pork ribs

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

boot4lyfe

Fire Starter
Original poster
Aug 22, 2015
33
17
so-cal
Hey guys. It's been a minute since I've been on and even smoked. Well I finally upgraded from my good old junior charbroil offset smoker, to the 22.5in weber smokey mountain cooker! (Thanks dad for the giftcard). In fact, I'm doing my first smoke on It! Only thing is, I can't keep the temperature up! It keeps dropping rapidly! All vents open, full chimney and everything! I'm trying to do pork ribs, but the temperature just isn't holding. Do I add another chimney? And my maverick and weber temp Guage are about 20 degrees off. So I'm not sure who to believe! Weber temp says 215, maverick says 171. I'm so confused!
 
Yea the water bowl is full. I'm thinking about adding another chimney. I'm just confused because I know WSMs are really good and hold temperature well. It went from 255, to 165 within 20min. According to maverick
 
Yikes! With all vents open, that sounds like something is wrong.

What kind of charcoal are you using and did you light using the minion method? Did you try switching out probes or repositioning?
 
Ok so, I started with a bag that you can light to get a fire going. It said it was about a chimney (although it looked very small and wasn't although easy to light as the directions said). So that went burning, and was fine. I threw some wood chips in after I threw the ribs on, and that's when the temp started dropping. So I threw more chips in to get the fire back. Well that ddnt happen and slowly lost heat. Then for some reason (in a panic) I threw a lump charcoal in it hoping the quick burning would save it. Well that ddnt happen either. So I just lit a full chimney and tossed it in, and seems to be ok. Got real hot so closed the vents, once it gets back to 250 I'll open a vent a little bit. I have no idea wat charcoal was in that magical bag, but I use mostly Kingsford lump briquettes. Sometimes I'll do lump charcoal but I still haven't gotten the feel for that one.
 
Ok so a few things. 1. My maverick blows. It's 77 degrees off. 2. Never will I ever use the light the bag method again. That was stupid. 3. The WSM thermometer is spot on to my bbq sniper temperature pen. I usually did the minion method on my old smoker, thought the bag would've been easy, naw. Avoid at all costs. Lol. There wasn't enough charcoal to keep the heat going. I have the 22.5in and needs a lot of charcoal. And what's the difference between Kingsford briquettes and Kingsford blue?
 
Kingsford Blue or KBB is Kingsford Original.

As for your Maverick, it's common for probes to fail over time. At least you found out now! Is the probe damaged in any way?
 
No its not damaged is the weird thing! Since day 1 it was always like that. I just figured it was always right. Then I tried it on my propane grill oneday, the 2 Temps ddnt match up and that began my suspicions. But hey, food temp on my ribs say 145, but it's only been like 3 hours. And the bend test to me said it still needs cooking. Soo what should I do? Lol
 
Yea bend test all the way! So it's just bend it until it starts falling off the bone correct?
 
Use tongs to pick up the ribs from the thick end and lift straight up, if the tip of the slab points straight down and bends easily, they are done. Or you can use a toothpick to check for tenderness.
 
Ok so you're saying if it's a 90 degree angle it's good to go. It's been almost 6 hours at this point. Went to the store for an hour, came back and still holding strong at 150. Definately that light the bag thing messed with me hard. Lol. Never again. I'm abut to toothpick it and bend it see what's yp. Should be done by now. Well see!
 
Lol they looked that way. Ddnt taste the same. Still tasted tough, but it kind of slid off the bone. Although pulling them.between the bones, you had to use A LOT of force to rip apart. Idk like some parts were moist. And others tough and burnt kind of. Brawtwurst turned out good though.
 
Lol they looked that way. Ddnt taste the same. Still tasted tough, but it kind of slid off the bone. Although pulling them.between the bones, you had to use A LOT of force to rip apart. Idk like some parts were moist. And others tough and burnt kind of. Brawtwurst turned out good tho.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky