- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
- 407
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...
...and send her running to the kitchen for some water...
), 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¤t=18hours.jpg
Oooooooooooooh, I really like that color!!!!!!!!!!!!!:
http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...6-10 Spares/?action=view¤t=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¤t=3plated.jpg
http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...16-10 Spares/?action=view¤t=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¤t=5smokering.jpg
http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...10 Spares/?action=view¤t=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
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...
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¤t=18hours.jpg
Oooooooooooooh, I really like that color!!!!!!!!!!!!!:
http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...6-10 Spares/?action=view¤t=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¤t=3plated.jpg
http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...16-10 Spares/?action=view¤t=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¤t=5smokering.jpg
http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/...10 Spares/?action=view¤t=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