1st smoke using my new Smokin - It Model #1 (Baby Back Ribs and Gary's Baked Beans)

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bodbob

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jun 27, 2015
68
15
Placerville, CA
Well gents, I did my 1st smoke on the SI 1 yesterday. The ribs were ok. Gary's beans were great again. I was a little disappointed with the results on the ribs because they just didn't have the flavor that I get from my egg. I prepped them the night before just as I usually do. A compound rub of Montreal Spicy Steak seasoning, and Red Barons (a commercial bbq rub). Wrapped in stick and seal and refrigerated overnight. I used 2.4 oz. of almond and 1 smallish piece of lump in the wood tray. Put them in around 1pm and set the temp on the SI 1 at 225. Garys beans went in below them and I started watching the temp climb....for 2 hours. It finally hit 210 at 2 hours in and would go no farther so I took the beans out and put em in my oven to finish them. The temp in the SI 1 went up and down as expected then. Moving from set temp to about 15 degrees below set temp, so I reset it to around 235 and let her rock and roll for the rest of the cook. I started checking for doneness at about 4 hours. Finally pulled them at 5 hours and 30 minutes. The bend test didn't work but a toothpick went into the meat with little to no resistance. It was the 1st time I've actually cooked ribs long enough to get them to the temp required to melt down the collagens and connective tissue, and I found that I don't like em done that well. lol. Lesson learned. There wasn't any, and I repeat any red smoke ring even though I did have smoke coming out of the smoker for at least 2 hours. The taste was ok, but maybe a tiny bit bitter and the texture, as I said, overdone for my druthers.

I did like the "set it and forget it " cook you can pull off with the SI 1, but I think I'll be doing most of my smokes on the egg. I only took one pic when I pulled the ribs out. Here it is.

 
Sorry they didn't meet your expectations. You generally won't get a smoke ring with an electric. I can't remember the exact science behind it, but it has something to do with the fact that there is insufficient combustion in the smoldering wood chips/ chunks to produce enough of the compound that reacts with the myoglobin in the meat to produce the smoke ring.
As for the texture of the ribs, I feel the same way. I like the meat to have a nice firm yet tender texture. Like pork loin. I learned from Disco on this forum that actually cooking ribs to a specific temperature, then resting, is the way to get the exact texture I'm after. For me, 180°-185° gives me the perfect bite.
 
Thanks for the reply and info, mdboatbum. I think my next adventure with the electric will include the amznps tube. I know I'll get enough smoke that way and the pellets I'm using create a pretty nice flavor. It was a good and positive learning experience and I did get the SI 1 to use primarily as a chambro anyway.
What kind of boat do you have and are you living on it? I have a lot of friends her with boats (sail). All west coast though.
Cheers
BB
 
Tasty lookin ribs, oldschool. I wouldn't be whining if I'd cooked those. What did you cook em on, anyway?

BB
 
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