HELP! First sparerib cook not going well!


 
J

John Campo

New member
So, as we speak I have 3 racks of St. Loius ribs in the smoker.

I followed this recipe:
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/rib2.html

The racks have been on for 30 minutes now, bottom vents 100%, top vent 100%, full pan of cold water, 3/4 of a pan of charcoal with 32 ignited coals on top with 4 pieces of apple chunk on top of that.

The smoker will not break the 170 degree mark! I checked the thermometer yesterday in boiling water and it was only 2 degrees off.

Should I pull the pan and fill with hot water!?! The recipe listed above calls for cold water to control temperature.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance! Love the site!
 
By the way, this is a WSM 18.5 with a aluminium foil seal along the bottom. There is some smoke leaking out around the lid and a little coming out of the door, but, I do not think it is enough to throw the temperature off that much!
 
John, welcome to the group. It can take a few minutes for temps to come up especially with cold water in the pan and 3 racks of ribs acting as heat sinks. I personally let my smoker come to temp BEFORE I put my meat on and I don't use water. Even with your set up the temp should rise to 225-250 and possibly higher. What is your desired cook temp?

Mark
 
Thanks for the fast reply Mark!

My goal is 225!

It is at 200 right now. The weather is a tad chilly today with a little wind, so, I am assuming that might be bringing the temps down a little bit to?

Thanks again everyone! This is a dream come true for me (both my smoker and this awesome online resource!).

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WE MADE IT!

Have been between 225 and 240 now for about an half an hour! The dang wind keeps messing with the air intake so I keep having to fiddle with the vents!

Still, we are underway and you can already tell that the grease and soot is starting to seal the grill nicely!

Ahhh...these ribs are going to be TASTY!
 
Only other thing that is concerning me is that I had to open the bottom vents up to 100% in order to hold at 235. After I closed them down to 30%, the temperature plummeted to 205. Given, there is a WICKED 40 mph constant wind and it is only about 50 degree out.

Next time I am going to go with hot water in the pan and hopefully will be able to build some sort of enclosure to keep the wind off of it!
 
John, if your temps were at 235 and that is your goal, then leave the vents where they are unless you see a trend going away from your goal temp. You goota listen to your cooker, it will tell you what to do.
Sounds like you are on the right track.

Mark
 
If you are using water I think its important to get the water as hot as you can prior to starting. Also don't use more than you need. Something like ribs I would only half fill the pan.

Just imagine that the water has the effect of an ice cube in a drink. The bigger the ice cube the colder the drink.
 
Dear John...you mentioned "a aluminium foil seal along the bottom"...
Where is this seal?
If it is interfering with the vents, the draft will be impeded, which will result in lower temps.
 
Not interfering with the vents...it was just a one inch wide strip placed along the interface between the middle and charcoal sections! I checked to make sure air flow was unimpeded.

Had to bring the smoker into the garage and open the garage door...the wind was just too gnarly. We hit gusts up to 50 mph today from all directions.

Just ate my first rack and overcooked the ribs by about one hour to forty-five minutes! In addition, I either used too much rub or put too much salt in my rub, because they are uber salty (three beers deep already!).

Next smoke I will use half of the water, half of the salt, a little less cook time, and whole chimney of ignited K.

All in all, not bad for the first run, but, always room to improve.

The No. 5 sauce I made is kick *** though!
 
I use water in the pan. Although it seems to hold close to 2 gallons I only add a little less than 1 gallon and I make sure it is as hot as I can get it from the tap.

I have smoked in 10 to 15 degree weather with good results. I would suggest more fuel. Also a wind break may help.

Mike
 
Hey John glad it worked out for you. Try leaving the salt out of the rub next time and putting salt directly on the meat before you ad the rub. Only use the amount of salt you would normally add at the dinner table if you were served unsalted meat. Doing it this way you will never have to much salt on the finished product.
 
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