Over the holidays I finally got around to making my mini ( Montreal Canadiens themed) and seasoned it yesterday with the plans to cook on it today, here is the mini
got some baby backs removed the silver skin and threw on some rub
The mini did not have enough space to lie them down flat so I skewered them together in a "smoking ring of ribs"
then threw them on the smoker upper rack ( Kbb and apple) the temp probe was in between the ribs. Was solidly 230+/- 5 degrees for 2 hours. Removed them and sacrificed 2 ribs from each rack, diced the rib meat and added it to some beans in disposable aluminum loaf pans. The beans went on the lower rack the wrapped ribs went back on the top stacked on each other for another 2 hours. After this the ribs were unfoiled and a small amount of weber sauce was added and the two were put back flat on the top rack for another hour at 230-250. Here they are off the rack
the ribs were chopped up and plated with some of the beans that were really good
the smoke ring was not really pronounced but the ribs were really smokey, and unlike my previous attempts with the 18.5 wsm, the ribs were not overcooked not mushy. It really turned out great, at the end of it I used about 1/2 of the coals and the thing was rock solid in terms of temps. I dont know what the temp difference is between the top and bottom racks but if it is not super big I suspect you could do 4 full racks of baby backs in the mini. The nice thing about the " ring of ribs" is that the bamboo skewers are long enough and they stick out a little so that it prevents the sides from touching the pot.
I made the mini as a fun project, and figured if it was no good it would at least be a good conversion piece but I think I will end up using it a whole lot more. For butts and long cooks it might not be great by for short things like ribs or chicken or appetizers, this thing is gold. its ability to hold temp is really impressive and there are no visible air leaks on the bottom and one small one on top due to the maveric probe. the handle on the pot is a great place to hang the maverick, on the WSM I usually have a wrought iron chair next to the smoker to hold the transmitter.
hope everyone had a great holiday
got some baby backs removed the silver skin and threw on some rub
The mini did not have enough space to lie them down flat so I skewered them together in a "smoking ring of ribs"
then threw them on the smoker upper rack ( Kbb and apple) the temp probe was in between the ribs. Was solidly 230+/- 5 degrees for 2 hours. Removed them and sacrificed 2 ribs from each rack, diced the rib meat and added it to some beans in disposable aluminum loaf pans. The beans went on the lower rack the wrapped ribs went back on the top stacked on each other for another 2 hours. After this the ribs were unfoiled and a small amount of weber sauce was added and the two were put back flat on the top rack for another hour at 230-250. Here they are off the rack
the ribs were chopped up and plated with some of the beans that were really good
the smoke ring was not really pronounced but the ribs were really smokey, and unlike my previous attempts with the 18.5 wsm, the ribs were not overcooked not mushy. It really turned out great, at the end of it I used about 1/2 of the coals and the thing was rock solid in terms of temps. I dont know what the temp difference is between the top and bottom racks but if it is not super big I suspect you could do 4 full racks of baby backs in the mini. The nice thing about the " ring of ribs" is that the bamboo skewers are long enough and they stick out a little so that it prevents the sides from touching the pot.
I made the mini as a fun project, and figured if it was no good it would at least be a good conversion piece but I think I will end up using it a whole lot more. For butts and long cooks it might not be great by for short things like ribs or chicken or appetizers, this thing is gold. its ability to hold temp is really impressive and there are no visible air leaks on the bottom and one small one on top due to the maveric probe. the handle on the pot is a great place to hang the maverick, on the WSM I usually have a wrought iron chair next to the smoker to hold the transmitter.
hope everyone had a great holiday
