First smoke preparations for 2 racks of beef back ribs

[Steve-Calgary]

Hello fellow TVWB members!

I am in the midst of prepping 2 racks of beef back ribs (2KG per back rib) and the ribs are washed and rubbed down with a light coating of mesquite rub and placed back into the fridge ready to be smoked tomorrow morning

I believe I have most of my ducks in a row but a few things I need experts to chime in on.

My questions are:
1. Aside from the spice rub on the ribs, is there anything else that I need to do to the meat itself? I would assume not but I don't want to screw 4KG of beef ribs up.
2. I'm going to fill up my fuel ring and light with the minion method as explained in this forum a million times. Fill water pan with hot water to about 1.5 below the top of the pan. It's getting quite cold here (40F) so I think that is the right approach.
3. What should the temperature be for smoking beef back ribs? I'm aiming for 225 F but I have seen others get temps up as high as 260F. What is the ideal temp and how do you know what "ideal" temps are supposed to be?
4. How long should should my cook times be for the ribs?
5. How do I prevent drying of the meat? I read at ( https://heygrillhey.com/smoked-beef-back-ribs/ ) that one should cook up to about 165F and then remove the meat and wrap in butchers paper and then place back into smoker to finish the cook off at about 202F.
6. My smoker doesn't have the probe port. Can I run the wires through the fuel door?

Your feedback is immensely appreciated. Will post pictures of the final product.

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Usually 275. Wrap if wanted. they will be awesome. I usually go 5 hours. Can vary. I take to 203 or so. But that is where we need the experts. The probe tender could be in a range of temps. I sometimes forget to wrap. Or am not in a hurry.

Run wires under lid. Some do a little filing to make more space.

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Once wrapped feel free to use the oven. I use just salt and pepper. Ask experts about removing silver skin. I sometimes leave it on cause it is difficult to remove cleanly in some cases.

 

[Tony-Chicago]

They will be awesome

 

[Steve-Calgary]

Well here is how my first kick at the smoking with my new WSM 22 turned out. The WSM held temps decently throughout the cook and it was a fairly cold windy day. I smoked the beef back ribs for 7.5 hours at a steady 230F. The pork belly that I threw into the grill finished quite a bit sooner at around 5 hours since they were small. Used a 16lb pound bag of KBB and there is barely anything left in the cooker. Definitely quite the fuel hog but I attribute the heavy fuel usage to the cold winds. I had to add coals twice and the first time I did it, I had a runaway cooker that spiked at 300F so I had to shut the vents down to let the coals cool down. In the end it returned back to around 220-230F and I finished the cook job without issues. Ribs were ridiculously tender and the pork belly melted in my mouth it was so tender. The WSM cooks in a way that my kettle just can’t quite replicate. The smoke is so much deeper penetrating and I find the temps easier to manage. It definitely helped that I had a thermocouple on the grill and probes in my meat to ensure I had precise cook temps.

 

[JWorden]

Those look great! Where do you get the ribs and how much are they a pound? This is something I want to try.

 

[Steve-Calgary]

Those look great! Where do you get the ribs and how much are they a pound? This is something I want to try.

Costco Canada sells each rack of beef back ribs for about $30CAD each.