First batch o' ribs in the new MES 30" (w/Q View)

[dangyankee]

I grabbed the last three half racks of babybacks at the butcher shop on Tues.  I was hoping for spares and some giant beef ribs, but these will more than make for a tasty dinner.

The original plan was to smoke 'em yesterday, but rain clouds and some pretty strong winds rolled in, so I decided to wait until today.  I didn't realize it was supposed to only get up to ~20.  D'oh!

I mixed up a batch of rub last night and got the ribs ready for their big debut.

LAST NIGHT:

Rub!

Ribs!

Rubbed Ribs!

In their PJs...

Tucked in for the night...

=============================================

THIS MORNING:

Zoinks!  It got chilly overnight.

All dressed up and ready to go!

=============================================

I set the temp at 275 to get the box heated.  I also filled the water pan with boiling water to help it out.  The smoker lives in a quasi-heated garage, so it was 35 through and through until I opened the overhead and rolled it outside, where the air had actually dropped a degree to a frosty 18.

When I went out to check on the heating element's progress 40-45 minutes later, I was greeted by the sight of steam puffing out the vent and wisps of TBS drifting out around the chip loader.  The MES impressed me by hitting 256 in under 45 minutes--I was expecting it to take at least an hour, possibly an hour and a half.

I put the ribs in and quickly closed the door.  I was happy that I cranked the heat as the 10 seconds it was open dropped the internal temp to 180.

It took the better part of another 40 minutes to hit 220, at which point I dropped the t-stat to 225.  It's been holding a pretty constant 220 (+/- 2deg) for the past hour and a half.  That seems pretty good to me, especially with the strong breeze that's kicked up.

My initial plan was to do a 2-2-1 smoke, but I think I'll just leave the door closed and let it do its thing w/out making it recover from another big drop in temp.

It sure is smelling nice in my neighborhood right around now...  =o)

I'll post a couple pix of them once they're done and have had a chance to rest.

 

[fpnmf]

Looking good!

Most folks don't foil the beef ribs and smoke to a temp.

Here's a little sumpthin from our handy dandy search tool!!

 Have a great day!!

  Craig

   http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=beef+ribs  

 

[dangyankee]

Thanks for the tip!  I'm hoping to pick up some beef ribs either later this afternoon or tomorrow.

 

[czarcastic]

Looks good so far..  Can't wait to see the final results!

 

[chef willie]

Sounds like you got it dialed in and are having some fun.....way to go. Nice looking rub...would that be spicy or mild? Looking forward to the finished pics....

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds like everything is going well. Good luck & looking forward to the finish pics.

 

[herkysprings]

One thing I found helpful in Electric smokers is something like this:


For one it can be pre-heated in your oven and put into the smoker, and also it helps even out the heat. Also when you open the door its nice to help recover heat faster.

I stuck one in my Bradley on the bottom rack, and it works great.

 

[dangyankee]

Mmmm....  I'm a happy guy; happy and stuffed full of some of meaty babybacks.

Total smoking time was just a skosh over 4 hours.  I only opened the door once at ~3 hours to pop in a thermometer--in the rush to keep out the 18deg air this morning, I, forgot to put it in before closing the door.  They looked like they were working hard at getting delicious, so I gave 'em a good spray of apple juice before closing up the box and letting 'em get back to it.

They were already at 160, so I cut the t-stat back to 190.  I pulled out three sexy looking half racks ~50 minutes later...

The knife easily slid through the meat.

Juicy?  Oh yeah...

The verdict?

I'm calling my MES 30"'s first outing a success.  The meat was juicy and perfectly tender.  It pulled off the bone easily, but didn't fall off and hang from my lip/fall on the plate--to me, that means overdone.  The fat did its job before virtually disappearing.  There wasn't a single unpleasant mouthful of fat to be found.

The bark was crispy, with an initial hint of sweetness and a pleasant, spicy finish.  Like a lot of other MES owners have posted, there was no pronounced smoke ring. Since I don't recall ever actually tasting a smoke ring, it was a non-issue.

I cut up one of the other slabs and brought it over to my neighbors who were quite happy with the surprise delivery.  If you can't share something, it's not worth doing...

The last one's going to be pulled off the bone and enjoyed at breakfast in the AM.
 

And with that, a big Thank You to anyone who's posted tips and secrets!

 

[dangyankee]

Quote:

One thing I found helpful in Electric smokers is something like this:


For one it can be pre-heated in your oven and put into the smoker, and also it helps even out the heat. Also when you open the door its nice to help recover heat faster.

I stuck one in my Bradley on the bottom rack, and it works great.

Thanks!  I have a tile sitting on top of the smoke box that's acting as a heat baffle as there's a tendency for the back, right corner to get quite hot.  It also seems to act like a pizza stone in helping to stabilize the overall temp.

I'm going to be changing from an 8x12 glazed tile to a 12x12 piece of Brazilian slate the next time I'm near a Home Despot.  I might pick up a pizza stone as well.  On mornings like today, any addt'l help w/temp recovery would be helpful.

 

[beer-b-q]

Great Looking Ribs...

 

[Bearcarver]

They look real good Yank!

I used to open the door a couple times to spritz my ribs, and would lose a lot of heat.

Then some guys on here told me to try putting water in the pan for ribs, and stop opening the door for spritzing.

They were right---It works great.

Also I boil the water first, to help with the heat & recovery, if you do open the door.

Thanks for showing such a nice batch of "First Ribs",

Bear

 

[tyotrain]

Now that is some great looking Q.. nice job

 

[raptor700]

That MES did it's job, even in 18º

the ribs look very juicy, and tender

Thanks for sharin

g 

 

[boykjo]

nice job on the ribs...........

 

[SmokinAl]

The ribs look great. Nothing better than a great smoke the first time out. Congrats!