WSM 22 vs LBGE and Baby Back vs St. Louis Ribs


 
DanHoo

DanHoo

TVWBB Olympian
A few weeks ago I picked up a used WSM 22. I wanted to experiment using it for ribs.

I decided a smoke off would be a great way to try it.

Each gets a slab of baby back and a slab of St Louis.

Let's do this.

Side burner on the E330 lightsva chimney of KBB for the WSM. Adding three chunks of apple and a chunk of hickory.

Doing minion method with about half a bag of KBB.

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BGE will use JD XL lump, and 3 chunks of apple and a chunk of hickory.

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Mixed up some rub.

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rubbed four slabs. Two baby back. Two st. Louis

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On the WSM.







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After 2 hours.

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I'm going to wrap at 4. 5 hours for one hour.

Then sauce, let the sauce set, sample and choose a winner.
 
The ribs are wrapped. I didn't take pictures. I hope you can all visualize ribs wrapped in foil ;)
 
My initial impressions of the WSM 22 are it is really stable holding temps, and it had a nice amount of smoke.

edit: and the 22 inch grate is awesome compared to the 18 inch grate on the Large BGE.

Today was all analog. No ATC, no digital thermometers, just using the dome thermometers on each.
 
Nothing’s as important as having enough real estate. It just makes the cook easier to manage and lots of room for the smoke to hit the meat. What temp you at that you need 4-5 hours? My E6 usually has ribs done at 3.5 hours and then 30 mins wrap and 5-10 unwrapped to reset bark all at 250-275°F for the entire cook.
 
Both BGE and WSM were at 250 dome.

We like bark, I do 4 hours smoke at 250 or less. Then wrap for an hour. Then a few mins direct.

They are resting in a warm 180 F oven until dinner if I can wait that long.
 
All of the ribs were great.

BGE was more moist and tender.
WSM had a little more smoke flavor.

My youngest liked the BGE baby backs best.
My oldest liked both baby back and st Louis from the BGE.

I thought the BGE st Louis were best.

I'd rank these

1. BGE St. Louis
2. BGE baby back
3. WSM baby back
4. WSM St. Louis.
 
DanHoo said:
All of the ribs were great.

BGE was more moist and tender.
WSM had a little more smoke flavor.

My youngest liked the BGE baby backs best.
My oldest liked both baby back and st Louis from the BGE.

I thought the BGE st Louis were best.

I'd rank these

1. BGE St. Louis
2. BGE baby back
3. WSM baby back
4. WSM St. Louis.
Click to expand...
I just think the Kamado cookers hold a more consistent heat with less deviation over time. There’s just something about how they cook, to me, that really make coal grilling better. I also think the fuel sources plays a part in the final flavor.
 
The cleanup on the BGE will be about 3 mins tomorrow.

I'd like to think the WSM won't take too long, but the water pan looks messy.
 
DanHoo said:
The cleanup on the BGE will be about 3 mins tomorrow.

I'd like to think the WSM won't take too long, but the water pan looks messy.
Click to expand...
Supposed to triple ply foil the water pan. Peel off dirty foil, discard, and repeat. Five minute WSM cleanup.
 
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