No-Foil ST Louis Cut in Modded Brinky Gourmet Charcoal: qview

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forluvofsmoke

Smoking Guru
Original poster
OTBS Member
Aug 27, 2008
5,170
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I'm still getting my Gourmet dialed in better with a couple more mods I took the time to finish this morning, and I just couldn't resist the urge to toss together a SHORT smoke with a few slabs of spares from a score my wife & kids brought home to me a couple nights ago. This SHORT smoke consisted of a very quick cut/trim while the brinky got happy (I missed some cartilage on the rib portions), and just over 8 hours total cooking time, including fighting with some nasty weather (high winds and rain from a severe thunderstorm, which began to hail after passing over us) that came through this afternoon, as well as having ash-smothered charcoal issues causing repeated low temp problems...sure do wish I could get my hands on some oak lump.

The dry rub is just something I tossed together for today without putting much thought to it, but most I noticed after list them (after the ribs were on) that most of the ingredients are old stand-by items, with a little twist. It's probably a slight variation of a few older recipes I've used in the past couple of years which are combined with some newer rub ingredients I've been using lately...Cinnamon and ground Ancho Chili, in specific:

1 Tbls freshly ground Ancho Chili

1 Tbls Chili powder

2 Tbls Black Peppercorn, ground

4 Tbls Light Brown Sugar, powdered while grinding the peppercorn in my spice (coffee) grinder

1 Tbls Granulated Garlic

2 Tbls Kosher Salt

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Cumin

This has just a touch of heat (enough to get my 13-year-old daughter's undivided attention...
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...and send her running to the kitchen for some water...
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), without the bitterness of Cayenne.

8 hours in and pull-back looks like a good match for the coloring...you gotta love the combination of a charcoal fire and brown sugar for this, if for no other reason...mmm...I rotated the grates (top-to-bottom) after 3.5 hours to even out the cooking, as grate temps are not very close yet (top is hotter)...don't know yet if that can be corrected without raising the lower grate above the water pan several inches:

http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...16-10 Spares/?action=view&current=18hours.jpg

Oooooooooooooh, I really like that color!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...6-10 Spares/?action=view&current=2justout.jpg

A lighter dinner for the hotter weather today (mid 80's...it's been wet & cold for 2 weeks), served with my better-half's Green Chili & Cheddar Potatoes:

http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...16-10 Spares/?action=view&current=3plated.jpg

http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...16-10 Spares/?action=view&current=4plated.jpg

Typical deep pork rib smoke ring...for me anyway...just a touch of gray meat in the middle:

http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...10 Spares/?action=view&current=5smokering.jpg

http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...10 Spares/?action=view&current=6smokering.jpg

Good moisture in the main rib portions with the nice chewier texture as opposed to foiled ribs, and very good flavor from the combination of rub and the ~2-hr kiss with mesquite/hickory smoke, which seemed to lend in carrying the spicy flavors and heat of the rub a bit farther. I normally would have kept a closer eye on the trimmings as a few of the smaller pieces got a bit dryer, but I wanted to "keep a lid on it" today and see about dialing it in better. The trimmings were still nice for snacking. I did go through about 1.5 gallons of water, with the fire being elevated closer to the water pan, providing a very high humidity smoke environment. Nice results for a "play-time" smoke, anyway.

Thanks for peekin'!

Keep those smokers warm & happy!

Eric
 
How long did you cook them? over eight hours? Thats a long time isnt it? They looked extra crispy on the outside but the money shot they look good inside.
 
How long did you cook them? over eight hours? Thats a long time isnt it? They looked extra crispy on the outside but the money shot they look good inside.
Yea, a bit over eight hours, but I had some wild temp drops to get a handle on. A few times I had dropped to around 190* or less, and was adding a pound or so of hot coals to bring it back to life. The real problem was ash build-up on the coals not falling out. After I wasn't getting lasting results with adding hot coals, I decided to pull the drum off and check the fire out...I had a pretty good amount of unburnt coals completely snuffed out, and that's when I was able to get things turned around by shaking the ashes off the coals while the drum was removed.

Then, towards the end, I dropped the temps back to ~195* to finish them while we waited for the rest of dinner to get finished...that NEVER happens...the smoked meats having to wait on the sides to be finished? Anyway, I figured with the amount of water I went through that the smoke chamber humidity was pretty high, and drying out shouldn't be a big issue. Kinda rolled the dice, as I didn't feel like transferring the ribs to a pan/tent and firing a gas smoker to hold them in.

When the weather came in on me and I had to crank the intake wide open to keep it running anywhere near 200*+, and had to wait to pull the drum for an "ash check". It was a good day for gaining experience if nothing else. I learned quite a bit on how quickly things can change with these smaller charcoal burners, and more insight on issues which I now can hopefully overcome.

The crust was actually not bad at all...pretty firm, and interior was good too...I can't complain, considering the issues I was dealing with.

Eric
 
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Ok only if you send the rest down here to Fla. Eric you have done another fine job on the ribs. I have done the last couple of rack of ribs without foiling and they have came out pretty darn good. Now I wouldn't never foil again but I have adjusted the foiling time to firt my needs now it's about 1 to 1 1/4 hours to me.
 
Thanks guys! No-foil was how I learned to smoke 'em before the SMF family came along. I still prefer foiled over un-foiled most of the time, just for the nearly fall off the bone texture.
 
Those potatoes look good... what's the story with them?
These are red potatoes, pan fried, then canned green chilis and cheddar cheese sauce (cheddar/milk/butter) added when the taters are still very firm. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring every ~5 minutes to keep the cheese sauce from sticking. They're ready to serve when fork tender...easy and tasty.

Eric
 
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