So I broke in the Propane Smoke Vault 24" the last 2 weekends with some jerky and some STL pork steaks... so, keeping with the theme of my roots, St. Louis... I got a 3 pack of St. Louis ribs from Costco the other day.
I'm still pretty new to smoking... only a couple years. I always do a dry rub, so this time, I thought I'd try a couple marinades in addition to a dry rub.
I've seen a few people rave about Italian Dressing for a marinade. Well, didn't have any Italian, but i had some roasted red pepper vinagrette.. I also found a 50% off bottle of Allegro marinade and tenderizer at the local grocery store, so that was the other.. then, I had some leftover ho-made St. Louis style rub... and also some KC Rub (I actually lived in KC for about 10 yrs, too)... I mixed those 2 together, added a handful of brown sugar as well as a tip from this forum that some really liked cinnamon.. so I tossed in some of that. Of course, I lathered up the dry rub ribs last night with some spicy brown mustard.
I basted a couple times, with some 100% unfiltered Apple Juice. Also, added leftover spices and marinades at the foil juncture.
I used a combo of wood I've never done before.. Pecan and Jack Daniels Oak.
Did the basic 3-2-1 method.. and it worked well. Ribs were more or less perfect... almost falling off the bone, but still held their own until you put them in the mouth.
I also usually never cut the racks in half, but thought I'd do it this time for marinade/packaging purposes. Didn't seem to make any difference.
Here's some pics of the process today.... yeah, I know.. I take too many, but that's me.
RESULTS:
The Italian-ish dressing marinade was too acidic. Nether of us (the wife or myself) cared for it. They won't get tossed in the trash, but the pups might get a few ribs tonight.
The Allegro marinade was a bit too salty... otherwise, it wasn't too bad.
The dry rub was hands down, the best I've ever made!!! The wife had 3/4 a rack.. a new record for her!
I think I will stick to the dry rubs and keep playing with those, and forget about the idea of marinades for ribs.
A couple other notes about the smoker.....
1. Did pretty well.. leaks alot of smoke, but didn't really bother me. Did I put the vents on wrong? Are they supposed to have the option to close all the way or only part of the way? Yeah, I'm kinda a dork when it comes to mechanical stuff.
2. Temperature was pretty consistent, although it did rise from 225 to 260 a couple times as the chunks flared up... so I had to turn it down, which responded well to that. I am new to chunks, used to always used chips... is this normal that chunks raise the temp more sometimes when they get smokin?
Any comments would be appreciated!
Overall, pretty happy so far with the Smoke Vault so far!
sno...
I'm still pretty new to smoking... only a couple years. I always do a dry rub, so this time, I thought I'd try a couple marinades in addition to a dry rub.
I've seen a few people rave about Italian Dressing for a marinade. Well, didn't have any Italian, but i had some roasted red pepper vinagrette.. I also found a 50% off bottle of Allegro marinade and tenderizer at the local grocery store, so that was the other.. then, I had some leftover ho-made St. Louis style rub... and also some KC Rub (I actually lived in KC for about 10 yrs, too)... I mixed those 2 together, added a handful of brown sugar as well as a tip from this forum that some really liked cinnamon.. so I tossed in some of that. Of course, I lathered up the dry rub ribs last night with some spicy brown mustard.
I basted a couple times, with some 100% unfiltered Apple Juice. Also, added leftover spices and marinades at the foil juncture.
I used a combo of wood I've never done before.. Pecan and Jack Daniels Oak.
Did the basic 3-2-1 method.. and it worked well. Ribs were more or less perfect... almost falling off the bone, but still held their own until you put them in the mouth.
I also usually never cut the racks in half, but thought I'd do it this time for marinade/packaging purposes. Didn't seem to make any difference.
Here's some pics of the process today.... yeah, I know.. I take too many, but that's me.
RESULTS:
The Italian-ish dressing marinade was too acidic. Nether of us (the wife or myself) cared for it. They won't get tossed in the trash, but the pups might get a few ribs tonight.
The Allegro marinade was a bit too salty... otherwise, it wasn't too bad.
The dry rub was hands down, the best I've ever made!!! The wife had 3/4 a rack.. a new record for her!
I think I will stick to the dry rubs and keep playing with those, and forget about the idea of marinades for ribs.
A couple other notes about the smoker.....
1. Did pretty well.. leaks alot of smoke, but didn't really bother me. Did I put the vents on wrong? Are they supposed to have the option to close all the way or only part of the way? Yeah, I'm kinda a dork when it comes to mechanical stuff.
2. Temperature was pretty consistent, although it did rise from 225 to 260 a couple times as the chunks flared up... so I had to turn it down, which responded well to that. I am new to chunks, used to always used chips... is this normal that chunks raise the temp more sometimes when they get smokin?
Any comments would be appreciated!
Overall, pretty happy so far with the Smoke Vault so far!
sno...
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