Spare ribs ready to go.

[nofishfisherman]

Jumping in feet first into the world of smoking tomorrow. Picked up a couple packs of spare ribs this week and just got done putting the rub on.

Looking forward to my first attempt at smoking. Have a couple friends coming over to enjoy them tomorrow night so I hope they turn out.

[reinhard1]

let us know how they turn out. good luck.

[hockeybc69]

I made spare ribs a couple weeks ago.

They were ones I got from Cub that had the "preserves" in the bag.

As was noted on here some months back, be careful on the amount of additional salts you add.

I did my average rub application, and they turned out very good. No question.... But... they were extra salty for sure.

I will be sure to look for natural packaged ones, rather than the ones with the solution added.

Good luck. hope it goes great!!!

[eyeguy 54]

good tip blb. I have really been enjoying the stuff from target. I rinse them off with water and use my own rub that has no salt in it. testurday I put 1 bottle of beer in the water pan. used 1/2 alder and 1/2 mesquite. 2 trays full. ( I pull the tray out to fill, I don't use the side shute)

they were crazy good! i did the 5 hour 2-2-1 this time.

[nofishfisherman]

Well they just went in the smoker. It will be a challenge managing the temp for the first time since I'm using an inexpensive Brinkmann charcoal smoker but i'm up to it. I did a few mods to it including adding a better thermometer in the lid so that should help.

I did buy the natural packed ones from Cub, I think they were like $1.49/pound. I wanted to avoid the brine they normally pack them in. I wanted to make sure that everything I'm tasting was my doing so I know what to tweak if need be.

I'll keep you all posted on how they turn out. I'm also doing the rib tips that came with the ribs so those should be done in a couple hours for a taste test.

[reinhard1]

i'm doing 5 racks of baby backs today to bring to my daughters to finish up there. i will be using my Charr Griller barrel type grill/smoker with the fire box. the fire box helps with keeping the temp around 225. i'm aslo throwing a split whole fryer in there for tonight. you will get used to using the charcoal after a few try's, heck maby the first time. probably have to baby sit it more the first time to keep track of the temp and so on but all it takes is a few cold ones to keep you company. good luck.

[nofishfisherman]

When I seasoned my smoker I kept an eye on the temp to see how long one load of charcoal will keep it up to temp. Looks like I get about 1 1/2-2 hours at 225 per load of coal.

Just about to put the second load in and so far its been spot on at 225. So far I've resisted the urge to lift the lid to check out the progress. Thats been the hardest part.

For now I've got a cold drink, a chair in the shade, and a sleeping dog to keep me company. Not a bad Saturday.

[reinhard1]

cold drink and a dog next to you is awesome. keep in mind that most smokers have a hot spot. so maby take a peek in there to see if one side or a portion of the meat is getting done faster than the other. typicly the meat under the vent will draw the most heat. so if you have that you may want to rotate the ribs once in awhile. good luck.

[nofishfisherman]

At about the 3 hour mark right now. So far everything is looking pretty good and fairly consistent. The smaller rib tip pieces are probably getting close so i'll be checking them shortly.

The one issue i have is that the Brinkman is a 2 tier smoker but the only way to the bottom grate is either through a small door which is too small to use to flip or rotate or the other way is to remove the top grate and all the ribs on it. So right now the ribs on the bottom are pretty much impossible to get at during the cook. Everything looks good right now so not too worried but we'll see how it goes.

THe other thing is I'm not sure what to be looking for or what to be expecting from the meat. Its cooking but I don't notice any tenderness developing.

I'm also seeing that I probably went too light on the rub. YOu can't really make much out any more although I'm sure the flavor is there.

At about the 5-5 1/2 hour mark i plan to start adding the bbq sauce (the wife wanted wet ribs). Still debating if I'll leave them in the smoker and sauce them there or move the whole thing over to the gas grill to finish them up there.

[reinhard1]

i would finish them off on the gas grill on indirect heat. that sauce can build up in a smoker or a grill and catch on fire unless you keep the unit clean. i'm finishing them off tommorow on my daughters gas grill. it's much easier to flip them over and mop them on the grill. got mine in the barrel right now at 225 or so. good luck.

[nofishfisherman]

Thats what I was leaning toward. It will also be easier for me to get all the ribs equally sauced.

THanks for the feedback. Hopefully the feedback from my friends who are coming for dinner is positive.

[nofishfisherman]

Well the ribs were a big hit. I tired two different methods. One rack I used the 3-2-1 method and the other rack i didn't wrap at all but sprayed it down with a mix of apple juice, cider vinegar, and a little beer. Both were tender but the rack that I wrapped up was fall off the bone tender.

WHen I wrapped the rack i added a little of the juice/cider/beer mixture to the foil pouch and after 2 hours of being wrapped they were ready for the gas grill and the final sauce application.

Anyways the first attempt was a success and keeping the smoker at 225 proved to be pretty simple. Now getting it higher or lower could be a challenge.

[Boar]

Cool beans, an nice job. Ive never heard of wraping the ribs. Im a newb I know why to wrap but would think the smoke ain penetrating the meat. In the proccess of building my smoker. so this is great info. I u duing jerky anytime soon, im honing my skills on that an gotten jerky down really good. Smoking certainly is an art form.

[reinhard1]

glad to hear they were a hit. good luck.

[nofishfisherman]

Boar, when wrapping the ribs I didn't wrap them for the first three hours so they had plenty of time to absorb the smoke. After three hours i wrapped them for 2 hours and then unwrapped them and finished them on the gas grill.

Jerky is on my list come hunting season. I plan to make some venison jerky.

Next on my list is either beef brisket or maybe some pulled pork.

Smoking is really an art form. As I was reading about how to smoke ribs it seems like everyone does it a little different and each way works well. Its just a matter of finding what works for you and your smoker.

[Boar]

Ok cool beans thanks for the info. Wats ur ratio for cider juice mix.

[nofishfisherman]

Ratio? Ha!

I just filled a sauce pan with maybe 2 cups of apple juice, poured in a little cider vinegar (maybe 1/4 cup) and since i had a beer in my hand when doing this I poured a little of that in to. I then heated it up so I wasn't spraying it on cold.

I poured most of it in a spray bottle so i could spray the ribs down but poured a little in with foil pouch.

I did end up with a good amount left over even after applying it fairly liberally so you could probably cut the qty a little.

[Leaky]

Well Done! If pulled pork is up next, leave yourself ALOT of time. This smoking thing is really addictive!

[nofishfisherman]

This smoking thing is really addictive!

No kidding. I knew I was developing a problem when I was sitting down eating the ribs and all I could think about was what I was going to smoke next.