I have been reading a lot of smoking tips here for a few years now. I've been getting by with a Master Forge charcoal smoker for the last two years. No air flow control, ash-clogged air intakes, and smoker envy has finally ended with a gift from the in-laws: the WSM 18.5.
I finally had some good weather and decided to smoke this past weekend. Picked up some beef ribs at the local Wal-mart and decided I would try to begin to return the favor to them. Here's how it went, any info/thoughts would be helpful.
Prep - 2 racks of beef ribs. Sorry no naked photos. Cut them in half to make it easier to fit on the rib rack. Hindsight... I probably didn't need to do this. The rub was a mixture of a few things I had in the cabinet...little salt/pepper/cumin/brown sugar. I don't have really much experience with beef rubs. Rubbed and refrigerated overnight.
I started a chimney full of charcoal and poured it over another chimney and a half of unlit briquettes and let them light for about 15 minutes. Cold water in the pan (seems that even people who don't like to use water will use it for ribs) and then put the smoker together. I had my top vent fully open and the bottoms fully closed. Temp held at 210 for about an hour and then started dropping. opened two bottom vents about 1/4 way and then it started climbing nicely. After 3 hours I foiled with some apple juice, a little brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Another 2 hours later and I peeled back the foil.
I put them back on the grate for another 30 minutes and basted them with a BBQ sauce. The temp climbed a bit too high near the end of the foil (nearly 325) and I didn't really want to leave them on much longer then that.
End result
Great flavor - mix of mesquite and cherry wood
Beef was a little bit fatty - could be the ribs themselves...I cant remember the last time I ate any, so nothing to compare to. The meat was very tender.
Just a few questions:
1. I never seem to be able to get a good bark. Is it the water pan? Flavor and color are there, but not that buildup of dark bark. More basting with BBQ sauce help? how would I get it on brisket...as I love burnt ends.
2. I had only had some charcoal half burned when I was done from a 6 hour smoke. Was I burning through it too quick because the vents were open after only an hour in? My last brisket (around 12 lbs) took nearly 14 hours. Would I have to add more unlit charcoal during the smoke or pre lit from the chimney?
Thanks for any help or comments and I look forward to sharing more!
JP
I finally had some good weather and decided to smoke this past weekend. Picked up some beef ribs at the local Wal-mart and decided I would try to begin to return the favor to them. Here's how it went, any info/thoughts would be helpful.
Prep - 2 racks of beef ribs. Sorry no naked photos. Cut them in half to make it easier to fit on the rib rack. Hindsight... I probably didn't need to do this. The rub was a mixture of a few things I had in the cabinet...little salt/pepper/cumin/brown sugar. I don't have really much experience with beef rubs. Rubbed and refrigerated overnight.
I started a chimney full of charcoal and poured it over another chimney and a half of unlit briquettes and let them light for about 15 minutes. Cold water in the pan (seems that even people who don't like to use water will use it for ribs) and then put the smoker together. I had my top vent fully open and the bottoms fully closed. Temp held at 210 for about an hour and then started dropping. opened two bottom vents about 1/4 way and then it started climbing nicely. After 3 hours I foiled with some apple juice, a little brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Another 2 hours later and I peeled back the foil.
I put them back on the grate for another 30 minutes and basted them with a BBQ sauce. The temp climbed a bit too high near the end of the foil (nearly 325) and I didn't really want to leave them on much longer then that.
End result
Great flavor - mix of mesquite and cherry wood
Beef was a little bit fatty - could be the ribs themselves...I cant remember the last time I ate any, so nothing to compare to. The meat was very tender.
Just a few questions:
1. I never seem to be able to get a good bark. Is it the water pan? Flavor and color are there, but not that buildup of dark bark. More basting with BBQ sauce help? how would I get it on brisket...as I love burnt ends.
2. I had only had some charcoal half burned when I was done from a 6 hour smoke. Was I burning through it too quick because the vents were open after only an hour in? My last brisket (around 12 lbs) took nearly 14 hours. Would I have to add more unlit charcoal during the smoke or pre lit from the chimney?
Thanks for any help or comments and I look forward to sharing more!
JP
