First Ribs on the 22" WSM


 
B

Brian Silvey

TVWBB Member
Just started my first ribs. 2 split spares, so 2 St Louis and 2 flaps. Completely fills the top rack of the 22. First surprise is how fast it came up to temp. Started a half chimney at 1:05, dumped it on to a full, unlit chimney and it was at 250 by 1:20, ribs went on at 1:30. 30 minutes earlier than I'd planned. No problem. They'll be done when they're done, right?

Brian
 
Hopefully by the time I get there they'll be ready for me to eat some!!!
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Just teasing!

I would check them @ 2 hour mark check, temp prob and move them and I spray them with apple cider. They only reason I move them is to insure meat on middle of grate gets to the outside of grate for a while where it is a little hotter in temp or on my WSM 22 using a Minion Method it is.

Also I learned a trick from this forum that if you get your meat off earlier than your serving. Get a ice cooler large enough for your meat your cooking and preheat with a large amount boiling water. I let water stand for 30 mins in cooler or right before meat needs to come off grill, empty cooler and put a few towels in bottom of cooler. I put Aluminum Foil down also on top of the towels. Wrap meat in foil and hold in the warm ice cooler until ready to eat. And I can be wrong but I think the magic temp you need to have is 140 degrees or hotter, any less the meat has a better chance of going bad after a prolonged time. But seeing what your Qing I don't think they'll last that long!
Enjoy!
 
At 2 hours I took my first peak. They look fantastic. Cooking a bit faster than I expected as there was already some pull back on the bone in some places. I sauced with my home made BBQ sauce, some butter and foiled them up. I didn't think to get some apple juice or I would have added that. Next time. It took maybe 5 minutes to prep tham and the lid went back on. Temp came back to the 230-250 range very quickly. I have three thermometers on this baby. Lower grill, upper grill and the one built into the lid. They all read something different. When I came back ten minutes later the lid read 275, the upper grill was 290 and the lower grill was 325. I had a tiny bit of air coming from the lower vents. I shut those down and the top completely. 15 minutes later the lid was 240, the upper grill at 255 and the lower at 280. At that point I opend a bit of air at the bottom and a touch at the top. It is now hanging steady 3 hours into the cook. I am amazed that I haven't had to add any charcoal. My CG was and ia a hungry little monster compared to the WSM. Me like. Will post pics later.

Brian
 
Sounds like you are having fun and going to have a great dinner. I can share some learnings and that is every place you measure temp will be different so don't drive yourself crazy over it. I know I used to let it. You will notice the weber thermometer has a smoke zone. Anything in that range is fine. Stabilize somewhere in that range and don't worry about chasing the temps back and forth. Get a feel for the trend and adjust accordling.

It is also not recommended to close the top vent during the cook as that will lead to creosote on the food.

Can't wait for you to tell us ow they put a smile on everyone's face at the dinner table
 
It is really good to know not to close the top vent. They were already foiled when I did this so I think I lucked out. Smile they did. They were delicious if a bit over cooked. The WSM cooked faster than I expected.

Here's a pic from 2 hours in and you can see the pull back has already begun.

https://lh4.googleusercontent....40/weber%2520004.JPG

And here is an ugly pic of the ribs, finished on a platter. I am not a food photog specialist.
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https://lh6.googleusercontent....40/weber%2520006.JPG

As you can see a bit overdone.

I will never use the CG for BBQ again. This was too easy. Harldy had to ficddle with the vents to hold temps and never had to add charcoal during the entire 4 1/2 hour cook.

Thanks,
Brian
 
Foiling speeds up the cooking process quite a bit. Unless I need to speed up the cooking process, because I started late, I never foil. I also don't spritz with apple juice or anything else because I really don't see much benefit to it. Your ribs look great though.
 
Thanks. I started foiling on the CG because I found the ribs to smokey for my taste. In watching the WSM it only smoked for the first couple of hours. I did use the minion method, Kingsford and added a few chunks of Lazarri mesquite lump for smoke and flavor. Perhaps foiling isn't neccessary for the smoke protection.

I look forward to trying it again, and again and again...
Brian
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike David P:
Welcome to the site Brian. The toothpick to check for tenderness is a Mighty Thang! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the welcome. I have used the toothpick before. I suspect that it was actually hotter inside than the thermometers were reporting. Which is fine. Next time I'll start checking earlier.
 
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