This is my first low-n-slow attempt with my Chargriller Akorn kamado cooker.
I bought 2 racks of spares trimmed St. Louis style. I rubbed them down with a mix of turbinado sugar, paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. I don't measure these out, I just mix them up until I like the flavor.
I used Royal Oak lump with a few pieces of cherry thrown in.
Here are the rubbed racks. I also used a pizza stone wrapped in foil for my diffuser.
Thin blue line of cherry smoke. It smelled incredible.
2.5 hrs into the cook and ready for foiling.
I used Chef JimmyJ's foiling sauce recipe, delicious btw.
1/2 stick butter
4oz apple juice
4oz honey
rub mixture.
Put this on a simmer for 10-15 mins until it thickens up a bit.
Here they are after foiling and placed back on the grill for about 40 mins. One painted with Sweet Baby Rays, the other with Stubb's original.
Final results
Verdict, my entire family liked the flavor profile. They were not overly smoky and very tasty. The only problem is that they were a bit overdone resulting in dryness. I was shooting for a cook temp of 275. For the first part of the cook the temp stayed around 265-280 with the lower vent closed and the top open to around .75 to 1. However after opening up the cooker to foil the ribs the temp shot to around 315. I was not able to get it back under 300 for the rest of the cook. BTW my cook times were probably 2.5/1/.5 using the foiling method. I guess I could have closed off the top vent but I was worried about the fire going out so I left it around .5, maybe even a bit lower.
Overall a good cook but not perfect. Considering I'm new to cooking ribs and using a kamado I have no complaints, I just need to keep practicing.
I bought 2 racks of spares trimmed St. Louis style. I rubbed them down with a mix of turbinado sugar, paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. I don't measure these out, I just mix them up until I like the flavor.
I used Royal Oak lump with a few pieces of cherry thrown in.
Here are the rubbed racks. I also used a pizza stone wrapped in foil for my diffuser.
Thin blue line of cherry smoke. It smelled incredible.
2.5 hrs into the cook and ready for foiling.
I used Chef JimmyJ's foiling sauce recipe, delicious btw.
1/2 stick butter
4oz apple juice
4oz honey
rub mixture.
Put this on a simmer for 10-15 mins until it thickens up a bit.
Here they are after foiling and placed back on the grill for about 40 mins. One painted with Sweet Baby Rays, the other with Stubb's original.
Final results
Verdict, my entire family liked the flavor profile. They were not overly smoky and very tasty. The only problem is that they were a bit overdone resulting in dryness. I was shooting for a cook temp of 275. For the first part of the cook the temp stayed around 265-280 with the lower vent closed and the top open to around .75 to 1. However after opening up the cooker to foil the ribs the temp shot to around 315. I was not able to get it back under 300 for the rest of the cook. BTW my cook times were probably 2.5/1/.5 using the foiling method. I guess I could have closed off the top vent but I was worried about the fire going out so I left it around .5, maybe even a bit lower.
Overall a good cook but not perfect. Considering I'm new to cooking ribs and using a kamado I have no complaints, I just need to keep practicing.
