first time smoking beef ribs and temp won't stay up. HELP!

[mnsmoker76]

This is the second time I've smoked so I'm new to this. I'm almost two hours into my smoke of beef ribs and I can't seem to keep the temp up where it needs to be. I'm running a Brinkmann pitmaster offset smoker, its a bit windy and right now, we're looking at an outside temp of 68. I have the snooker set up so the fire box is into the wind and with the damper fully opened, I'm looking at a temperature of 201. I've already added one chimney full of lump coal and am firing up a second one since I have to mop the ribs soon. I can't seem to get the temp above 210. The and damper are fully opened. Any help in the next couple hours would be great. I don't want to have to resort to the oven.

 

[mnsmoker76]

The charcoal I'm using is called Cowboy Brand hardwood lump charcoal.

 

[crod]

Only thing I can think is pour a full chimney of unlit charcoal in with your coals. Make sure all vents are open full. This will probably cause a drop at first in temp but should ramp up quickly. Do some research on the minion method of fire for next time it helps. Good luck

 

[frosty]

Only thing I can think is pour a full chimney of unlit charcoal in with your coals. Make sure all vents are open full. This will probably cause a drop at first in temp but should ramp up quickly. Do some research on the minion method of fire for next time it helps. Good luck

Make sure your vent isn't clogged also!  Minion method would help.

Good luck!

 

[mnsmoker76]

Checked the vent and it's not clogged. Tried the minion starting out but charcoal burned too quick. Now I'm stuck with a dying fire. I've added two more chimneys full of charcoal and it just won't go above 210. My question is, will the ribs be ok if they're cooked at 200 as opposed to 225? I'm assuming they'll take longer obviously, so the 3-2-1 method it's out of question. I just want these to turn out. If that means finishing them off in the oven, so be it.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Wish I would have seen this sooner...

With intakes open and into the wind with an open vent, you're only cause for low temp could be ash. You fire is choking. If the ash has no room to drop off of the charcoal, it will snuff the coals out. If temps are too low, don't EVER add unlit charcoal, or you're defeating the purpose. But do add smaller amounta of lit, or temps will run away, that is, if ash build-up isn't the cause.

You need an elevated charcoal grate and the means to remove the ashes mid-smoke if the ash accumulates too much.

I went through the same frustration with my Brinkmann Smoke n Pit 3-1/2 years ago.

Eric

 

[mnsmoker76]

Eric, thanks for the help. I'll move the smoker so the firebox isn't into the wind. The charcoal basket is elevated and when I look through the vent there is still room between it and the ash. I tried using a cheaper method for the basket but I guess it didn't work. I'll have to get some expanded steel and make a better basket.

Can you answer my previous question about the ribs? will cooking them at a lower temp make them like leather or will I be better off finishing them in the oven?

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Should be fine in a low-humidity smoke chamer, but you need to get temps up finish them.

 

[jarjarchef]

I am only throwing this out there. What are you using for the temp gage? Is it the stock one or is it an after market? The stock ones for the most part are crap.

I have an offset that had temp issues. I made changes to the charcole basket, added tuning plates and used foil to somewhat seal the lid. Made a huge difference.

If you don't get close to the 140 in less than 4hrs you may want to concider moving to the oven.

 

[mnsmoker76]

Evening jjchef. I'm using a digital probe stuck in a potato to measure the temp. I made all the mods you spoke of, just not permanent. Since I don't know the first thing about welding I was bidding my time getting a good charcoal basket and tuning plates. Right now I have an old cookie sheet with holes drilled in it for the plate and an oven liner cut to fit for the baffle. Looked good when it was done but obviously I need to upgrade my mods. Thanks for the input.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Ah, I didn't catch where you tried minion and it burned up fast...weird. Too much draft and the heat is just flying through the smoke chamber and out the vent, would be my guess. So, yeah, turn the intake away from the wind...break the wind if you can with a table on it's side or something, if possible...be careful about movement as the ash will go air-born and onto your meat, unless you have a full-length custom tuning plate like I had in mine...

I was on my blackberry with several short stops during driving for a bit so my last post was a bit hasty.

The reason I mentioned using low-humidity smoke chamber is that without the use of a water pan the meat will skin-over faster and seal-up so you don't loose interior moisture as quickly. A longer cooking time should be no problem in this case, being you have ribs and it's essentially intact whole muscle meat, the main concern regarding food safety is that the surface of the meat is heated up enough in a short enough time-frame to pasteurize the surface. Assuming there is salt in your dry rub, that helps to inhibit bacterial growth on the surface on well.

Anyway, pull-back and bend test for the slab, or pull-back only if single dino-bones will give good indications of doneness. You could foil and do the "O" if you've had them smoking for several hours, give 'em a couple hours to tender-up more, and then just fore-go the finish on open grate...less set-up of the bark is the only drawback with that. Basically a 5-2-0 or however long you've been in the smoker already. But do set the "O" @ 225-250* to finish them.

Good luck!

Eric

 

[jarjarchef]

I get you on the welding. If it was not for family my charcole basket would not have been made. Now I say that and somewhere on the forum is a great thread on a no weld charcole basket. I looked and could not find it again. I'll keep looking in the morning. It looked real good.nthey used expanded metal. For my tuning plates I cut them out of plate metal and used 2 flat bars along the side. I drilled holes in them and used the bolts for the legs to hold in place. When the sun comes up I'll try and take a couple pics for you.

Keep at it. I love my offset.

 

[mnsmoker76]

Eric,

I've never tried a water pan so I guess the chamber was low humidity.  I ended up with the ribs foiled in the oven and finished off there as well.  I took a couple pictures so I could get some feedback on the appearance.

2012-08-16 22.02.05.jpg

• mnsmoker76
• Aug 16, 2012

I assume these are pulled back enough?

2012-08-16 22.04.41.jpg

• mnsmoker76
• Aug 16, 2012

2012-08-16 22.08.17.jpg

• mnsmoker76
• Aug 16, 2012

Is this what I'm looking for or is this too much color?

JJchef,

Thanks for the help.  I thought I had all the kinks worked out.  Guess not.  I suppose that's what makes this so challenging and rewarding all at the same time.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Holy Smokes! Yeah BABY, those look BEAUTIFUL!!!

Good pull-back (indicates degree of meat shrinkage/doneness), last pic (clicked to enlarge) has excellent smoke reaction (smoke ring), and looks to have some decent moisture, as well. Too much color? Nope, that's a thing of absolute perfection right there!

That lower chamber temp you were battling is mostly responsible for that deep smoke ring. Beef gets a darker but shallower smoke ring than pork or poultry, but getting it that deep in beef requires nearly prime conditions. It does surprise me to see it that well developed even in a charcoal-fired smoker, especially without a water pan, but thinking back on a couple smokes where I had low-temp issues, the smoke ring was pretty awesome like what you got here. I play with lower starting temps sometimes just for kicking the smoke ring into overdrive sometimes, but I don't recommend anyone do it on purpose, due to possible food safety issues. The low-humidity smoke chamber in this was a rib-saver...had you been using a way to jack-up the humidity with added water evaporation in the smoke chamber, the ribs could have dried-out a lot over the longer cooking time, so keep that in mind. From what I see here, you had all the elements to keep things going in your favor, even though somewhat low chamber temps of ~200* were an issue.

Nicely done! Even when the chips seem to be down, the situation is seldom as bad as it seems...there's usually a way to come out of it smiling in the end.

Eric

 

[jarjarchef]

Those look great.
So for me when I taste something and wonder if it was too dry (btw yours don't look dry) is am I looking for something to drink right after. Some items you eat will make you want to drink do to many reasons like spice, flavor, natural dryness (pretzels) or even saltyness (chips & peanuts), that is usually why bars push that type of food. If you are concerned with moisture after eating the beutiful product you have presented us, maybe spritz a bit or use an aus jus under them and make a dipping sauce out of the aus jus (Chef JimmyJ has posted one that is good).

Keep on going you are on the right path.
I'll get you the pics later I am craving ribs :biggrin:!

 

[frosty]

Good job under tough circumstances! 

Foiling them and finishing them off in the oven obviously works fine.   I agree that spritzing might be a good idea and do that a lot. When I foil I always add a little mosture, (apple juice, beer, etc.).  They look great, and don't appear dry at all.

In reading the previous posts I realized that my side fire box is shielded from direct wind so I didn't catch the possibility that your heat was escaping too quickly.  I always start my smokes with a "brush burner" and it kinda pre-heats everything.

Keep on doing that great smoking! 

 

[jrod62]

They look good from here Thumbs Up

 

[cliffcarter]

Lose the cookie sheet, the oven liner and the Cowboy Lump. The first two are restricting the air flow inside the cooking chamber and keeping the temps too low. The Cowboy is notorious for being low quality, try to find a better quality lump charcoal in your area.

Do these things and repeat your cook and I bet you will have an easier time of it.

 

[mnsmoker76]

@ Cliffcarter, so instead of using the mods, just go with the grates and chimney stack extended down? Won't that cause uneven heating in the smoke chamber? Figured the Cowboy was pretty cheap after going through 20 pounds of the stuff for one 6.5 hour smoke. Won't be using that stuff again. Any recommendations on what to use that's available in the Midwest?

 

[crod]

Depends on where in the midwest. I'm in Missouri and we can get royal oak lump charcoal. Save-a-lot and walmart both carry it here. That's my favorite.