First ribs..............

[cascadedad]

With a small chicken thrown in for fun.

I got home from work yesterday and got busy. My wife had picked up a rack of ribs at WalMart. They were vacuum packed and I think it said extra meaty, or something like that. I am not a meat expert, so I have a lot to learn in that regard as well as smoking in general. Please forgive me.

Fired up the GOSM and applied rub (store bought) a pretty good layer of yellow mustard, more rub and rubbed it in. Also put a small chicken on one of those beer smoker stands Chick Can or something like that. I don't drink beer and don't have any around, so I used a half a can of Dr. Pepper instead. Seasoned it with some chicken rub (store bought also). Put the chicken on the bottom rack and ribs on the top.

Temp was about 240 on the top rack which is as low as I can get my smoker right now. The door gage shows more like 275 and the oven thermometer I used showed about 240. Not really sure if I trust the oven thermometer either, I need to buy new ones and mount them.

The Chicken cooked for about 3 hours and still was not done. I put in the oven in a cookie sheet with some apple juice, covered loosely with aliminum foil for about an hour. It was very good, but slightly dry. I think it needs to be smoked at a higher temp, maybe at 325 or so for a couple hours. More experimenting!

I did about a 3-1.5-.75 on the ribs. They were awesome. They were not fall apart, I kind of like to chew them. This was really a rush job. Just want to experiment and try things out. Going to be out of town this weekend so won't be able to do anything then.

Q view to follow. I took pictures throughout the process, but we are having work done at our house right now and the computers are down.

Anyway, I really appreciate all the info here. It is a HUGE help!

 

[squeezy]

Those temps are good for the ribs, but not the beer butt. I would never try to do them together.
Next time do a couple of chickens ... get your temps up to 300º to 350º and you will be rewarded. A third of a can is all that is required and make sure the neck hole is closed ... pin the skin down or plug with apple, potato etc.
Carve it while still standing ... enjoy!

 

[peculiarmike]

You don't drink beer????

Oh well. First ribs huh? Won't be your last for sure!
Need to do that chicken at about 350°, eliminates the rubbery skin. No reason to go low & slow with chicken, crank it up and gitRdone!

 

[mossymo]

cascadedad
I am curious about your Walmart ribs. Were they frozen, if so how was the quality? Reason I ask is our local Walmart has frozen ribs for $1.88 per pound, but being frozen with shrink wrap they are difficult to tell the quality. Out of curiousity, yesterday I just about purchased a rack to take home and check out, but then decided to wait.

 

[squeezy]

I understand your curiosity ... here in Ontario, most frozen or cryopac ribs are 'seasoned' and when I was visiting Wisconsin, all the fresh meat was in 'solution' of 10 to 12%
Can anyone expand on this?

 

[cascadedad]

I agree, these will NOT be my last ribs. I also agree that it wasn't a good idea to do the chicken at the same time. But, I had them and I wanted to try. Never learn until you try right? It really was quite good, but had a chance to dry a little in the long cooking time. Next time I will do two chickens at a time.

Sorry Mike about the beer thing. It's a long story, but the truth is, I like beer too much. I could easily go way overboard so I decided to quit a LONG, LONG time ago. I usually have 1 a year just to remember what I am missing. You wanna talk about a good tasting beer, that one is it!!!!

Regarding the Walmart ribs. They were not frozen and they were not seasoned. I removed the membrane, but didn't have to do any trimming. There was a ton of meat on them. I just had 4 for lunch and wow, all I need is a nap and things could not be better. Unless of course it was the day of the year where I drink my beer.

 

[hawgheaven]

Well CD, now that you're hooked, whatcha smokin' up next?

Glad your ribs were a success!

 

[smok_n_okie]

hey cascadedad, did you have the ribs in a rack standing up or flat...?
they sound great cannot to see pix..

 

[blackhawk19]

I haven't done any beer butt chicken so I don't know if brining helps them, I just cook mine on the rack and brine them overnight. Haven't had a dry one yet.

 

[cascadedad]

HawgHeaven, Brisket is next. That is why I bought this smoker in the first place. I lived in Texas for a couple years and since moving back to the NW, well it is too far between chances to eat brisket.

smok-n-okie, they were flat. I took a bunch of pictures and I will post them next week. Computers at home are all disconnected with work being done in the house, but rest assured that pictures will come.

Man is this stuff addicting or what? You know, I don't know anyone here that smokes food, except for a little jerky and fish. I think I am going to become very popular.

 

[peculiarmike]

Nice country up there, no Q though! You may have more than bears hanging around your back door when you get the GOSM going! Your neighbors will be your best buds!

 

[cascadedad]

Yes, thanks to everyone here.

When you say BBQ here, it means grill.

 

[deejaydebi]

Congrats on the ribs C-Dad. I like mine with abit of pull too. While I still got my teeth I want to use them!

I don't care for pulled pork on a stick so to speak.

Mossy-
I get all my ribs at Wal Mart in cryopacks they aren't trimmed into nice rectangles but their always meaty! And cheaper than anywhere else. Most of the other stores around here sell them in packs of like 4 or 5 ribs not the whole rack. I 'll post a picture. They do have a saltwater solution but I just don't add extra salt when I cook them.

IMHO brining always helps poultry -I like to brine, then inject with butter and spices after. I also like to put slices of lemons or oranges inside the cavity -again IMHO it's better than beer/soda cans. Always do your chickens at higher temps 300 to 375 if you can get that high. It'll make the skin crispy instead of rubbery too.

 

[cascadedad]

Debi, those aren't the ribs my wife got at Walmart. I went there tonight and looked. What she got were called loinbacks or something like that. They were over $4 per pound but were awesome. I'll try the ones like you posted next time. I think they were $2 something a pound.

 

[mikeintn]

Cascadedad, your wife picked up what's commonly referred to as "babyback" ribs, while Debi's pictures are spare ribs. Babybacks usually have less cartilage and much smaller bones, and as you've found out, are more expensive. I found babybacks on sale this week @ Foodlion for $2.99 a pound (Smithfield cryopack). 5 slabs of them fit nicely in my freezer..

 

[flash]

Dang, my smoker tops around 275*, so should I throw all the chicken I have smoked away now

Of course, i don't eat the skin either.

 

[mwc115]

You sound like me. I got into smoking because I went to Texas and knew what I was missing!

I'm doing some beef ribs myself this weekend, I may have to try Walmart. Although I generally find their meats to be one thing about their grocery that I don't like. So far I think Costco has been great because they have nice packaged uncut briscuits, ribs, shoulders, and what not, but I don't think they had beef ribs for some reason.

Sorry you can't do biscuit this weekend. I did my first one 2 weeks ago and it was GREAT (Costco!)

 

[deejaydebi]

C-Dad -

These are alot cheaper and IMHO taste just as good with more meat! They're only $2.99/ lbs here. If you cut them like the first picture they call them Kansas City Style. Just just do the whole and chew around the cartledges a the top.

The second picture is babybacks and around here they average $4.99/lbs and are usually short scrawny meatless things.

 

[cascadedad]

Great, thanks Debi. So you just cook them whole and do not cut correct? If you were to cut, is that done prior or after cooking?

Like I mentioned earlier, the ones I got at Walmart said "loinbacks" I believe. They were not anything like babybacks I have got at restaurants. There was thick meat, maybe about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2".

I think I read in the 3-2-1 method that it should be changed to something less if you are cooking babybacks for fall-off-the-bone meat. I did mine close to that and they were far from falling off the bone.

If you get a chance, try these ribs and let me know what you think. I have nothing to compare them to as a complete newbie. That will change!!!!

I will definitely try the ones you have shown next. I have to get to Costco and check out their briskets also!!

 

[squeezy]

No problem if you don't eat the skin ... just peel it off and enjoy! So, if you don't eat the skin, then try smokin a split or just parts ... peel n eat!
Lots of folks brine their birds, which I think is beneficial to slow cook, but for beer butt, there is no need to. It always comes out moist & tender at the higher heat.