First rib smoke tomorrow what wood combo to use

[matty gunns]

Gonna try and smoke ribs for the first time tomorrow. I have 3 racks - 2 baby back and 1 st louis. I used 3 different rubs for each rack including blues hog, smoking guns sweet heat, and dans backyard bbq. Im thinking of using oak or a combination of oak and cherry. I have apple, oak, cherry and hickory. Should i be concerend smoking baby backs and st louis at the same time. I would think not

 

[ptcruiserguy]

IMO, my taste preference for Ribs always goes towards the Hickory wood.

But, since I won't be eating them......... 

Happy Smokin'

Mike

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

I like hickory or hickory/apple for my ribs.

No concern with smoking them at the same time. Just know they won't be done at the same time and put them on the smoker accordingly so they finish about the same time.

Good luck!

 

[SmokinAl]

We use oak & hickory, but that's because it's easy to get down here.

The spares will take about 1 hour longer than the BB's at 225.

 

[matty gunns]

Went with 2 chunks of oak and 2 cherry. Let you know how it turns out!!

 

[tallbm]

Hi there and welcome!

I was going to suggest Hickory and Cherry.  I wasn't sure you were going to wrap your ribs in foil but with shorter smoking times (not cooking time) I prefer to go with a stronger primary wood like Hickory.  I find I like at least 3.5 hours of smoke on my meats so if doing a 3-2-1 cook I want to cram in smoke flavor before the foil shows up.

Anyhow I think you will do very well with Oak and Cherry so don't think I my suggestion was by any means some sort of rule to be followed.  It's all up to your preference which we all build up and change as we go along :)

Anyhow best of luck with the smoke and good on ya m8!  :D

 

[matty gunns]

Not a bad first rib smoke. I smoked them 250-275. St louis ribs went on first and bottom rack of wsm. Hour later the baby backs went on top rack. Smoked the spare ribs a little over 4 hours and took them off. They werent sauced or foiled and they came out overdone and mushy. I foiled one baby back and not the other and i pulled them both off a little over 5 hours and the unfoiled ones came out great good bark and all. The foiled rack was just a little sweet but good but fell apart some. I figured out that cutting them is not easty without the right knife so i ill be heading out to get a good bbq knife soon.

 

[matty gunns]

Spare ribs

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• matty gunns
• Feb 9, 2017

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• matty gunns
• Feb 9, 2017

Baby backs

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• matty gunns
• Feb 9, 2017

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• matty gunns
• Feb 9, 2017

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• matty gunns
• Feb 9, 2017

image.jpeg

• matty gunns
• Feb 9, 2017

 

[tallbm]

Not a bad first rib smoke. I smoked them 250-275. St louis ribs went on first and bottom rack of wsm. Hour later the baby backs went on top rack. Smoked the spare ribs a little over 4 hours and took them off. They werent sauced or foiled and they came out overdone and mushy. I foiled one baby back and not the other and i pulled them both off a little over 5 hours and the unfoiled ones came out great good bark and all. The foiled rack was just a little sweet but good but fell apart some. I figured out that cutting them is not easty without the right knife so i ill be heading out to get a good bbq knife soon.

Gongrats!  Looks like you had some success and some things you know you want to improve on.  By the way, SmokinAl has a post where he perfected his ribs by going off temperature rather than time.  As you will see most rib recipes call for time and all other cuts call for Internal Temperature (IT).  He went with the IT route and gets his correct time after time.  Here is the post:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/newestpost/240916

Also if you are knife shopping and you know you will be cutting large cuts of meat like ribs, briskets, etc. a good large "Breaking Knife" might be right up your alley.  Also think about getting a knife with some High Carbon (HC) steel to it so it will hold an edge and you can sharpen it as you need :)

Best of luck!

 

[matty gunns]

I will definitly be looking for a breaking knife thanks for the tip. Next rib smoke will be smokinAl's way!!

 

[gr0uch0]

A good filet knife works well also for ribs:  been using that for years to navigate the bones, and it goes through the 2 pieces of cartilage on the rib ends like they're not even there.