Weird(but delicious) cook

[Phil Perrin]

So like I said in another thread,I was doing BBs today. It still had the coals and ash in it from last weeks BBs,so I dumped the ash,shook out all the ash from the leftover K,added fresh K and some chunks,then lit MM. When the chimney was ready,I assembled the cooker,added the ribs and went back inside. I went ouside to check the temps about 20 minutes later,and the cooker was only reading 175*. Hmm. So I checked all the vents(open 100%),and propped the door open. It still took about an hour more to get to 225*. And it was freaking hot outside! I'm not sure what happened,but after about three hours,I went to switch the ribs around,ones on top to bottom rack and vice versa. They were cooking quite nicely,bones starting to poke out and getting pretty tender. After four and a half hours,I propped the door open all the way and started saucing. One of the slabs even broke in two when I went to flip them. Those were some amazing ribs! All I heard was slurping sounds and compliments! Sorry there weren't any pics, The ribs went way too fast!

 

[Glenn W]

Wonder if your gauge is off or something? Strange!

 

[Tim L.]

Hey Phil. Sounds tasty! I tried ribs once so far and they sucked. I'm pretty harsh on myself, but I really did not enjoy them at all.

Anyhow, reusing coals...I've done no research on this, but have noticed that after most cooks I have a decent amount of briquettes remaining that were barely burnt at all. Is there anything I should keep in mind when using them again in the future? Like only use 50% re-used, or 20%, etc???

Thanks Phil!

 

[Paul Lai]

I think the gauge is off. Was re-checking my 2009 WSM gauge recently, purchased 4/09, and it's off by more than 20F (lower) around 200F; much more off >40F around 300F.

That being said, as said before in other threads, I like cooking my ribs (spares) HH (300+F). Better resulting texture.

 

[CullenJ]

Yeah, I get all kind of weird fluctuations on my therms. I run the stock one and a Polder in the vent. They're almost always ~ 20 degrees apart with the Polder being more accurate. However, with my last two cooks, I believe the Weber therm's been better. I don't get it.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tim L.:
Anyhow, reusing coals...I've done no research on this, but have noticed that after most cooks I have a decent amount of briquettes remaining that were barely burnt at all. Is there anything I should keep in mind when using them again in the future? Like only use 50% re-used, or 20%, etc??? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tim, don't know about Phil, but I always re-use coals. I just knock off the extra ash, dump the ash from the bowl and dump new coal on top of the old.