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Pork Ribs -- Baby Back and Spare


tommy

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Ah, Bruce, it just warms my heart to hear of another convert!  Question:  did any bits just happen to fall off and into your mouth as you were determining just when to remove them from the Bullet?

Do let us know what's up next, and now starts the quest for more kinds of wood.  As you drive by apple orchards late this winter, ask if they have any tree-trimmings they want to get rid of.  I'm lucky in that one of my best friend's in-laws own an orchard.

Oh, and yes, to echo Heidi.  Regular spare ribs will win out over these, I think.

And, no matter how much you're smoking, there's always room for a few sausages for another day...

Bruce,

A woman who buys you a WSM must really love you. Us guys are lucky, my wife got me a bottle of 17 year old bourbon this Christmas.

As Susan says, not much makes me happier than to find another E Gullet smoker. I prefer spares to the baby backs but I'm glad to see anyone smoking anything. The WSM is a great cooker and the virtual bullet site very helpful. I am a confirmed Minion method smoker. Some will say that you can get a bad taste from Minion starts from the unlit charcoal starting. I do not notice this, but I won't debate it. I do think some of the guys on the virtual bullet site may go a bit far with worring things. Start it up, let your temps stabilize and relax.

As to smoking butt. Do it as often as you can. The WSM is perfect for it. It is my belief that smoked pork butt may be the best food in the world. The behold my butt thread offers lots of advice and reports on butt smoking featuring many famous E-Gullet smokers such as Susan, Ronnie, Marlene, Abra, Arne, Emma, Chris and others. click here

Edited by lancastermike (log)
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I second the butt idea, almost nothing better than rubbing some nice butts!

Seems the most difficult task in smoking is to master the brisket. To much time and it is pot roast, depending on the cooker it is easy to dry it out. That is one reason I really like a Fast Eddy, kind of runs like a convection oven, never have to foil, never dry anything out, set and forget it. When I do butts I usually do them a case at a time. Just put two per shelf, eight total. Cook until 190-200 internal and they are done.

Bad Byron's Butt Rub is a wonderful thing!!!!

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Foiling ribs is just too much work. After the first hour I mop every 1/2 hour until done. I use an oil & apple cider vinegar mop with some of the rub I used on the ribs. People roll theirs eyes when I tell them that I "brine" overnight in rootbeer but it works. They are done when they bend easily just short of breaking. I owe a friend some ribs so I'll post a picture if I can figure out my new camera.

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A woman who buys you a WSM must really love you.  Us guys are lucky, my wife got me a bottle of 17 year old bourbon this Christmas.

Yes, we are very lucky. :wub: Enjoy sipping your bourbon!

As Susan says, not much makes me happier than to find another E Gullet smoker.

I feel like I have been granted membership in a secret society - one that eats very well indeed!

Start it up, let your temps stabilize and relax.

Actually, I was surprised at how little I had to do. I checked the temperature every half-hour or so after it stabilized, and only had to fiddle with the vents once.

As to smoking butt. Do it as often as you can. The WSM is perfect for it. It is my belief that smoked pork butt may be the best food in the world.  The behold my butt thread offers lots of advice and reports on butt smoking featuring many famous E-Gullet smokers such as Susan, Ronnie, Marlene, Abra, Arne, Emma, Chris and others. click here

New Year's Day will be all about butt. :wink: Thanks for the advice and the link. I read through "behold my butt" a long time ago, mostly for the puns, so I need to re-read it for practical advice.

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I have always wondered – does anyone but the judges get to eat the BBQ at a competition? :rolleyes:

Yes. In addition to the Judges, there are Table Captains, Contest Representatives and other assistants. Anything not taken by the Judges is put on a leftovers table for them to sample. The general public is not invited to sample at KCBS contests.

Very often, a gaggle of friends will accompany a cook team. They often get samples in the cooking area.

Jim

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The general public is not invited to sample at KCBS contests.

Bummer. Scratch that off my list (but thanks for the info, Jim).

Follow-up on the West Coast baby backs: when it became obvious that pork butt would not be ready by dinnertime, Mrs. C steamed the leftover ribs. The texture improved with steaming, confirming that I should have cooked the ribs longer.

Oh, no, I need more practice. :wink:

Edited for clarity.

Edited by C. sapidus (log)
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gallery_42956_2536_28420.jpg

gallery_42956_2536_51860.jpg

Finished - the ribs had an amazing smoky pork flavor. The ends were done just how we like them, but the middles remained a bit chewy. Next time we will smoke the ribs for another hour or so. All considered, very satisfying for a first effort.

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Very nicely done, Bruce! I love smoked ribs, and I too, love the weber bullet. However, we somehow became the owners of this Vermont Castings Smoker yesterday, and the first thing I thought of when I saw it was racks and racks of ribs. It will get delivered sometime this week, then we'll take it for a rib test run!

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Very nicely done, Bruce!  I love smoked ribs, and I too, love the weber bullet.  However, we somehow became the owners of this Vermont Castings Smoker yesterday, and the first thing I thought of when I saw it was racks and racks of ribs.  It will get delivered sometime this week, then we'll take it for a rib test run!

Thank you, Marlene. How does one “somehow become the owner” of a lovely smoker like that? :raz: It looks like you could smoke enough ribs for an army (and a hungry army at that). Looking forward to your rib test run!

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Well, we actually went shopping for a gas fireplace for our upcoming basement renovation. This one was on the floor, it was the last one available, and the owner gave us such a good deal on it, that we couldn't resist. :biggrin:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yesterday we rubbed pork back ribs with “magic dust” dry rub from Peace, Love, and Barbecue. This morning we fired up the bullet with the Minion method, using hickory for smoke wood. Despite single-digit temperatures early on, the bullet held steady between 225 and 240 F in a light breeze. We started misting the ribs with apple juice when they were about half-way done, and pulled the ribs after about six hours. The book had a nice tip - pull the ribs when bending the rack causes the meat to pull from the bone.

The ribs turned out tender, smoky, spicy, and very juicy. We served them with Apple City barbecue sauce on the side. Cowboy beans, smoked sweet potatoes, and braised cabbage are lurking in the background.

Apple City pork back ribs

gallery_42956_2536_27280.jpg

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Yesterday we rubbed pork back ribs with “magic dust” dry rub from Peace, Love, and Barbecue. This morning we fired up the bullet with the Minion method, using hickory for smoke wood. Despite single-digit temperatures early on, the bullet held steady between 225 and 240 F in a light breeze. We started misting the ribs with apple juice when they were about half-way done, and pulled the ribs after about six hours. The book had a nice tip - pull the ribs when bending the rack causes the meat to pull from the bone.

The ribs turned out tender, smoky, spicy, and very juicy. We served them with Apple City barbecue sauce on the side. Cowboy beans, smoked sweet potatoes, and braised cabbage are lurking in the background.

Apple City pork back ribs

gallery_42956_2536_27280.jpg

They look great Bruce. Cold weather is no enemy of the WSM. I have done some good smoking when it is cold. Wind is the only thing that can cause trouble.

But, beautiful ribs. I hope they tasted as good as they looked

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They look great Bruce.  Cold weather is no enemy of the WSM. I have done some good smoking when it is cold. Wind is the only thing that can cause trouble.

But, beautiful ribs.  I hope they tasted as good as they looked

Thank you, Mike. The ribs were the best so far! I still find it amazing that a hunk of meat can be that juicy after cooking for six hours.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

I fired up our new smoker over the weekend. We only did one rack of ribs (hey there were only two of us). There's the water pan and below that the cast iron holder for the wood chips.

gallery_6080_205_29148.jpg

gallery_6080_205_132539.jpg

gallery_6080_205_65941.jpg

It was incredibly easy to maintain the temp on this. We started it out at 200 to see how it would hold. No problems. We bumped it to 240 for the remainder of the time.

I can easily see doing cold smoking in this. Bacon, here I come. :biggrin:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Thanks! We'll probably take it for another rib spin this weekend.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Ribs (spare) were on sale for $1.39 / lb.

Suffice to say some are being put to smoke as I type this. :)

I was craving butt (it was on sale too) but can't start butts at 1300 and expect them to be ready @ dinnertime.

Armed with plenty of Tecate, enjoying a very warm afternoon (95) with wisps of smoke from the smoker to keep me company.

Jon

--formerly known as 6ppc--

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One of the ribby scraps included in the package just accidentally fell off of the grill and fortuitously landed on my plate.

Dayum! Tasty :).

Needs at least another hour.

Rub was ground ancho, Garlic (mucho), Paprika, kosher salt, raw sugar and black pepper.

Needs another hour or so but very promising indeed.

Another Tecate or two should tide me over in the meantime!

Edited by 6ppc (log)

Jon

--formerly known as 6ppc--

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Put in some ribs yesterday... I was planning on smoking them for a couple of hours and then finishing them off in a sous vide machine whenever I felt the need..

I put the ribs in the big green egg around 730 yesterday morning.. By the time the rest of the house woke up, people wanted to go out for awhile.. I decided to leave the ribs in the smoker unattended for the better part of 5 hours.. When I came back they were absolutely perfect and the temp had not change a degree..

The Big Green Egg has completely took any challenge out of BBQ'ing.

Edited by Daniel (log)
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Put in some ribs yesterday... I was planning on smoking them for a couple of hours and then finishing them off in a sous vide machine whenever I felt the need..

I put the ribs in the big green egg around 730 yesterday morning.. By the time the rest of the house woke up, people wanted to go out for awhile.. I decided to leave the ribs in the smoker unattended for the better part of 5 hours.. When I came back they were absolutely perfect and the temp had not change a degree.. 

The Big Green Egg has completely took any challenge out of BBQ'ing.

With the BGE are you using indirect heat? If so, how many racks can you fit?

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I fired up our new smoker over the weekend.  We only did one rack of ribs (hey there were only two of us). There's the water pan and below that the cast iron holder for the wood chips.

gallery_6080_205_29148.jpg

gallery_6080_205_132539.jpg

gallery_6080_205_65941.jpg

It was incredibly easy to maintain the temp on this.  We started it out at 200 to see how it would hold.  No problems.  We bumped it to 240 for the remainder of the time. 

I can easily see doing cold smoking in this.  Bacon, here I come. :biggrin:

Marlene -

What kind of smoker is that?

Monterey Bay area

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Will we be seeing a review of it after you've broken it in?

Possibly. :biggrin: It's going to make the trek to the cottage in the next few weeks, so once I've done a couple of pork shoulders on it, I'll know better. We did three racks of ribs last weekend and they came out wonderfully.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Two racks of pork back ribs, rubbed in a mix of Magic Dust and Memphis Rib Rub, and smoked with hickory for about seven hours. We misted the ribs every now and again with apple juice. The Bullet held temperature steadily between 200F and 210F despite heavy rain and almost complete inattention during various family activities (we are testing the Bullet’s temperature stability before smoking pork butt overnight).

These were the sole survivors, somewhat worse for wear after being refrigerated overnight and microwaved this morning. Still, they made a lovely breakfast. :smile:

gallery_42956_2536_4684.jpg

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