around 265 with two chunks of hickory and a full water pan. Since then it dropped in the 235 range. SO i have been gradually opening the vents and letting the temp settle. I am running around 247 and will try to bring it up. If not, then the inlaws can eat later than expected. I am guessing that the water is helping to keep it down but oh well. I will keep you all informed.
 
Yup, it is. I use a foiled empty pan for ribs. You can leave as is (understanding that the cook could go 6.5-7+ hours depending on cooktemp) or you can raise temps to shorten the cook, depending on your circumstances and whatever you want to do.

Foiling will shorten the cook some, even if you maintain present temps. If cooking around those temps I foil when the ribs are deeply colored, somewhere around the 4.25- to 4.75-hour mark. I foil individually with a little juice, then cook just till tender while in the foil, about 50 min to 1.2 hours more, usually. Then I remove the ribs from their foil (saving foil juices to add to the sauce(s)) and put them back on the cooker for 5-10 min to firm the bark a bit.

I use the same approach when cooking at high heat; the times are shorter though.

Have fun regardless.
 
KevinJ, I can empathize. Every cookout I have done for my inlaws has either finished way after it should have or come out rare or come out burnt/dry or a combination of the three. My father-in-law will eat ANYTHING with a smile, but it sucks to have stuff go wrong. You learn for next time.
 
I know the feeling.... the pressure!
You will do great! Don't do what I do, and stress out the whole time, just have fun and enjoy.
I look forward th hearing what a great success it was!
 
Well the results are in. And it was fantastic. To start with, everyone thought the ribs were great. The meat fell of the bone, I know that is over cooked but that is how they all like ribs. Kevin, the rub was really a hit and the smokieness was still able to come through. I am glad i just went with the 2 chunks of hickory and refused the urge to add more. I served the ribs dry with sauce on the side as you suggested.
The chicken was also superb. I cooked it on the 22.5 indirect for the first 45 minutes basting every 5-10 min. THen i added a few more brickets and went direct for the final 30 min basting and turning every 5 min. I had 8 legs and 8 thighs for 4 people and only 2 thighs were left. Needless to say the mashed potatos were not touched.
The cooking process was really easy. The only issue was keeping the WSM around 270 for the whole time but it eventually settled in and didnt need any adjustments.
Thanks to everyone who left their comments especially Kevin and Bryan. I hope everyone had a good weekend. Now it is time to figure out the next cook.
 
Bravo!
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Two questions as I think about the dinner and just finish the leftovers. How heavy do you normally rub the ribs before putting on the smoker. Also, I marineted the chicken for 6 hours, turning the bag 3 times (no oil). I then made a new batch for basting including the oil and cooked as i discussed earlier. How can i increase the viniger flavor? While eating the left overs i got that nice little kick of the viniger that was not there last night. For the next batch should 1) eliminate the oil 2) increase the viniger 3) reduce the amount of Worchester sauce 4) do a combination of the 3.
 
I like a fairly heavy application on spares with that sort of rub. Some other types I go lighter (it depends on the ingredients) but for this sort I like it where I just barely see the meat surface through the rub. (I go lighter for back ribs.) This accounts for what you'll likely lose naturally with shlepping the ribs to the cooker, movement there, foiling, etc.

On the chicken I'd say reduce the oil and/or emulsify the baste. Bryan might have different or better thoughts on that.
 
Originally posted by KevinJ:
How can i increase the viniger flavor? While eating the left overs i got that nice little kick of the viniger that was not there last night. For the next batch should 1) eliminate the oil 2) increase the viniger 3) reduce the amount of Worchester sauce 4) do a combination of the 3.
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Kevin J, I also find that when you eat the leftovers next day or 2 the vinegar kick is pretty much gone. You could always save a 1/4 cup of the basting sauce for the leftovers, and heat up the chicken and then apply the suace. That works well in making the leftovers taste like when they came off the grill. I always give the chicken a coat of the sauce, after removing from the grill so this also works well with the leftovers. HTH
 
KevinJ - congrats!! You picked some great choices. That rub Kevin offered up is pretty close to what I use most of the time (I do use cin. in mine). The cinnamon, allspice, cardamom is such a great combination with the chile. I usually use combination of ancho, pasilla, and chiptotle. With Kevin K and Bryan backin' you - how could you loose?

Bryan's roadside recipe is awesome, fun and flexible.

Congrats for a great first cook and for taking the risk!
 
QUOTE]
Kevin J, I also find that when you eat the leftovers next day or 2 the vinegar kick is pretty much gone. You could always save a 1/4 cup of the basting sauce for the leftovers, and heat up the chicken and then apply the suace. That works well in making the leftovers taste like when they came off the grill. I always give the chicken a coat of the sauce, after removing from the grill so this also works well with the leftovers. HTH[/QUOTE]

Bryan, I think you might have gotten what i said reversed. I got more of the vinigar kick the next day while eating leftovers and was wondering how to increase it the day I cook it. I am pretty sure i basted enough as it was a good excuse to hang outside and tend the food (drink my beer). So i am trying to get more of the viniger kick into the food right off the grill but not lose the over all flavor of the marinade.
 
Originally posted by KevinJ:
Bryan, I think you might have gotten what i said reversed. I got more of the vinigar kick the next day while eating leftovers and was wondering how to increase it the day I cook it.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I did miss read it.
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Did you use Apple Cider or White vinegar? You can add 1/4 cup more to start in the marinade, but don't drop the woosty. If that's still not enough and you need more then go to 1/3 cup till you get it where you want it. You could also marinate longer, say 8 hrs the next time. I use white vinegar for the extra kick. Many though prefer the Apple cider vinegar in the recipe. While I'm not a huge vinegar fan, I do like it on grilled chicken.
 
R Benash - I think the next time i will try to use a combination of ground chilies. It was running toward 10 pm and i was about to run to the store when we were discussing the rub. So i did take the easy way out and just go with the chilie powder.
Bryan, I used the distilled white vinegar for the chicken. Is there another vinegar that might have more bite to substitute? If not, I think i will increase the vinegar amount in the basting sauce while also decreasing the time inbetween basting during the indirect cook. I was pretty dilegent about basting when i went direct so trying to do some more earlier might make a difference. (On a side note, I wish i knew about this web site back in college. I went to York and it would have been nice to take a quick drive to get some good food!!!!) Thanks again for all the replys.
 
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