ribs, minion method, too much smoke


 
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This weekend, I tried smoking baby back ribs using the Minion method. While I've had great success using the MM for brisket and pork butts, the ribs came out too smoky. I used a modest amount of apple and cherry for the smoke wood (applied just before the meat went on), so I was surprised.

I'm curious: have others using MM for ribs seen this problem? Do you reduce the amount of smoke wood, or pre-light the wood along with your starter coals in a chimney? Other suggestions?

I plan to try again this weekend, with modifications suggested here. I really like the time savings of the MM versus the standard method.

-Richard
 
Richard
The amount of wood used during the cook is the determining factor on how much smoke is on the meat not the fire up method.
Next time you do ribs use less wood and see how you like it.
You will find that the amount of smoke flavor is a personel taste thing, some will like much more than you and some want even less.
Jim
 
I'm also thinking the smoke flavor was more noticeable because of the smaller meat to bark ratio of baby backs, compared to a thick butt.
 
I agree that the ribs take up more smoke due to their higher ratio of surface area to meat.

In the past, I lit the grill using the standard method (from the BRITU description), so the smoke wood had burned for more than an hour before the meat was added. By time I added the meat, there was very little visible smoke. This time, using the Minion method, I added the meat soon after adding the smoke wood, and during the first hour or so there was a fair amount of visible smoke.

I could use less smoke wood, but my other thought was to light the smoke wood in the chimney along with the starter coals and let them burn for 20-30 minutes in the chimney, and see if there's a difference in flavor.

So, I guess the real question is whether there's a difference in smoke flavor from freshly lit wood versus well-lit wood embers.

Thanks for the replies!

-Richard
 
Excellent question. I would guess preburning the wood, would result in less smoke flavor. I've never done it, because it seems like a waste of good wood to me. But, I like bold flavors. Hoping some of the experts will post. I usually see some white smoke at the beginning of my smokes. But, I keep reading about the desirable thin wisps. So, I'm wondering if I'm missing out on something.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fred S:
[qb]But, I keep reading about the desirable thin wisps. So, I'm wondering if I'm missing out on something. [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Typical pattern with the WSM is visible smoke at the beginning of the cook, for maybe the first 45-60 minutes, then little if any visible smoke after that...assuming you only add smoke wood once at the beginning.

I think the comments about thin whisps of smoke throughout a cook usually pertain to other types of wood-burning cookers.

Regards,
Chris
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris Allingham:
[qb]
Typical pattern with the WSM is visible smoke at the beginning of the cook, for maybe the first 45-60 minutes, then little if any visible smoke after that...assuming you only add smoke wood once at the beginning.[/qb]
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Hi Chris,

I'm also used to this when doing pork butt, for example. With ribs, I've been following the BRITU instructions where the coals and smoke wood are well-lit and have burned for 1-2 hours before adding the meat. In my last cook, I used the Minion method and added the meat shortly after adding wood, so the meat was exposed to this heavier initial smoke.

Since I like the time savings of using the MM, my question is whether I should simply reduce the amount of smoke wood, or pre-burn the wood in the chimney along with the "starter" coals.

My gut feeling is that pre-burning the wood will yield results similar to the BRITU method. I'll give it a try soon, but I'm sure others have already tried both methods, so I'd like to hear their results!

-Richard
 
I have had the same thing happen with baby backs. Normally I cook spare ribs and recently when I switched to BB's (just for kicks) they came out over smoked. I tried them again only using a few pieces of apple for the whole cook and they came out good. BB's seam to suck up that smoke.
 
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