Backyard BBQ Battle Royale II - The UDS Edition

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tbrtt1

Smoking Fanatic
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A while back I did a BBQ contest with myself pitting my PBC (Pit Barrel Cooker) against my Traeger. I cooked ribs and chicken in both, using the same rubs to see which one I liked better. The Traeger took first place with the ribs and the PBC won the chicken. But it was fairly close.

Today was my first real cook with my new Big Poppa UDS (modified enhanced build). I decided to do another head to head with the Traeger but this time I added another head to make it head to head to head. I picked up a half rack of ribs from Spring Creek BBQ.

Spring Creek is a Texas chain with ~ 30 locations in the DFW and Houston areas. We have one real close to the house and my son and his friends used to like to go there when they were kids. They all loved their ribs. I thought they were decent ribs for the most part.  Well I have been Q-ing for a few years now so we don't eat BBQ out much. My son and I thought it would be fun to see how mine stacked up to his once favorite BBQ rib. 

I got a rack of baby backs and a rack of SLC spares. I cut both in half and seasoned one pair with Big Poppas Money rub (great stuff BTW) and the other pair with Butt Rub. Let them get cozy in the fridge for a couple hours. Loaded the UDS with Stubbs and some hickory and peach Fruitawood chunks. Put a hand fulll in the chimney lit them up. lLoaded the Traeger hopper with Smoking Brothers 100% hickory pellets and put some in the Amazen expandable tube and lit that puppy. Also seasoned up a chicken for the Mrs. 

The Traeger ribs at about 90 minutes in:


The UDS ribs at about 90 minutes in:


Around an hour later pulled them for a quick 40 minute wrap with a skosh of brown sugar and honey and back on meat side down.


The UDS ribs pulled for the same 40 minute wrap


Träger pair on top and UDS on bottom:


This rib off the Traeger was so pretty:



The bird was cooked on the UDS:



Sorry no pics of the Spring Creek ribs. Quite frankly they were sub par and cooked a little too much. But I just didn't really think about snapping a photo of them anyway.

The verdict:

Traeger Pellet Grill ribs win again. There is something about that pure, clean wood smoke that brings out the best in the ribs. My son concurred and even liked the baby backs better than the spares. However, the UDS ribs were right there with the Traeger ribs. I use a diffuser/drip pan in my UDS and this allows the flavor from the wood chunks to come through nicely.

The Spring Creek ribs didn't stand a chance. I am not a boastful person, but I will say that I have been working hard on my ribs of late and it is paying off. I opened my mind to any and all possibilities for getting good ribs consistently. Like using commercial rubs and actually wrapping, even if only for 30-40 minutes. I stumbled across a good recipe and technique that is working well. 

Now its time to work on my brisket....... and chicken..........and butts............and everything!!!
 
Your effort has definitely paid off!

2thumbs.gif
 They all look delicious!
 
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