Frustration Rising - Mediocre BBQ


 
Chris AD

Chris AD

New member
I have an 18.5" WSM with an Auber ATM. I've been making a lot of BBQ lately, and none of it is really impressing me all that much. Following all my same recipes, but it seems like nothing is coming out REALLY great. I've made two sets of spare ribs, followed 3-2-1 to a T at 250F, and the ribs come out a little tough. Everything seems to be coming out a little dry.

Since I have the ATM, I was told to smoke without the water bowl because it just wastes fuel, you don't need it with an ATM, and it's just more mess to clean up. I've also read on some places that you need it for moist meat, some have said you don't. I'm wondering, is the lack of a water bowl the cause of my meat turning out kind of tough? Thanks for your help! I love smoking but I'm just not sure what my problem is.
 
Undercooked! Skip the water bowl, skip the auger ;)

>>>err, I mean run the pan dry but I leave mine in place most of the time.

It's really easy to maintain the temperature, & people I see who like to use heat sinks always seem to have a problem bringing their temps back down, but not me ;).

It's really easy, & even if some things change (temp, for example), time will change, but the window Probably isn't that far off.

Tough meat usually means undercooked while dry & stringy can mean overcooked.
 
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try changing one thing at a time till you get it. many if not most do not use water. i never use the 3-2-1 method or anything like that including no foil.
try the simple way first.
 
Chris,
Try running at 275 using the same setup and times. This should get you a little closer to done and the fat in ribs seem to render better at 275. Make sure you aren't opening the lid often. Open only when truly needed. Are you adding a little braising liquid when you foil ?
 
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Since I have the ATM, I was told to smoke without the water bowl because it just wastes fuel
Click to expand...

Are you removing the water bowl altogether? It's important to have it there even if you don't put anything in it. It deflects the direct heat. Without it, you're actually just grilling the meat.

Russ
 
Just remember there are no absolutes. People make great bbq with water in the pan and without. Great ribs can be had wrapping or without. Pick the way you like to do it and get good at doing it that way. I dont cook on the wsm all that much any more but always used water in the pan with great results. I can stick it on 250ish and it runs like a dream.

As for wrapping ribs, the 3-2-1 is a guideline. If I am wrapping ribs (if I am cooking for my wife I wrap) I am going to start looking at them at about 2 hours or so to see the color. Usually at around 3 hours it is the color I like, then I wrap. I usually dont like to wrap more than 45 minutes to an hour but the last ones I cooked werent ready to come out for almost 2 hours. I take them out of the wrap when I see the meat is pulling back from the bone. Then I sauce them if I am going to and at the very end finish them on a hot grill.

Like mentioned above, change one thing at a time.
 
What were your temps like before the ATM, and what are you setting them to now?

If you were shooting for 250, but really got spikes up to 275 or 300, wrestled them back down, landed at 250 for a while, opened the lid and got another spike, etc., your actual average cook temp was probably higher. If you're following the same recipe you were using before but now you've got a rock solid temperature that is lower than your previous average, your meat is going to come out a little tough because it needs longer to cook now. Either bump up your ATM setting, or cook longer.

It's no big deal, you just changed something and now you need to re-learn your pit and tweak your recipes a bit.
 
Tough = under cooked / Tender nice bite and juicy = perfectly cooked / Can't pick up the meat-falls apart = over cooked / Tough and Dry = Way over cooked

Try doing 275, works better for me anyhow. Make sure your temp is verified with an independent known accurate source. Take that temp at the grate.
Once through the cook usually around two hours I lift the cover quickly and do a mop with apple juice and apple cider vinegar.
Around three hours I make a decision about foiling based on what kind of bark I want etc. and how the meat looks. If it still tough with a probe (tooth pick) not really going into the meat but the meat is appearing to be getting dry and pulling back from the bone then I will foil them with the a fore mentioned juice combo and maybe a little brown sugar if that is the taste profile I am going for.
If they are not appearing dry and have not pulled back much on the bone then I leave them alone, mop one more time and just cook to tender with my tooth pick test. Tooth pick works very well lets you really tell state of tenderness.
If I foiled I start checking for tenderness after an hour or so the same way.
So far doing this my ribs have literally all been cooked perfect. At least IMO

You have to also consider that even in the same rack at the store there are ribs with less fat, more meat and different thickness even in the same package. That is why the only way to get them right is with the tenderness on each rack. Sometimes I pull one off and leave the other on for a period of time. Actually this happens frequently.
Just some thoughts from my experience so far, hope it helps
 
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