I posted the new smoker build I did and broke it in last weekend with a rack of Dino ribs. I needed to make a couple of minor tweaks to the smoker the past few days but overall I am truly astounded with this thing. Primary heat source is a combination of charcoal and wood with the availability of precision temp control with a supplemental propane burner. For this one I was running with oak along with the charcoal. Turned out to be a great combination. Oh and yes
civilsmoker
I decided to keep the name...that is until I think of something better or somebody else comes up with a better name.
A load of charcoal in the pan.
Fire up the smoker with the burner running high to get the charcoal going. This took about 10 minutes. TBS against the thunder clouds.
The ribs: 4 pounds 12 ounces for 4 ribs. These things are enormous.
Seasoned up with my beef rub.
A full 2 1/2" thick with some beautiful marbling.
Smoker is at 250 and running light smoke so time to put the ribs on.
At the 3 hour mark. Getting some pull-back and nice color.
The 4 hour mark. Time to start mopping.
I knew I built that side shelf for a reason
6 hours in. I know I'm biased but something about this picture I really like.
My target temp was 250. Missed by a little bit but for my first run on this cooker I'll take this. It was at this temp the entire time.
Got some jalapeno cheddar cornbread put together.
A batch of my Wasabi horseradish slaw.
Cornbread on the grill.
We do love this stuff!! Cornbread done.
7 hours cook time and the ribs are probing like butter. Time to bring them in to rest a bit.
Sliced. One of them is pretty fatty but the other three are super meaty. Moist, tender, juicy, and the aroma is off the charts.
Look how juicy these things are...and this is a real pic. No basting or mopping here for presentation.
Plated and out to the patio to enjoy dinner before the monsoon hits.
I'll take this every day for a well cooked rib. Just a little tug but pulled perfectly clean from the bone.
In summary I love the efficiency of the cooker. Of course it took a little bit of tweaking to get it where I wanted it to be but once there it was effortless to maintain it. Flavor was outstanding and as noted, they were perfectly cooked, I was just lacking the coveted smoke ring...again. When I built the last smoker I had the same issue. I know the ring does not bring anything to the party as far as flavor, I just like to see it and know I've made BBQ. A year or so ago I had a lengthy discussion with Eric (
SmokinEdge
) about the possible cause of the lack of smoke ring. Sunday morning I went back and re-read our entire conversation and a couple things jumped out at me which might be the issue and I overlooked them during the build. Over the past 5 days I've made several minor mods to the rig based on info from Eric and will be smoking a "trimmed" brisket tomorrow. Let's hope that what I did solves my issue. If not I guess I'll have to build another smoker
This has been yet another very lengthy post so gonna call it done. Y'all take care and have a fantastic weekend.
Robert
civilsmoker
I decided to keep the name...that is until I think of something better or somebody else comes up with a better name.A load of charcoal in the pan.
Fire up the smoker with the burner running high to get the charcoal going. This took about 10 minutes. TBS against the thunder clouds.
The ribs: 4 pounds 12 ounces for 4 ribs. These things are enormous.
Seasoned up with my beef rub.
A full 2 1/2" thick with some beautiful marbling.
Smoker is at 250 and running light smoke so time to put the ribs on.
At the 3 hour mark. Getting some pull-back and nice color.
The 4 hour mark. Time to start mopping.
I knew I built that side shelf for a reason
6 hours in. I know I'm biased but something about this picture I really like.
My target temp was 250. Missed by a little bit but for my first run on this cooker I'll take this. It was at this temp the entire time.
Got some jalapeno cheddar cornbread put together.
A batch of my Wasabi horseradish slaw.
Cornbread on the grill.
We do love this stuff!! Cornbread done.
7 hours cook time and the ribs are probing like butter. Time to bring them in to rest a bit.
Sliced. One of them is pretty fatty but the other three are super meaty. Moist, tender, juicy, and the aroma is off the charts.
Look how juicy these things are...and this is a real pic. No basting or mopping here for presentation.
Plated and out to the patio to enjoy dinner before the monsoon hits.
I'll take this every day for a well cooked rib. Just a little tug but pulled perfectly clean from the bone.
In summary I love the efficiency of the cooker. Of course it took a little bit of tweaking to get it where I wanted it to be but once there it was effortless to maintain it. Flavor was outstanding and as noted, they were perfectly cooked, I was just lacking the coveted smoke ring...again. When I built the last smoker I had the same issue. I know the ring does not bring anything to the party as far as flavor, I just like to see it and know I've made BBQ. A year or so ago I had a lengthy discussion with Eric (
SmokinEdge
) about the possible cause of the lack of smoke ring. Sunday morning I went back and re-read our entire conversation and a couple things jumped out at me which might be the issue and I overlooked them during the build. Over the past 5 days I've made several minor mods to the rig based on info from Eric and will be smoking a "trimmed" brisket tomorrow. Let's hope that what I did solves my issue. If not I guess I'll have to build another smoker This has been yet another very lengthy post so gonna call it done. Y'all take care and have a fantastic weekend.
Robert
)
