(Ambitious) First Smoke

[pi in sc]

Well, despite some great advise from fellow smokers, I dove agressively into my first smoke. Yesterday, after a strong push from the wife, I decided to try 1) ribs 2) large ham 3) fatty... and happy to say each turned out fantastic. I have some pics I will post later after I resize them. Some observations...

1) 3-2-1 for the ribs was too much. Next time I will try 2.5 - 2 - .5-1. Tho they turned out great. Firm meat that stayed on the bone, tender, fairly juicy, beautiful ring... I really think 30 less minutes would contribute much.

2) I used the break-in/seasoning of the smoker for a reference point. That proved erroroneous. When full of meat, it burned MUCH cooler so it took me a bit to get the heat back up after preheating. Next time I will preheat to a much hotter temp knowing the load will knock it down closer to final temp.

3) The thermometer was off. Thanks to everyone who stated this in previous posts! It actually was incorrect on an increasing scale. The hotter it got, the more incorrect it was.

4) Smoking can be a family activity. My 7 and 9 year olds contributed much and were with me the entire way. They had a lot of pride at dinner knowing they contributed to the success of the meal.

5) Damn I am hooked. Cant wait for the next smoke and already searching for different wood types. I really want to try maple and pecan..

Thanks for all the help folks!!!

Paul

 

[azrocker]

Makes me smile to know your family was included. I think that is great. Would give points but I am out for now. I will try to remember to come back and bestow them

 

[grothe]

Glad ta hear you're gettin your rig figured out (the hardest part IMHO)!
Lookin forward to your pics

 

[rivet]

Congratulations on you and your kids' new addiction

What a way to start off~very good

 

[bassman]

Congrats on a great smoke. The 3-2-1 method has been widely overused here. Seems like so many have tried it and didn't like the fall apart results. I have been doing about a 2 1/2-1-whatever it takes to finish. Then again, I like to pull the meat off the bone easily but not have it fall off. Hope this helps.

 

[dacfan]

Good luck and remember go easy on the wood, and don't forget the Qview.

 

[pi in sc]

Yeah, it makes me smile too... Points? Can I trade them on smokin stuff?

I have them offloaded from the camera, just need to find a utility to resize them.

Exactly how I like mine. I hate it when you accidentally "de-bone" the ribs when attempting to cut them or they fall apart when you pick them up. Texturely the meat was perfect, but I am aiming for a bit more moisture. I am using the last step just to carmalize the sauce.

 

[alx]

I just got 20 pounds of pecan shipped from arkansas and total was a buck a pound-I love pecan.Like the others i found 3-2-1 way to much.I have settled on 2.5-1.5-20 minutes to set glaze.My st.louis trimmed spares always seem to weigh 2 pounds.I dont add juice to foil anymore and foil meat side down and let the rib juices tenderize-this has kept a nice tug without the mush.I add butter,turbinado sugar and honey and put meat side on that and foil-i guess i just like talking about ribs-great post.

 

[bb53chevpro]

Congrads on the great smoke. Pictures would have been great to show us all.

The 3-2-1 method is a basic starting point for ribs. If they are baby back ribs 2-2-1 would be the staring instructions. Everyone has there own person taste and these starting points can be modified to suit your taste.

Thanks for sharing this great experience with us.
Remember: Thin blue smoke.

 

[gooose53]

Ain't that a great feeling!!!! Like you said, now your hooked! My wife is not a nut about bbq that I am....so her comment is "do we have to eat bbq again?" I tell her she doesn't .....

 

[pi in sc]

Here are the pics. sorry for the delay...

One hour in:


The ham coming out.


Last, the ribs. Mmm, they look very wet in this pic for some reason, but the sauce was actually quite dry and carmalized.

 

[ronp]

What great results you have there, especially for the first one.
Definitely worth some points.

 

[pignit]

Shweeeeet!

 

[gooose53]

Nice work for sure!!

 

[pi in sc]

Thanks everyone. Looking at the pics myself, it does remind me one thing I am disappointed about my new smoker, I cant get a full rack of ribs in it. As you can tell, I had to cut the first 2 two ribs off and lay them diagonal. I also realized the fatty was in the shadows but you may be able to tell I positioned it over the ribs for help with basting.

Thanks again!

Paul

 

[seenred]

Congrats on the successful smoke, Paul! It tickles me that your kids are enjoying this. The next generation of SMF Q-ers! Great post. Points!

 

[pi in sc]

Thanks SR! They are already asking what we are smoking this weekend. They are way ahead of me as I havent even started to look towards the weekend yet. But thought I would pull them in one step earlier and take them to the store to pick-out the meat of choice. Should be interesting...

Thanks again!

Paul