First a confession - I don't like ribs. Or so I maintained for years after having truly bad ones when I first tried them at a restaurant long ago. SWAMBO convinced me to try ribs again and that my first experience was just bad luck. So on the "if you want it done right do it yourself" theory I decided to give it a go using the knowledge gained on this forum.
We had a rack of St. Louis style ribs in the freezer for about a year and finally decided to do them for the Labor Day cook, but other duties got in the way and delayed the cook till Wednesday.
Trimmed, membrane removed and cut in half to fit the smoker rack.
Gave them a sprinkling of kosher salt and about an hour rest before adding Jeff's Original Rub.
Into the smoker at 225F, using Amazen Pitmasters Choice pellets in the mailbox (love the mailbox mod and the PID controller).
I did not wrap them at any point during the cook and, following SmokinAl's advice took then to around 195 I/T (I sort of estimated a rough average of the readings I was getting on the Thermapen). At that point I glazed them with Sweet Baby Ray's Original straight out of the bottle (no need to reinvent the wheel) and let them go for about another hour. An hour might seem a long time but it took quite a bit of that time for the smoker to recover the heat lost while I was swabbing on the sauce. In all it was about a six hour cook. A short rest while SWMBO finished up the sides.
And, finally, the plate.
I will no longer claim to not like ribs. These were wonderful, good bite and great flavor. Neither the rub nor the sauce was overpowering letting the meat shine while adding just that little bit more. Even SWMBO was impressed, and that is no easy task. Thanks to the Forum members for the wealth on knowledge freely shared.
We had a rack of St. Louis style ribs in the freezer for about a year and finally decided to do them for the Labor Day cook, but other duties got in the way and delayed the cook till Wednesday.
Trimmed, membrane removed and cut in half to fit the smoker rack.
Gave them a sprinkling of kosher salt and about an hour rest before adding Jeff's Original Rub.
Into the smoker at 225F, using Amazen Pitmasters Choice pellets in the mailbox (love the mailbox mod and the PID controller).
I did not wrap them at any point during the cook and, following SmokinAl's advice took then to around 195 I/T (I sort of estimated a rough average of the readings I was getting on the Thermapen). At that point I glazed them with Sweet Baby Ray's Original straight out of the bottle (no need to reinvent the wheel) and let them go for about another hour. An hour might seem a long time but it took quite a bit of that time for the smoker to recover the heat lost while I was swabbing on the sauce. In all it was about a six hour cook. A short rest while SWMBO finished up the sides.
And, finally, the plate.
I will no longer claim to not like ribs. These were wonderful, good bite and great flavor. Neither the rub nor the sauce was overpowering letting the meat shine while adding just that little bit more. Even SWMBO was impressed, and that is no easy task. Thanks to the Forum members for the wealth on knowledge freely shared.
