First smoke-Baby Back Ribs

[austin-b]

Tackled my first smoke with a set of baby back r

 

[smoking b]

   Good deal but you know what they say... 

    Them's the 

     

 

[dougmays]

let's see the fruits of your labor:)

 

[austin-b]

Let me try this again. Broke in the new Brinkmann Trailmaster smoker yesterday. I thought it went really well and was a great learning experience. I had some ups and downs, but the final product was worth it.

Downs:
-Took me a while to get my temp set where I needed it. It started to get pretty hot. I'm not sure if I put too much lump coal in the firebox, or if I didn't let the initial batch from my charcoal chimney burn properly before dumping it in. Did two batches and then had to take some coal out.
-Only had one ten pound bag of lump charcoal and ran out in the end. I wasn't sure about adding wood to maintain temperature because I didn't want to over-smoke the ribs.
-Had to run a little longer on the 3-2-1 method because my temp got low a couple times. I was planning on doing 2-2-1, but added the extra time to compensate.
-I removed the membrane on the first set without a single problem, however, the second set gave me hell. Every time I separated it and tried to pull it off, it would break apart like it was just mushy. I think I tried every section on the rib and couldn't get it. I don't know what I did different compared to the first set. Maybe I got too cocky.


Pros:
-Throughout some points of the smoke, I was able to maintain a steady temp and was able to add the right amount of charcoal to keep it steady.
-Had a nice thin blue smoke coming out the smoke stack. At first I had too much smoke, so I took some wood out and that helped out.
-Learned that there was about a 50 degree variance from the stock lid thermometer compared to the thermometer I had on the grates. It appeared that I could have been losing a lot of heat out of the lid. I saw a lot of smoke coming out, so I think I need to get that sealer I see mentioned on the site to close it up better.

Definitely used this website throughout the entire process. It helped out tremendously. The ribs came out and they seemed to be cooked really well. When eating them, what you bit was what you ate. There was little tug, but it wasn't fall off the bone. Here's a couple pictures.

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• austin-b
• Feb 11, 2013

 

[austin-b]

image.jpg

• austin-b
• Feb 11, 2013

image.jpg

• austin-b
• Feb 11, 2013

 

[smoking b]

Looks like your first smoke went great! 

  What wood did you use?  How were they? 

 

[austin-b]

Thanks!! I wrote a post about it, but I'm waiting on a moderator to approve it. I used mesquite wood. I was really happy with them, and the girlfriend loved them. We had the leftovers tonight and they were still good. Also put some corn on the grill as well. Think ill try a chicken next time.

 

[smoking b]

Good deal - the whole needing approval for posts thing will go away once you get 25 posts. It's to help keep out spam.  Anyway glad to see you had a great smoke - welcome to your new addiction! 

 

[kathrynn]

Those look really good to me!  In a pack of ribs...I will have one rack that the membrane comes off with no effort...and the other 2..are not fun!  But that is part of the fun!

Ya did great!

 

[disco]

Those ribs look great.

 

[dougmays]

In my experience Lump burns hotter then standard coal. Also never trust the factor thermometer..LOL!

your ribs look great though!

i'm not sure about the rest of you but i've noticed recently that alot of ribs i buy, the membrane is already removed...

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Nice looking ribs! I bet your chicken on your second smoke will turn out great too!!!!

 

[austin-b]

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys!

 

[pgsmoker64]

There you go Austin!  Great first smoke.

The whole key is getting to learn your smoker, now you have some experience to carry into your next smoke!

Good luck,

Bill

 

[chef jimmyj]

Nice job on those Ribs, looks really good...JJ

 

[roller]

Nice ribs...

 

[johgre078]

Looks yummy to me.  Great job.

John