Rainy Day Ribs

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tumbleweed1

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jan 29, 2015
490
201
Chicago suburbs
We're having typical weather here in Chicagoland for this time a year- it's a mild winter, then snows, then gets really cold, then two days later we're in the '60's, another cool down & now rainy, dreary & 50 degrees. Last month I was able to get the smoker going for the first time since last fall & we enjoyed a great cook of Mexican pulled pork. Now I like the pulled, but I've had a hankerin' for some ribs for a couple of months now. My wintertime rib consumption is usually limited to eating out, or the occasional crock pot cook. I've been planning today's cook now for a couple of weeks & ribs it will be. 

Yesterday I went & got the meat. I had the local butcher cut me up some nice back ribs. Last night I made my sauce. This morning I got up early, got my rub on, made my spritz & put everything back in the fridge for a few hours.At about 9 am I fired up the smoker, got my hickory together & got going. Now I haven't wrapped ribs since the first time I used this smoker, which was about a year ago. I've smoked them several times since & have been happy with how they turned out naked, but today the plan was to crutch'em up & add some liquid in. I made me a mixture of Pepsi cola, Parkay squeeze butter, honey & apple juice for just that purpose. They are currently wrapped up & cruising along at a comfortable 260 degrees, after seeing about 2.5 hours of hickory smoke first.

Last year I discovered how good twice-baked potatoes were in the smoker! This is the one side the wife & I agree on 100%. I really love beans (her not so much) & she loves mac & cheese in the smoker (where I prefer it baked or done on the stovetop), so spuds it will be. I just got the potatoes in & I'm hoping everything's done now in a couple of hours, I plan to check the ribs after being in the foil about an hour or so, & then making the call about when to put my homemade sauce on. I like to finish them up in the smoker sauced for up to a half hour or so, getting them nice & tacky.

Rubbed & ready-


Three hours of hickory-


Pepsi, squeeze butter, honey & apple juice-


Wrapped-


Taters goin' in-


Startin' to smell real good around here.

TW
 
Last edited:
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Reactions: SmokinAl and disco
Looking good! Not sure how the Pepsi will taste on them,sorry I just kicked my Coke addiction, will be back to see the finish!:popcorn:
 
It does not look like you've lost your touch, but you made me think of the commercial of the guys who comes out of a long winter hibernation and staggers into the neighbor's BBQ....LOL  I spent a damn cold winter in Great Lakes once upon a time, I have lived in quite a few places and some with much lower temperatures but nowhere as cold as that wind coming in off the lake. 

I know all the guys laughed at me, a coonass in a blizzard. We won't discuss black ice.... and freezing snot...LOL Ewwwww.....

LOL A 650 Bonnie mid-December daily run between Kenosha and Great Lakes. I was young, bullet proof and invincible (stupid youth)!
 
 
WHOO HOO!!

AWESOME!!

The ribs look absolutely delicious. Color is perfect!

POINTS to you!!

Al
Thanks Al. I'm thinking the spritz had something to do with the nice color, as I usually add a little cherry to my ribs for that reason. I was out, so it was all hickory on the meat (peach later). but it worked out just fine.
Looking good! Not sure how the Pepsi will taste on them,sorry I just kicked my Coke addiction, will be back to see the finish!
popcorn.gif
:
Really awesome looking ribs, TW. Let us know how the Pepsi turns out.
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Thanks for checking in fellas. I don't think the Pepsi added any flavor, but I think it helped tenderize them. I had the ribs foiled for an hour & a half & I believe the next time I do it like this I will only foil them for an hour. They would have definitely been judged "over done" in a competition, but they were VERY tasty!
 
It does not look like you've lost your touch, but you made me think of the commercial of the guys who comes out of a long winter hibernation and staggers into the neighbor's BBQ....LOL  I spent a damn cold winter in Great Lakes once upon a time, I have lived in quite a few places and some with much lower temperatures but nowhere as cold as that wind coming in off the lake. 

I know all the guys laughed at me, a coonass in a blizzard. We won't discuss black ice.... and freezing snot...LOL Ewwwww.....

LOL A 650 Bonnie mid-December daily run between Kenosha and Great Lakes. I was young, bullet proof and invincible (stupid youth)!
Thanks a lot Foam. I never knew you were so familiar with the armpit of the nation (aka Illinois) & it's nutty weather. That commercial I believe I've seen, if it's the one where they yell "somebody get this guy a burger!" I like it too. I rode down to Kankakee (about an hour southeast) a couple of nights ago with some guys for a wake & coming back, it was 38 degrees. Twenty years ago that was nuthin'. Now it makes me think about getting a bike with a windshield!

So I checked the IT of the ribs (something I DON'T usually do) after an hour & a half in the foil & they were at 190. The meat was shrinking up on the bones & they wanted to break when bend-testing them. I went ahead & sauced them in pans (was afraid they may fall apart) & stuck them back in for 15-20 minutes with the smoker shut off. Like I mentioned before they were technically over done, but they were perfect according to the wife (ain't that what counts?), so still a success.

The potatoes were excellent, as they were the couple of times we did them last year. I switched to peach wood when they went in so they weren't TOO smokey for the wife & they turned out as expected.



TW
 
Dreary day in the North woods of Wisconsin. Still 6" of snow and the lake still has ice all around. Too scary for ice-fishing on my lake but saw a few out yesterday and today on other lakes. Snowmobile trails closed.

Did up 6 racks in recently acquired Cookshack sm160. Nothing but a sprinkle of salt and a dusting of homegrown salt-free cajun spice. The cookshack has a "Ribs/Chicken" button which really just sets the smoker to 225 for 3 hours. This unit is so airtight with virtually no stack...just a 1" hole on the top. Pulled them out after a little over the 3 hours and possibly the best ribs I've ever done, no need for butter, water, pepsi or tin-foil. Meat pulled back a quarter-inch from ends of the bones and you can pull a bone out with a good twist. Normally I'd be putting in for a finishing step but this smoker maintains moisture so well that you just don't need to. Second set of ribs I've done in the CS.

Got 2 artichokes steaming away....life is good.

Cheers HJ.
 
TW Nice job I know what you mean with the weather this year.I like the Potato idea what was in them and on them? Points

Richie
 
 
Dreary day in the North woods of Wisconsin. Still 6" of snow and the lake still has ice all around. Too scary for ice-fishing on my lake but saw a few out yesterday and today on other lakes. Snowmobile trails closed.

Did up 6 racks in recently acquired Cookshack sm160. Nothing but a sprinkle of salt and a dusting of homegrown salt-free cajun spice. The cookshack has a "Ribs/Chicken" button which really just sets the smoker to 225 for 3 hours. This unit is so airtight with virtually no stack...just a 1" hole on the top. Pulled them out after a little over the 3 hours and possibly the best ribs I've ever done, no need for butter, water, pepsi or tin-foil. Meat pulled back a quarter-inch from ends of the bones and you can pull a bone out with a good twist. Normally I'd be putting in for a finishing step but this smoker maintains moisture so well that you just don't need to. Second set of ribs I've done in the CS.

Got 2 artichokes steaming away....life is good.

Cheers HJ.
Thanks HJ. I don't normally foil, but I wanted to try it again,as it had been over a year. This is only my second smoke of 2016 so far, so it still feels really good to get back out there.
 
TW Nice job I know what you mean with the weather this year.I like the Potato idea what was in them and on them? Points

Richie
Richie, the potatoes were kind of an afterthought, as I originally was going with beans. The wife reminded me how good they were last year & it didn't take too much more convincing after that. We use whatever we have- cheese, sour cream, butter, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder etc. I believe that's all we put in these. The one thing about smoking them is that even if I DIDN'T have all the ingredients, the smoke itself can add So much flavor I'd be able to get by! Thanks for the points, buddy.

These ribs had a LOT of meat on them. Taking 3 bones' worth of a rack to work for lunch today & it will still fill me up.

Can't wait to stink up the lunchroom like smokehouse!

TW
 
 
TW that's a great looking meal.  The ribs look real good--lots of meat and nice color.  I'm with Richie on the spuds.  They look absolutely fantastic--definitely on MY to do list.

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   for reminding me about the potatos

Gary
Thanks Gary. It all turned out really good, even though they were pretty much FOTB tender (just how the wife likes'em). The potatoes are going in the regular "sides" rotation with mac & cheese, beans etc. And thank you for the points- I DO appreciate it! 

beercheer.gif


TW
 
Ok... I won't say anything about the weather here in Arizona (being it has already hit 90 +).... but will say those are some darn good looking ribs and potatoes !!!!!
 
 
Ok... I won't say anything about the weather here in Arizona (being it has already hit 90 +).... but will say those are some darn good looking ribs and potatoes !!!!!
Thanks. We were at 70 a week or two ago then back to the 40's etc. Typical Chicago weather. If you don't like it, wait a day!
 
Righteous ribs, perfect potatoes and a marvelous meal.

Points!

Disco
Thanks D, I appreciate it. Glad you stopped in.

TW
 
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