I've had my 18.5 for a few years, but with family/friend bbq requests coming in with much more frequency I decided to bite the bullet and step up to the 22.5. Have the week off from work, so I figured today was as good as any to break it in.
Bought two slabs of spareribs from Sam's Club (although I'm thinking about making the switch to Costco, been hearing great things about their meet) and cut them St.Louis style. Slathered them with some mustard and then both slabs were seasoned with Bone Suckin Sauce's rub, and into the fridge overnight. Pulled them out this morning as I was getting the WSM ready.
Used apple and hickory wood chunks, and dialed the DigiQ in at 270.
Left the lid on for 2 hours and then pulled and foiled them with brown sugar, squeeze butter, and honey. Put back on the smoker for another hour, meat side down.
Removed the foil, and returned them to the smoker, and let them go for another 2 hours or so. Left one slab dry, and applied a some slightly watered down Sweet Baby Rays to the other slab.
BY FAR the best ribs I've ever made to date. Any ribs that I previously made and thought were good, were complete trash compared to these. In my mind I was going to pull them after 4 hours, but I was able to remain patient today and let the meat, tell me when it's done. Today was the first time I could actually see the fat rendering out...almost looked like it was dissolving/bubbling to the surface. I've also always used the toothpick test, but apparently I was using bad judgement before, because I've never felt the toothpick slide in as easily as it did today. The ribs had a great texture to them...not mushy or fall off the bone, but pulled cleanly away from the bone. Sorry I don't have any cut or plated pictures, as I couldn't wait to devour them (my family either)!!! Overall I'm loving the 22.5, and all of the real estate. I've always had to cut, roll, or use a rib rack until they shrunk, before laying them flat. Definitely like being able to lay 2 slabs flat next to each other initially. It was windy with lots of wind gusts, but the 22.5 held temps perfectly. Even with the DigiQ, my 18.5 was always finicky holding a constant temperature. Looking forward to smoking some more on this behemoth, and I'm feeling like I'm finally feeling confident enough to tackle a brisket.
...and some wings on the Perfomer...
Bought two slabs of spareribs from Sam's Club (although I'm thinking about making the switch to Costco, been hearing great things about their meet) and cut them St.Louis style. Slathered them with some mustard and then both slabs were seasoned with Bone Suckin Sauce's rub, and into the fridge overnight. Pulled them out this morning as I was getting the WSM ready.
Used apple and hickory wood chunks, and dialed the DigiQ in at 270.
Left the lid on for 2 hours and then pulled and foiled them with brown sugar, squeeze butter, and honey. Put back on the smoker for another hour, meat side down.
Removed the foil, and returned them to the smoker, and let them go for another 2 hours or so. Left one slab dry, and applied a some slightly watered down Sweet Baby Rays to the other slab.
BY FAR the best ribs I've ever made to date. Any ribs that I previously made and thought were good, were complete trash compared to these. In my mind I was going to pull them after 4 hours, but I was able to remain patient today and let the meat, tell me when it's done. Today was the first time I could actually see the fat rendering out...almost looked like it was dissolving/bubbling to the surface. I've also always used the toothpick test, but apparently I was using bad judgement before, because I've never felt the toothpick slide in as easily as it did today. The ribs had a great texture to them...not mushy or fall off the bone, but pulled cleanly away from the bone. Sorry I don't have any cut or plated pictures, as I couldn't wait to devour them (my family either)!!! Overall I'm loving the 22.5, and all of the real estate. I've always had to cut, roll, or use a rib rack until they shrunk, before laying them flat. Definitely like being able to lay 2 slabs flat next to each other initially. It was windy with lots of wind gusts, but the 22.5 held temps perfectly. Even with the DigiQ, my 18.5 was always finicky holding a constant temperature. Looking forward to smoking some more on this behemoth, and I'm feeling like I'm finally feeling confident enough to tackle a brisket.
...and some wings on the Perfomer...
