Hi? Low? Foil? No?


 
D

Dave Wr.

TVWBB Member
I'm smoking some spare ribs today and was pondering a HH for them. If I take this route:

<LI> Should I foil?
<LI> What about rubs with sugar - will they burn? <LI> Any advantage to HH other than time?
<LI> If you foil - do you foil each rack separtly or all together?

Thanks!
 
OK Dave. Here is one of very many answers you will get to your questions. I normally always foil when the ribs get to the color that I want them. For me, that is usually 2 hours at 270 degrees. Then I wrap each rack individually with brown sugar, a little butter, and whatever other flavors I want to add to the meat while it's wrapped. For me, they usually go another 1.5-2 hours wrapped. I check the tenderness at the 1.5 hour mark and if they aren't ready, I let them go another 30 minutes or so before I check again. However you decide to cook the ribs up Dave, enjoy the cook and please post some pics.
 
Hi Robert,
Do you get sufficient color/bark in 2 hours? It seems on my last few rib cooks, by the time the cooker gets to temp -270ish (I put the meat on once the lit coals go on)I need about 3 hrs. The brown sugar and butter addition sounds right up my alley
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Thanks Lew! I was searching for this type of specific thread
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but was getting overwhelmed by the info and the "side issues" that threads seem to take sometimes.
Also - is it the same for BB and Spares?
 
The difference will be in cook time. BBs take less time than spares.

You'll get color. I don't use a lot of rub on ribs and don't expect bark because bark takes hours to form.

Tomorrow I'm doing a Pork Butt and I will use much more rub and get good bark.

No matter which way you go keep a log so you can refer to it the next time you do ribs and incorporate any changes you want to make. My log has accelerated my learning process. Maybe that's because of my short term memory fading.
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Enjoy your cook and let us know how it came out.
 
I've been cooking the ribs for 2 hrs now and I was trying to get the temps to 350 but they won't budge over 250! I have the side door propped open and everything - looks like I'll have to give it another hour before I foil
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Oh My! I don't know how good it supposed to get- but - I ended up with the best "dang" ribs yet!!!
I used the Wild Willy's Number One-derful Rub - (from Smoke and Spice) - smoked for 3 hours @250+ then foiled with some brown sugar, apple juice and butter for 90 - then pulled. I would like to have shown you a pic of the smoke ring etc. but the wonderful smell and the hunger pangs won out
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Great day for rakin leaves and cookin ribs
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Get'in down to business
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Almost there - great night out
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I want this
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Kitchen closed
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They really were good
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Robert -
Do you use your smokenator? I actually bought it but never used it cause I got the WSM. Was wondering if the claims it makes is what you experienced?
 
Yes, I have been using the smokenator/kettle for chicken both at home and for competitions. I use my WSMs for everything else.

Regarding you not being able to get temps above 250ish, do you put water in the waterpan? If so, that may be the reason you can't get above 250.
 
Robert,
The pan was just foiled - no water - no clay saucer etc.

Any issues with the little water pan on the smokenator - I heard it dries out quickly?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Wr.:
Robert,
The pan was just foiled - no water - no clay saucer etc.

Any issues with the little water pan on the smokenator - I heard it dries out quickly? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, the smokenator water pan does dry up quickly it seems. When doing thighs it sort of works out for me because I do a certain amount of time in the 250 range and then I like to crank the heat up at the end of the cook to finish the chicken off.

I'm amazed that you couldn't get above 250 with no water in the pan, expecially since you only had two racks of ribs on there. With a half ring of coals and no water in the pan with that amount of food, I usually have trouble keeping it below 250 unless I almost completely close the vents. Do you think maybe that the wash tub was restricting air to the coals?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Robert V:
Do you think maybe that the wash tub was restricting air to the coals? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You wouldn't think so, but I suspect it does, at least to some extent. That's from what I've seen using a 55 gallon drum around the smoker without some space at the bottom for draft. Surely not near as much a draft hindrance as with the drum though, obviously.

I use water in the pan so I'm more concerned about the winds effect on the cooking chamber than variable winds fanning the coals.
 
I used the wash bucket the last couple of times to keep the temps from spiking due to the windy conditions. It's the only thing I can think of that kept the temps from the 300 mark? Oh well - good to know for future cooks when I want to keep it low - and besides - the buckets a pretty fashionable accessory for the WSM
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Hi Dave,

<LI> Should I foil? Depending on the meat, for me no foil on everything but brisket, foil brisket at 160.
<LI> What about rubs with sugar - will they burn? No, sugar burns at over 300 degrees, I like a lot of sugar in my rubs
<LI> Any advantage to HH other than time? Never tried it.
<LI> If you foil - do you foil each rack separtly or all together? Don't foil ribs, ruins bark. To get a nice bark you have to cook at highers temps, I do mine at 275.
 
Thanks for all the input!
I'm going to go back to the no foil approach on the next rib cook for comparison. From some of the threads I read on those that advocate HH - foiling was a must. Although the taste of the ribs has been pretty good - I haven't yet achieved the "texture" from the ribs that I've experienced in some of the better BBQ joints I've eaten at. The foiling definitely gives it the "fall off the bone texture" but I think 2 hours may be too long for me.
If nothing else my trials and errors have taught me - In restaurants -I can spot a boiled rib from a mile away ")
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Dave, good choice to try to learn to cook spares with no foil. Lots of folks turn out great spares that way, particularly on charcoal smokers that use water pans.

One BIG tip though is to start with the best meaty and decently marbled unenhanced spares you can find, with the best 'round here are at Sam's Club, and they have the brisket bone removed. I search through the three-packs for weights in the 13-15 lb. range, and just look for the best slabs. It's always a gamble since you can't see the middle slab, but the brand our Sam's is carrying now is head and shoulders over the ribs I've used in the past like Smithfield.

Use a decent amount of sugar in your rub, my preference being brown or even dark brown and cook evenly in the water smoker at 235-250* until tender. No mopping or spritzing.

I'm sure I'm repeating myself here, but my last two rib cooks have been as good as any ever, and it's as simple as it gets. I'm leaving the vents wide open long enough to know I'm gonna get the temp up to 250 or close to it asap. None of that 225* stuff for me on a water smoker for ribs or chicken since I want the water really simmering good, and you want some surface texture to develop before the ribs get tender. Can't stress enough how you'll get better slabs if you keep the ends out the outer hot zone, either. Burnt ends belong on briskets, and the 1/2 slabs in my six slot rack has just worked FANTASTIC for me last two cooks. Just trying to help you out, and wish you could've tasted 'em!

It's really that simple, and if you want to remove the variable of saucing at the end, try some Memphis dry ribs like Chris Lilly's recipe. That's my favorite technique anyway, hands down. Hope some or all of this helps!
 
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