Need Help, 1st lengtht cook, Weber Performer Gold

[Jake Wilson]

okay, time for some pics...

here's how I built the coal snake (Thanks for the tips Nate!)

notice the probe (pit probe) peeking out to the left of the water/drip/catch pan...I fed the Maverick's (ET-732) pit probe up from underneath, through the vent on the bottom, and I made sure I ran the probe wire through one of the coal grates so it would stay away from the charcoal, and close to the water pan. The probe wires are only good for around 700 + degrees if I remember the spec correctly...either way, charcoal I believe will or can get up to 1 K degrees Fahrenheit, so my concern in routing the probe wire was so it wouldn't get near hot coal

the hot coals you see dumped at the beginning of the snake, and I started the snake so it would run anti-clockwise, a few of the coals fell into the water pan=...also, I used or recycled charcoal from the previous cook, and sound up with pert near 1/2 a chimney of coal, but I didn't dump all of them on this snake...didn't feel the need to add more than what I did here, and I tossed a few chunks of hickory on topiof the lit coals, so I would have smoke at the beginning of this cook

now the grill is fitted and the pit probe is clipped in place

the individually cut up and rubbed ribs, as they went on cold

same ribs an hour later. BTW, the spray bottle was filled with apple juice, which I dutifully spritzed over the ribs every 1/2 hour...& if that wasn't enough, I'd disassembled the pile every time I went to spray with the apple juice

this is the rub (ingredient label) I used for these ribs, and without giving anything away, as I intend to mention how the ribs tasted at the end of this post, let me assure you, if you like heat, then buy some Suzanne's South West Rub. Mrs. Jake does not like heat so after one bite, she said these were all mine

what the ribs looked like after cooking 2 hours. Please pardon the blurry pics...for some reason, me keeping a steady hand while photographing, doesn't always work out

I wanted to show this view of the charcoal snake, for those that have never built nor seen a coal snake in action. This is my first coal snake and I'm totally impressed, and despite Jake owning two WSM's (14.5", 18.5"), this ain't my last low and slow cook on the Weber Performer grill...not by a long shot, I'm totally impressed with how the snake rolls. It took me a few hours to nail the vent setting (lid and bottom), and I have to mention, that by taking the lid off every half hour to spritz the ribs, that threw me off on the adjustment a little as I was fighting the adjustment (opening and closing), until I figured out where to set and leave both vents

I let the ribs go for 4 hours at around 225-235 degrees F, then I sauced them, and this pic (above), what they looked like after an hour with the sauce on

when I sauced the ribs, and I applied sauce a few times, I pulled the ribs off the grill and put them in this bowl, to make sure I covered the ribs w/sauce the way I wanted them covered...

 

[Jake Wilson]

as you can see in this pic...I got some char on some of the sauced ribs

this is the sauce I used...we've used this same sauce in the past on other cooks, and I like it's sweetness, with a hint of bourbon, although I can see Jake trying his hand at making his own bourbon (using old #7) sauce in the not too distant future. There's a few good recipes I've found on the net, to make a bourbon BBQ sauce

Getting back to these ribs, I felt I over cooked them a little bit. Looking at them, they looked fine before I sauced them and I believe I left them on too long after saucing, but still, they had a great taste none the less. Suzanne's Sout West Rub IMO, is easily my favorite, of all the commercially available BBQ rubs I've tried to date. It's hot, and not what I'd term uber hot. The Ancho chili flakes lend the rub and your food with enough heat to give (at least these) lips a nice burn, but that's where the heat ended, maybe a little after burn on the tongue, but very little

The combination of this rub and the particular BBQ sauce I used, gave these ribs a good balance between sweet and heat. I'd use this combo again in a heart beat

As to my opinion on cutting the ribs up to make individual pieces before smoking...let's just say I prefer smoking my pork ribs whole, mainly because it's more work IMO, tending to the individual ribs while they cooked. When I have done up ribs (pork) in my 14.5" WSM, and I'm stuck in a rut with the process I use...I have been cutting the pork rib racks in two, smoking them at 275 degrees f (I use racks) for 2 to 2.5 hours, then I wrap each hlaf in foil, along with brown sugar, honey and touch of apple juice, to finish, much less effort vs. what I went through here, on this cook, but that's my take...you'd have to try it for yourself to see what you think

I did this cook two days ago, on Saturday, yesterday (Sunday), I had some left over and put a few in the toaster oven, wrapped in foil. I got busy and forgot I put them in the toaster oven, but when I got around to eating them, oh man!, I can't buy ribs this good (IMO), anywhere around here, and there are some old boys that are good with BBQ. I'd even say the ribs tasted better on day 2, but admittedly, I was hungry went I ate them=

 

[Jake Wilson]

I'll be curious to see how cutting the ribs up before cooking will affect the time and tenderness .
will they cook really quick do you think? And I wonder if they'll dry out?
I will be looking to see how this turns out. Verrrry interesting.

~~~Hi Frank!, Thanks for following this cook. to answer your questions, to the best of my ability....

in regards to time and tenderness, some of the ribs were more tender than others...I can't say for sure if that was just ther ribs themselves or how each cut was exposed to the fire, or not. I tried to get each rib rotated best I could, before and after saucing

In regards to the ribs cooking quicker, because of being cut up, I'd have to say no, but that's my opinion, and I didn't allow them to dry out as I sprayed them every 30 minutes with apple juice from a spray bottle, and although I felt I over cooked these ribs a tad, they were still moist, at least up to the point on a rib where the meat was not over done, then where that portion dried out a bit, from too much heat, it was dry, but there were moist parts to these ribs, the ones that weren't over done, if that makes sense...

 

[Nate Frost]

Jake, I'm glad you had a good experience using the snake. I use this method often on my 22" kettles. On my Jumbo Joes I use a modified minion method. So far I haven't needed to get a WSM since being trained by, who I consider, a "kettle master".

Oh, and you asked earlier why counterclockwise, I don't have an answer to that. I just follow directions of the "kettle master". You burn clockwise when doing beef. Don't know why

 

[Tyson]

The ribs look good. Down under you burn it clockwise. Just FYI

 

[Benjamin A]

Looks good, I'm going to have to try this sometime. Congrats on the cook.