Christen new MES: Ribs, Brisky, and Fatty! Lots of Q-View

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travisty

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Mar 10, 2014
559
169
Salt Lake City, UT
Okay,

So I just got a new smoker (MES "30 20076716) to replace the one that kept freezing up in the cold, so I want to do a big christening party for it this weekend. going to invite a bunch or random people over for the celebration!
th_wsmsmile0ly.gif


Want to do a few of my favorites and a few things I haven't done before. Decided to do ribs following Al's Recipe:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/240916/perfect-ribs-every-time-this-really-works

And going to do a Brisket Following Joel's (@solaryellow ) guide for Brisket: (which always seems to turn out best for me)

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ood-sliced-brisket-defies-conventional-wisdom

I also want to try a Fattie, (something i have surprisingly never done) and just picked up some Sausage, Bacon and Garlic Herb Cheese, and also thinking of stuffing it with some "mesquite Chicken Breast" I bought at the grocer.

Ill post a bunch of pictures and Q-View as I go, and ill be starting it all up on Saturday morning or some Friday night. So stay toned for some good stuff!

Anyone have any other suggestions on things to try for my smoker's Maiden Voyage?
Cake.gif


-Trevor
 
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Okay!
Picked up a 7lb flat from Costco, and used a rub I found called "Black Ops Brisket Rub". Left the cap on but cut a diamond pattern, she's on the new smoker now (10:00pm) and both the smoker and Mav are holding together almost perfect at 230.
Headed to bed and I'll keep you posted in the morning when I get the ribs ready to go.



I saw the suggestion somewhere to put some onions in the drip tray and it may help with moisture, can also help get a cheated smoke ring on an MES due to the high nitrogen levels in onions. Anyway just decided what the heck, and testing the theory. Also put some apples in there which I plan to blend up and put into Jeffs Sauce recipe.
 
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Looking good my friend! Your breaking in that baby right.

If you like pulled pork and want to try something easy, a pork butt (shoulder) is always an easy and great smoke to do.

Have fun!
 
Looks great so far!

Congrats on the new smoker.

It sure won't be new after this weekend!

If you do the ribs my way, make sure you use a thermapen or something similar. A maverick won't give you accurate readings.

Good luck!

Al
 
Thanks guys! Yeah I've done more shoulder than I can count, this is just a replacement smoker, the other'n stopped working in the cold.

Got up at 7am this mornin to prep my ribs and Fatty, and check on the Brisky. The MES was runnin a bit warm, closer to 240 on my Mav even though I keep setting it down through the night to 210.
Inserted my probe this morning and IT running at 174, I wait till about 190 before I run the toothpick test.
Ribs will go on about 10:30 and Fattie about 2:30, so stay tuned.

She's already got a pretty sweet bark!
 
Got the Ribs all prepped up. They'll sit for about 3 hours before going on the MES.





Already packed up all my spices, so can't make Jeffs Rub, just picked up a Famous Daves rib rub and a pork rub from the Mexican Food Isle.

I also blended up the apples that I had smoking in the drip pan, with a bit of molasses and wow, they smell AMAZING! Thinking of serving that on the side as a BBQ sauce alternative. If it's a hit, I'll make it a regular.


 
The Brisket still isn't quite there, did the toothpick test at 186 and 192 and still a few pretty tough places. Ill try again in about 35-45 min. 
 
I also cooked up a batch of Jeffs Recipe BBQ sauce, though I added some butter and a few spoonfuls of the blended smoked apples!

There was a bit more than what would fit in one bottle, so I added some apple cider vinegar to the remaining amount which is why the bottle on the right is lighter.
 
So to sum it all up:

The Brisket was good but not amazing. It was tender but not as juicy as others I have done with the exact same method. The only change was that "Black Ops" Rub I used for the first time. It was really more of a "pork" rub in my opinion and I think it just really overpowered and also heavily penetrated the meat.

Again it was good, and people at the party were raving about it, but it was not up to my standard, so I had a hard time accepting the compliments.

The Ribs were the star of the show, and they turned out PERFECT. As mentioned I followed Al's Recipe to satisfy both the "Fall off the bone" and the "Some bite to get it off the bone" people, and they were perfect! They didn't fall off right when you picked them up, but came away with clean bones easily with your bite. The taste and texture was all great, and I only had them in rub for about 3 hours which still left them with a nice pork flavor.

The Fatty was pretty good, but as others had said on posts about finally making them, it wasn't awesome. I liked all of the flavors I put into the filling and it was juicy and smoky, but just not exactly something I would go out of my way to make, though we did eat the whole thing, and at least 3 people said it was one of the best things they had eaten, so it did turn out great! I think next time, I may try making it with Chicken or Turkey sausage for a more mild flavor.

We all had a blast, and I since a few people didn't show, I did end up with the quarter of the brisket I didn't slice, and vac'd it up and threw it into the freezer. Also ended up with a handful of ribs which we had for lunch on Sunday. Iwas definitely a bit of work to get all of that meat in one day, and it felt like a full workday, but it was well worth it!

The new smoker is adequately christened and has a nice layer of smoke to show its hard work. I even had to spend a bit of time cleaning off the window (which wasn't hard at all despite what some others had said, especially on the amazon reviews.
 
Hey man!

It sounds to me like a very successful smoke!

All the guests were pleased and of course you weren't!

Were perfectionists and everything we do has to be perfect or better.

That is what drives us & makes us better cooks every time.

I make stuff for Judy & I that is downright awesome, then I make it for guests & it's not as good.

But they think it's the best thing they ever ate.

But I know I can do better.

Were all the same.

Al
 
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