First run ever is done !!!!


 
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Dave Cason

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Hi Everyone,

Well its done my first BBQ ... The BRITU ribs were OK but I have a few questions.

I did see lots of smoke pouring out the top of the WSM but then it hit me, duh it's steam you moron (grin) I think?? The temperature here today was 12.5 deg F at 1:00 and creeped down to 8.9 deg F at 5:30. Clear sky's with a bit of wind (breeze) through the day. I left the wind screen box up the whole time. My maximum tempature was at 1:30 for 250 deg. - the vents below were open 100% on all three for last two hours.

I used about 1.5 cups of Cherry chips and 3 cups of Oak chips I soaked both for about 20 minutes before I wrapped them in a tube six layers of tin foil before I tossed them in the coals. I poked three holes in each side before I put them in. I sparked it with a full chimney of coals, (webers) then about 30 minutes before I put the ribs in I added the rest of the 10 lb bag. I think I have tons of coals left, it's shut off now so I'll check tomorrow. I will open up the 4 packets of wood to see what sort of burning I got in the foil as well.

The ribs came off at 5:20 ish and I sauced them up with Bull's-eye BBQ sauce and honey mixed at 5:1 like Chris said. (no KC Masterpiece around) They were pretty pink on the inside is that normal? (Us grilling type's up here think pink is bad-grin)

They did taste really smoky is that good or bad? I'd would use only half the amount of wood chips next time I think. Any other suggestions...? I did have to use back ribs as baby backs weren't available at my local store, I did get the membrane off though. I had in there 4 racks all on the top in a rib rack: 2 cut in half and two folded in the rack.

Weight's
Metric Normal

0.700 1.54
0.795 1.75
0.770 1.69
0.700 1.54

2.965 6.52 lb.

Oh FYI .... up here it's $16.81/kg for a total of $ 49.84 (grin) Yea, I know ca-ching, welcome to Canada!
The over all taste was really interesting you could literally taste everything from the smoke to the cumin to the sauce after ..... I did nuke a small piece in the microwave to try it and it was very hot and looked more cooked but the taste "really" disappeared on that piece, very interesting. I have two full sheets left in the fridge, what's the best way to re-heat them?


- so how pink is under cooked? they seemed to pull apart OK I guess.
- too much wood maybe?
- get the coals really blazing before I put on meat?
- maybe over all too cool of a cook?

Cheers'
Dave Cason
(dcason@shaw.ca)
(ICQ # 3349352)
 
Dave
It sounds like you may prefer less smoke, don't soak the chips and use less oak(it's the stronger flavored of the woods you used).
The pink is smokering most likely and that's not bad. It is a chemical reaction between the nitrates in the rub and smoke.
If the rib was tender then it was done.
You may want to read Chris's Tips and Faq:
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tipsfaq.html

There is lots of tips that will help.
Jim
 
Hi Jim,

Thanks for the quick answer, yea I've been reading about the ring maybe I got it, I dunno. (grin)

I got your last note about NOT soaking them and then I got Dee's saying soak em over night! Decisions, decisions! I thought what the heck maybe try it a bit of soaking and 30 mins. didn't seen to bad.

I really will have to find some proper wood chucks as the chiped up stuff seens harder to control. I guess I'll know more tomorrow when I crack open the four packages of chips and see how much burned up.

I'm trying to find a place on the web that can get me a Polder Therm as I think that would be the "best" way to tell if I got the meats cooked properly, I saw your note in "Just Conversation" and have been looking. I do have a pal in Hudson, FL. maybe I can have it sent to him and he can scoot it up to me as a "gift" I'll get one or two yet!

A couple more questions if that's OK ....

- what can you do to get a more tender rib?
They came off the bone OK but is there a way to get them to the moister, "falling off the bone" type of finish?

- and could I re-heat the two leftover racks at a later date buy freezing the cooked ones, then back in the WSM at a later date. Or is it BBQ for the next two days and use a microwave ... I don't mind haveing to eating them now!! I'll "force" them down! (grin)

Cheers' ... Again
Dave

BTW - I have a good trick that I think will work tomorrow morning for clean up. The remaining water in the pan should be frozen solid by tomorrow and them in to the garbage can! (sneaky huh)
 
The reason I said don't bother soaking the chips is I got the impression that you felt there was too much smoke on the ribs. Soaking is a grilling tech that keeps the chips from burning when added to the fire, placing then in the foil bag that keeps them from burning but the soaking can cause a smoldering which can produce a taste that I would choose to put on food.
To get falling off the bone you can wrap them in foil at the half way point of the cook, this causes a steaming effect that will get you those results. Falling off the bone is in reality over cooked ribs, but if you like them it's ok.
If you are cooking more ribs than you plan on eating, the ribs that you want to save for another meal only cook about 80% of the way. Freeze and store, when you want to eat them use a grill to bring them back up to temp and they will tender up during the warmup ( use this method for catering all the time). If you cook them in foil and try this you will find that the ribs will be mushy in texture.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jim Minion:
[qb]Soaking is a grilling tech that keeps the chips from burning when added to the fire, placing then in the foil bag that keeps them from burning but the soaking can cause a smoldering which can produce a taste that I would choose to put on food.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Correct me if I'm wrong Jim, but I think you meant to say, "...the soaking can cause a smoldering which can produce a taste that I would NOT choose to put on food."

Regards,
Chris
 
Hey Dave, I didn't mean to lead you astray on the soaking of the wood chips. It worked for me fine on the Weber kettle several times. I do feel that some of the more experienced members of this forum have probably had times when they had to improvise for different conditions. Being new myself, I haven't had a bbq session where I wasn't able to follow the recipes to the letter. We will all learn as we go. Hope everyone has a great New Year!
Sincerely, DeeC. /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
 
Oh hey, no worries either way.

I did have four pouches in there each about 4x6 long and about an inch think. Do you guys think that would be too much wood?

Maybe next time try halving the amount of wood and running with two foil bags of chips and not soaking either? I'll probably try that next time.

I'm gonna have to hunt around and dig up some of that real tree shaped wood like stuff, (grin) it's gotta be better than chips. I dunno, do one of you guys wanna Fed Ex me a chord of Oak!?!

Like you guys said it's only BBQ try it and see right .....! (grin)

Any tips on the tenderizing part, or about my reheating / freezing leftovers?

Cheers'
Dave

PS - I have just created the ultimate "Dog-Sickle" Reg TM. ....
It's a gallon and half of frozen water with pork dripping on the top, I think the hounds willl love it! (grin)

[ 12-30-2001: Message edited by: Dave Cason ]
 
Hey Dave,

I wrapped my WSM in a ceramic insulation blanket called 'Kao Wool'. I cooked a medium turkey on a light chinmey & 1/2 an unlit chimney of brickettes. I got 400* the 1st hour, then maintained 350* till done. Cant remember the outdoor temp or the exact duration of the cook, but this insulation is great! I now keep it on all year. I use so little charcoal its unbelieveable!

I have also heard of ppl using water-heater jackets, but cant vouch for that method.

p.s. That was my first turkey, & it was so good im making another one for New Years!

Happy New Year Everyone!
 
Chris
Your right, it was late, I had been up since 4am and cooked ribs and chicken for 125 that day. I'm surprised that there weren't more mistakes.
Jim
 
Hey Theo,

Thanks for the idea, I actually went out and bought some of that relfextx everyone was talking about but I lined the inside of my wind screen with it (same one chris talks about) rather then put it directly on my WSM, I dunno if it helped.

I think for the cook, next SAT, I'll really get the coals going and see if I can't get the WSM up to 300 or so then bring it back down to the 250 I want. It was only 9 deg F outside yesterday and I'm pretty sure that was a factor! (grin)

Next Saturday we'll go for a couple of "Chicken-Chickens" Chris talks about and we'll see what I come up with.

I'll keep trolling around for some chucks of wood rather than chip and I'll hunt for Mansmith's Poultry Rub and the zesty Wishbone Italian dressing.

Cheers'
Dave

PS - Thanks Jim for the rib tips, I didn't know that falling off was over cooked. See ya learn something new everyday .....
 
Dave,

Don't look too hard for the Mansmith Poultry Rub. You won't find it in stores in Canada, much less the majority of the U.S. You can order it at 1-800-MANSMITH, but any good poultry seasoning will work well as a substitute.

Best wishes,
Chris
 
Hi Dave!

Glad to hear you are proceeding with success.

In regards to your wood search......

Try snipping branches from the local trees(as long as they are hardwoods!). This is what I have done for many years. I have oak, apple and pear trees in the neighborhood and simply snip branches when needed.

I have used snipped oak branches for the last several years when making my jerky. For the regular stuff I look for branches that are thumb to 2X thumb thickness.

OR...try the countryside, surely you will find some trees out there. I just hate to see people have to buy wood when there is so much of it around.

Now, come spring, get out to your local golf courses and ask the groundskeepers if they have any wood for the taking. I got some hickory(2 huge "discs") that lasted for 2 years.

Any hardwood will work. And I think you are finding that you don't need much wood to get that flavor.
 
Kevin,

Thanks for the great idea. We have an apple orchard nearby, so I will give them a call for sure and see if I can get some trimmings.

Do you have to let the branches dry before you use them to smoke, or can you toss them in "fresh off the tree"?

Kelly
 
Kelly..

Unlike many others and against conventional wisdom, I use fresh off the tree. The same with my hickory I got last year..I used some a week after the tree was felled. No de-barking, no drying time. I use these on my jerky and last year used fresh cut oak branches from my back yard and won 3 ribbons in Minnesota.

I have some very strong convictions on wood and taste. I believe that a newbie should concentrate on learning how to cook first, THEN worry about the various types of wood used to smoke.

Beware the apple orchard!! We have several of them here and not one single owner will allow the trimmings to be taken. They claim because the trees have been treated, they are a hazard.

Last year over at the KCBS forum, research was presented that said using this woood is fine. The "chemicals" they use dissipate very quickly and by harvest time they have all disappeared.

Not sure when they trim the trees, perhaps you could get to them before they are sprayed.

If you just look around, you will see so many sources for wood. Of course, you must use hardwood, but that is pretty abundant in the US. A simple drive in the country should allow you to load up for the year. You don't need much!

Good Luck!
 
Hey Thanks for the great advice guys, of course now I gotta go learn what type's of trees look like what!! Up here I just call em' big trees! (grin)

I did find a place that has logs of apple so I'm going to go buy a bag of logs tomorrow for that "brand" o' wood. Like I said I did manage to find bags of chips of various kinds of wood but I would rather use the chucks you guys run with.

The hunt continues, on the plus side I did find a place that sells Polders to us frozen foreigners up here!

Cheers'
Dave
 
Kevin,

Thanks for all the tips! Come to think of it, I believe I have a friend who has some fruit trees in her yard, which are not treated. What a great idea.

Kelly
 
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