First time ribs (in an OTP)


 
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anders

anders

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Hi all,

I've been lurking here since I bought my 22.5" OTP some months ago, and finally decide to do some ribs properly. This was really my first attempt at low and slow, so I didn't expect much, more just a test to gain some experience.
Living in the south of France, I haven't actually managed to find any briquettes so using lump charcoal, I figured I needed something to put them in to keep them from spreading out in the bottom of the OTP and die out. Lack of a suitable coal basket I simply formed a collar of tinfoil (D: 7", H: 4") and filled it with unlit charcoal and them put a bunch of lit ones on top.
http://img214.imageshack.us/i/img0799w.jpg/

On with the ribs and down with the lid.
http://img137.imageshack.us/i/img0801wz.jpg/

Quite quickly I reached too high temperatures(?) (350) before I realized that I really have to fully close the bottom vent and almost also the lid vent (25% - 50% open). Keeping it that way, I managed to keep the temperature around 250 for four and a half hour, when it was ready to be devoured.

Having just been turned after three hours.
http://img841.imageshack.us/i/img0803y.jpg/

Finished, after four and a half hours.
http://img163.imageshack.us/i/img0804oy.jpg/

And devoured it was... simply the best ribs I've had, very juicy. The rub was more or less BRITU and the sauce was a simple mix of ketchup, chili sauce and honey. Simple but it worked.
http://img826.imageshack.us/i/img0807h.jpg/

I was very surprised about the heat output from the lump charcoal, considering I only used roughly half a Weber chimney unlit plus one third lit. No problems bringing the temperature up to 300 for the last half hour either, and still after dinner (T+5.5h), the temperature was still around 200.
I did keep an oven thermometer on the grate to be able to compare, and this one seemed to show that the temperature on the grate was roughly 10-20 degrees lower than the at the lid, so I need to keep that in mind in the future.
 
Looks great Anders.

Show those snail eaters what real bbq is
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Welcome onboard and thx for sharing!
 
Nice job Anders - It's always fun to be able to turn out a cook that meets or exceeds your expectations. That cook would make anyone happy, especially any guests you might have over for dinner. Thanks for sharing. Bob
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Those look great.
Up until a few weeks ago, all my low and slow cooks were done on Kettles.
I like your use of a foil ring for a Charcoal basket. For longer cook times try using "Fire Bricks". I've done it for years, they work great. You can load up the fuel side and with the MM get long cook times.
]Fire Bricks[/URL]
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mac McClure:
Those look great.
Up until a few weeks ago, all my low and slow cooks were done on Kettles.
I like your use of a foil ring for a Charcoal basket. For longer cook times try using "Fire Bricks". I've done it for years, they work great. You can load up the fuel side and with the MM get long cook times.
]Fire Bricks[/URL]
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</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I use firebricks as well and it works great. Now why do you have coke cans stuff between the coals? Heat sink? Flavorful steam?
 
I bought a 6 pack off the ACE hardware web site and had it shipped free to my local store. Best $20 I invested in a while.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Now why do you have coke cans stuff between the coals? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I pour the charcoal and smoking wood around the cans, Light up 8-10 coals in the chimney. When they're ready I remove the cans and this leaves a cavity for the hot coals. I pour them in, place some wood chunks on top and start cooking.
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