First smoking weekend for me. Any advice?

[streaky]

Ok. You have convinced me. I am off to the butchers tomorrow to order the meat for Friday and I will be at it again this weekend. Thanks for all your help. It was fantastic and the results showed that you all are experts.

That reminds me. I'll need more beer !!!!  

 

[smokeinthecold]

New guy here...I thought it best to bump this post rather than start anew, but let's see how this works. I have done a brisket with a my spanking new smoker and it turned out okay for a first try...It think I took it out too soon or should have foiled it...tasted good, but too dry.  ti did have a perfect smoke ring.

Tonight I am trying baby backs.  From what I read here, I should cook naked for 2 hours, foil for 2, naked for 1.  Assumig that is correct, what is the advise about basting or spraying with apple juice or something else. The ribs are dry rubbed with a rub from a Memphis BBQ house we visited a few weeks ago.  For the brisket I was up at 5:30 am to allow 12 hours of cooking and basted every hour after the first 3 (according to the recipe book I was following).  It was still too dry.  I am afraid of presenting dry ribs tonight and need your collective expertise to avoid that.

Thanks in advance

 

[thebarbequeen]

.What type of smoker are you using?  The foiling should help prevent dryness worries, but there was also an excellent thread here recently regarding how to tell when ribs are done.  http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/102771/spare-ribs   

This covers just about every "done" test there is!  Don't worry too much, it's pretty hard to mess up baby backs, check in again with a progress report.   and don't forget the beer!  Cheers!

 

[smokeinthecold]

Thanks for reducing my stress level...I am  breaking a big rule of cooking...never try something for the first time when guests are coming for dinner. I have a Traeger BBQ07E.  I think I might try the pan trick that I saw on another post.  The poster used an aluminum pan covered with foil instead of foiling the ribs after the first two hour naked grilling.  Any thoughts on that approach?  What about the issue of spraying or basting? I notice that poster used apple juice to spray and add moisture. Does foiling in the middle hours remove the necessity for that step?  Finally, should I apply BBQ sauce in the last hour?

I really appreciate the prompt advice.  I am a decent cook, but this is all new to me.

 

[smokeinthecold]

Oh and beer?  I am a beer snob from way back...I have a full sized fridge devoted to world beers...I have beer from Tazmania to Ethopia and Lebanon to Ecuador....some awesome US and Canadian microbrews too. Do I qualify? lol.

 

[beer-b-q]

Congratulations on your success...  By the way the addiction only gets worse...

 

[thebarbequeen]

well, glad there's no beer worries!! Make sure you include a pic of what you choose to drink in your q-views!   What temp. are you holding?  I keep it @ 225 for ribs.  I personally do not find it necessary to spray while smoking, but lots of folks do it. You might check around the forum for traeger-specific posts to see what works best.

One big advantage of using a pan instead of wrapping in foil, is that you can't rip a hole in the bottom accidentally. It's also easier to handle than wrapped ribs.  The sauce is strictly a personal choice, some like it on the side, some like to pre-sauce and get it all nice and stuck on and warm.  I've done both, just depends on what I'm cooking and who I'm feeding.