5 day ecourse Final Exam......

[tennessee pork smoker]

Ok, I've wandering my way around the forum, took the 5 day ecourse, seasoned my ECB, modded my ECB, and smoked my second set of ribs. I've done my own seasoning rub cuz I'm in to that sort of stuff for steaks. I LOVE cooking steaks. Anyway, first off, the ribs I'm smoking are off of a wild boar I took a while back.

The meat from the hog has been in the freezer, ( does that hurt the meat? ).

Anyway, I've decided that the toughest part is keeping the temperature right.

But.....I did okay today with the temp, but I'm not getting the results I'm hoping for.

( what am I lookng for......what I ate once on Beale St in Memphis......at the very least

)

The meat is tking about 4.5 to 5 hrs to bring up the 172 degrees, but is coming out very dry. Good flavor, but very dry. It pretty much needed a steak knife to cut.........where am I going wrong?

 

[bustedluckbarbq]

Try takin a look over to the left and check out the 321 method...

I started using that after i learned it from here ... and yea i guess i'm braggin a little... but my ribs have been great ever since... still gotta watch em... but its a good guideline....

 

[ba_loko]

TPS, are you foiling at 2 - 2.5 hours into the smoke? If so, put a little apple juice into the foil prior to sealing. After about 1 1/2 hours take the foil off for the last 30 - 45 minutes (I'm assuming they're the baby back ribs, which don't take the full 3-2-1 method). That last period will firm up the ribs. At that point they should be extremely tender.

 

[bustedluckbarbq]

BA is correct... if there baby backs... reduce times.. When i get ready to foil em... i spray a little apple juice and worchester mix on them...enough to moisten em good... wrap em up... they come out moist and good... the last time on the grate i usually mop a little of my favorite sauce on em...

 

[ron50]

Ribs are very hard to cook to temperature as there is really no way to slide a thermometer in the meat without it being near the bone.

Several things could be responsible for dry ribs:

Is the thermometer you are usimg calibrated? Smoking that period of time at temps above 250 could dry out the meat.

Have you mopped or sprayed them to hold in the moisture?

I've never cooked a wild boar but I would think the meat would be much leaner and tougher then a domesticated hog.

The best way to cook the ribs is to judge the doneness by their appearance. Do the ribs droop on the side about 90 degrees when you grab them in the middle of the rack? Is the end of the rib meat pulling back from the bone?

 

[tennessee pork smoker]

I didn't mop the ribs, nor did I wrap in foil. Doesn't mopping the ribs take off the rub though....I though I read that somewhere..... anyway, what about putting the ribs in foil for the whole cook. will that defeate the purpose of smoking? I tried a rack for a little bit wrapped in foil with brown sugar and honey....

 

[brennan]

Yeah foiling for the duration of the cooking time doesn't exactly allow a whole lot of smoke penetration and you tend to end up with mush for meat. I recommend the 3-2-1 method and once you're comfortable with that adjust the timing for each stage to get the results you want.

 

[flash]

3-2-1

And remember to remove the membrane from the back of the ribs.

 

[ds7662]

Mopping won't take the rub off if you wait about 2 hours and mop, lightly.
Instead of mopping try spritzing or spraying the stuff on.
And as evryone else has said 3-2-1.

 

[seaham358]

Try using some store bought meat and see how that comes out. Like everyone says also try the 3-2-1 method..

 

[smokeys my pet]

Remember 3-2-1 is a guideline that almost always works! The mop will not remove rub but you need to wait a while before mopping to make sure the rub has adheard to the meat first!!!!Give it another try and I believe you will get better results each time. Be patient and best of luck with all your smokin adventures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tennessee pork smoker]

Many thanks, gonna try some store bought, but also got more and bigger wild hogs to kill and try out.

 

[brennan]

You know, another thing you may want to take into consideration is the fact that wild hog meat might be more lean than conventional ribs. My expertise in this field is rather limited as the only hunting I do is at the supermarket. if this is the case than you could probably consider a brine to add some moisture to the meat in place of the fat that would have normally been there.

 

[smokingrookie]

I had the same problem with some venison I tried the 3-2-1 method does help, but I haven't tried brine I think it would be well worth the effort. Good luck and keep on hunting, Travis

 

[smokin for life]

When ever I do ribs I just spray them with apple juice untill I foil them. I don't use a mop untill I unfoil them at the end. I don't think you can go wrong with the 3-2-1 method. When I do B.B. I watch the foil time a little closer.

 

[raven1911]

I just did some wild boar ribs, a whole side of 'em. They turned out well. It was about a 6 hours smoke. The ribs I had were quite lean though. I served mine with a side of sauce, which I think now, I might try and put the sauce on the last hour they are naked in the smoker or even mop them with a butter based mop. The 3-2-1 method works really well, just prevent that heat from going above 240* in the smoker. I would suggest a lower heat, like 200-220 for the smoke of wild boar. I know sometimes its hard to control the heat to that small of a zone. Also, you might want to flip and rotate the meat in the smoker to different grates every hour as that might help even the doneness.

Another thing that I made the mistake of making is cutting the ribs too soon after taking them off. You need to wait about 15 minutes before cutting them, just take them off and wrap them in foil until cutting. This allows the juices to distribute evenly.

 

[glued2it]

Beale st was the coolest place I've ever been! When I went down to NHRA drags, We stooped there the night before. I had a awesome time and man the food was awesome too! I loved the "big *** beer" I still have the cup!

 

[willyjhopuky]

i just bougfht a new charbroil grill water smoker like the one in the picture. can you give me some good advice on how to use it? it seems too small and hard to get the charcoal pan in and out. can you grill steaks on it? etc. i want to eventually try chicken and turkey. im new at smoking.