Ugly Baby Backs via the snake method


 

Bob Marlatt

TVWBB Member
Short story long: Yesterday, I thawed out a rack of baby backs that sat in my freezer for months. I wanted to dust off my old WSM, but it needs a new top grate, so (instead) I set up a snake of Kingsford in my 22" kettle. I've been 99 percent exclusive to the kettle (for my charcoal cooks) since I bought it as 1) I'm lazy 2) It's easy 3) I rarely cook for more than two people anymore. A good size pork butt is a challenge as EVERYTIME I have burned out the snake before hitting the magic internal temp, thus having to add a few more lit coals. That's always an adventure as y'all know! I'm lazy but I don't foil: weird.

Being lazy I cooked the rack in a curl with a couple of skewers... one less item to clean. The only mistake (this caused) was the ribs were stuck to the grate when I pulled out the skewers and added some sauce to 1/2 the rack. The picture shows how ugly this resulted in and why I will never, ever win a contest.

Long story short: 4 hours on the kettle and the temp at grill level hovered around 250 the entire time. Two chunks of apple wood and about 60 percent of the snake were consumed during the cook. They were outstanding.

tempImageAueshW.png
 
Short story long: Yesterday, I thawed out a rack of baby backs that sat in my freezer for months. I wanted to dust off my old WSM, but it needs a new top grate, so (instead) I set up a snake of Kingsford in my 22" kettle. I've been 99 percent exclusive to the kettle (for my charcoal cooks) since I bought it as 1) I'm lazy 2) It's easy 3) I rarely cook for more than two people anymore. A good size pork butt is a challenge as EVERYTIME I have burned out the snake before hitting the magic internal temp, thus having to add a few more lit coals. That's always an adventure as y'all know! I'm lazy but I don't foil: weird.

Being lazy I cooked the rack in a curl with a couple of skewers... one less item to clean. The only mistake (this caused) was the ribs were stuck to the grate when I pulled out the skewers and added some sauce to 1/2 the rack. The picture shows how ugly this resulted in and why I will never, ever win a contest.

Long story short: 4 hours on the kettle and the temp at grill level hovered around 250 the entire time. Two chunks of apple wood and about 60 percent of the snake were consumed during the cook. They were outstanding.

View attachment 73558
Great cook; Don’t think that the super one-thousand ($1,000) plus Weber kettle could have had a better result.
 
In the end, it's taste and tenderness that counts. I'd caution those who taste with their eyes to use their palate before condemning any food.
 
Think how badly trying to remove those from a rib rack would have ripped up the bark.
 

 

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