My first smoke results


 
R

Ragu

New member
Well after reading alot of info here I tried my WSM on 2 slabs of loin ribs and 2 fillets of salmon. I marinated them overnight then out of fridge until room temp before smoking.

I let the WSM season for a couple hours with 3 layers of Kingsford charcoal and 3 chunks of white oak and 2 chunks of hickory. Each chunk was about 2"x2"x4"long. One chimney half full of hot/grey coals were used for the MM method.

I foiled the water pan under then above and filled with water. Pan not very secure,wish the pan lip were wider for safety.

I drove my neighbors indoors with the smoke I made!
icon_cool.gif

Sunday was a beautiful day here in Southern FL. (Mia).
When temp at top vent droped to 250 I laid the ribs on top rack then closed the 3 bottom vents to 1/2 open and top vent to full open.
Things were looking pretty good and smelling great. At the 2hr mark ~225deg I looked inside to see how the coals and water level were. I added some hot water, gently tapped the outside legs then gently moved the coals around and added 8 unlit coals. At the 3hr mark temp was at ~230deg and a tooth pick went thru the largest meat like hot butter. My SO wanted the ribs moped with bbq sauce so onto my Weber grill they went for a quick 5min.

Final results:
Ribs became a bit dry but still tasted pretty good all things considered.
After the ribs were off the smoker I placed the salmon on and check until meat flaked. Fish came out tastier to me than the ribs tho.

Looking forward to my next smoke!
icon_wink.gif


Thanks for all the good folks here helping me with your posts.
 
I don't think you cooked the loin ribs long enough. Three hours is kind of quick. Four to five hours is more common at the temps you were cooking with.
 
Next time after about 3 hrs try foiling the ribs for about 35-45 minutes "in the smoker" then take them out of foil, place back in the smoker to crisp up and they should not be dry. Russ is probably right when he says that they didnt cook long enough. The meat has to be smoked long enough to break the tough connective tissues down. That is my best guess. Ribs are kinda funny sometimes and there is not a set exact time for making them. Practice is the best answer.
DP
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ragu:
Russ,
why then were the ribs on the dry side? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sometimes it is the quality of the meat. (That said: I have never removed ribs in less than 4 hours) My spares this weekend came out great, and I did nothing special. They cooked for a little less than six hours, at temps between 260 and 180 when the coals were nearly gone. I think I just hit upon an exceptionally good package from Costco (1.99/lb).
 
Could it just be that your temperature reading was off?

On another thread you mentioned ordering the Nu-Temp probes ... did you use them for this smoke and did you check them ahead of time?
 
As mentioned above, I'm thinking the ribs weren't cooked long enough.

I'm surprised that you had to add water and more lit coals at the two hour mark. Three layers of unlit charcoal, 1/2 full chimney of lit and nice weather should have produced a pretty hot fire for longer then two hours. Especially if all three lower vents were 50% open. Seems like the temps should have been higher.

I'm thinking possible the fire was hotter then your therm was reading, which would explain why the ribs looked done on the outside, but maybe not quite done on the inside.

Or, am I way off here?
 
Welcome Ragu. I have learned how to cook a butt but I do have difficulty with ribs. I suppose they take a little skill. Something I often lack. Have fun and welcome aboard.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ragu:
Russ,
why then were the ribs on the dry side? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ribs can seem rather dry when undercooked. They can also seem dry when overcooked.

As you gain experience you'll make mistakes in both direction and will learn the difference. You'll also learn that the window for ribs to be done correctly is fairly short.

Don't give up - practice makes perfect!
 
Dennis,
yes I bought the Nu-temp probes but they hadn't arrived and I just had to fire up my smoker.
icon_wink.gif


I now have the Nu-temp combo-probes and am going to try again with a couple racks of ribs. Just trying to figure out how the probes wire come from under the lid with the lid weight on them??? Is this OK to do??? I won't use probes into ribs but will with a boston butt I bought.

I did let the WSM season first for about 2.5hrs before I put the ribs on. I was checking the lid temp with a Candy Deep-Fry and Weber temp gauge. I checked for accuracy with boiling water and both read about 200deg. I suspect them to be alittle off because of this.

So I will try again with some fresh chunks of Hickory and red oad wood cut to the same size as before.

Keeping fingers crossed and enjoying every minute too.
icon_razz.gif
 
Yes, it's ok to run the probe wires under the lid. Try not to slam the lid down or twisting of the lid. There are a lot of folks here that do it that way.
Have fun!
 
Ragu,

Keep us posted as I'll be there right with ya' ... my WSM and Nu-Temp probes arrived this week and ribs are slated to be my first offering.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top