First time smoking ribs w/Qview

tndawg · Sep 10, 2009

Hey y'all!!!

Well I quit smoking cigarettes last March and was having an extreme urge to smoke SOMETHING!!!

So my wife buys me a smoker for my birthday, and I decide to do my first BB's. I used a store bought rub (will make my own in the future), used cherry juice in the water bowl, and a combination of hickory and cherry for the wood.

So here we go!!!

The new smoker:

Rubbed and ready for the smoker:

Very beginning of thin blue smoke (hard to see):

Finished product:

To say I learned a lot is a gross understatment!!!!

Since this was my first ribs ever, I decided on the 2-2-1 method. Seemed fool proof...HA! I think not! The ribs tasted fantastic. However, the only thing I could do when I got them in the house was to just pull the bones out of the meat. WAY too tender.

So my next batch, I'm not going to foil at all. My question is, I have read about the ribs "sweating". How can I be sure to catch them at that point? How long does the "sweat" last?

Thanks for the help in advance!

bmudd14474 · Sep 10, 2009

They look great. You can try 2-1.5-1 next time.

desertlites · Sep 10, 2009

welcome and Yes play with your times-rib sizes are all diff on the smoker-foil is a good part with ribs-maybe back off a bit-glad u quit ciggs and started meat

bmudd14474 · Sep 10, 2009

also were you going but the temp on the stock thermometer? If so you should check it with a known calibrated one. Usually they are off so if you thought you were smoking at 225 you might of been at 250-260

ronp · Sep 10, 2009

Nice looking ribs.

fishawn · Sep 10, 2009

Look Great to Me... Nice Work!

dropastone · Sep 10, 2009

Nice job on the first time ribs.

As for the sweat time and when to catch it I think most of us are still in the dark on this topic. If I am correct I don't think there is a set time for the ribs to sweat. Depending on the size of the rib and temp that you are smoking it may vary. Which means you have to catch it at the right time by peeking every now and then. Now I normaly don't peek at mine at all until the ribs are done, usually 6 hours for me with spares. However at times I do open the lid just to pull the scraps from the trimmed ribs for a snack during the smoke and maybe take a cpl of pictures at that point if I'm posting pics for Qveiw.

Now I may be wrong, if I am I'm sure someone will chime in and correct me.

bigtrain74 · Sep 10, 2009

Great job on your first batch of ribs!!! Doesn't look like your first.

helljack6 · Sep 10, 2009

You are correct. There isn't a set time for spares or baby backs. It's a crap shoot and you're either going to hit or miss. Only time and practice will tell you when it's actually happening. For me, when i cook ribs in my UDS, my exhaust is such that I can see into it and see a portion of the rack of ribs so I can eyeball it without disturbing the cook unecessarily. Not all rigs are set up for this.

If you miss the sweat period, it's not the end of the world as during my trials I missed it several times bot the first or the second. But it's noticable when it happens. Instead of your dried out encrusted ribs, they're actually holding beads of water on the surface.

Here's something I copied from another site with regards to the Sweat per Mike Mills, he pretty much told me the same thing when I spoke with him too.

Hope this helps clear things up.

tndawg · Sep 10, 2009

Thanks all for your kind words and advice!!! I told my wife last night that part of the fun of smoking is getting to eat the mistakes, and "tweaking" for the next batch. I hope she don't get tired of ribs once a week!

backcountry · Sep 10, 2009

They look pretty great to me for a first attempt. For any attempt in fact.

erain · Sep 10, 2009

look great!!! if thats a first chalk it up as a winner!!! like the others who have said about foil times, this is something you will need to play around with to get the results you desire. some like em more fall off the bone than others. great smoke!!! thks for sharing

beer-b-q · Sep 10, 2009

Great looking Ribs, hope you enjoy your new toy...

bonedadddy · Sep 13, 2009

Those are beautiful ribs...and I bet they tasted great!!! My family prefers the meat falls off the bone!!!

I have noticed when I use mustard as a base...then put my rub on the meat tends to stay together better...

Enjoy playing and cooking!!! I have learned sooo much from this group!

bigsteve · Sep 13, 2009

coolcitysmoker · Sep 16, 2009

Congrats on the 6 months nicotine free. I purchased my Traeger as a reward for my 15 months of freedom from tobacco last August.

I don't know much about "sweating" ribs, but your first attempt looks really good, especially compared to my first time on an ECB. I would recommend dialing in the cooking temp at the level of your cooking grates. A bbq thermometer is really helpful here, especially one with 2 probes. Folks will put one probe through a piece of apple, potato, or wood with a hole drilled in it on the same grate as the food. The second probe into the meat if cooking a roast/brisket/fattie/chuckie/pork butt, etc. This should help you figure the cooking temp. From there, go with the good advice many folks on this forum have to offer regarding rubs, foiling, etc.

Good Q'n to ya!

tndawg · Sep 16, 2009

Thanks all for the encouragement!!!!

I can't wait to decide what's next!!

hmmm...looks like I need to figger out how to resize my sig next...

mballi3011 · Sep 16, 2009

Those look like some mighty fine ribs there Dawg. The 2-2-1 is more like a starting place. There are so many veribles that come into play the temp, the wind, the everything that could go wrong thing. Next time try it alittle differant and see what happens. So you did pretty good in your eyes now just try to do alittle better this time.

gruelurks · Sep 17, 2009

Very nice looking ribs for a first try. I'm still a novice myself but SMF gets you up to speed in no time.

shooterrick · Sep 17, 2009

Well they may have fell off the bone but how did they taste? I bet pretty darn good and in the end ya only got bones left anyways! LOL

First time smoking ribs w/Qview

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