First time smoking ribs... disapointed.

[dukesbb37]

OK so I ordered a GOSM but it wasn't going to make it by the weekend, and i saw some great reviews of the Lowes Master Forge 2 door charcoal/propane smoker.

Also got a maverick et-73 in order to know the true temperature because i dont trust the dials on the door.

Anyways, the ribs ended up being wildly mediocre, and to be honest, I was expecting better. Some of the racks came out pretty good, while a few came out incredibly tough. Like tough enough that you had to saw at them with a knife. So now starts my quest to figure out why...

SO.... heres my list of things that might have gone wrong. I did a 3-2-1 with a rub with a highly reccomended rub i found on this site FYI

1) I used a paper towel to tear as much of the connective tissue off the bottom of the ribs as I could, however i was in a rush to get them in the smoker in order to eat on time, and i started tearing meat off with the tissue so I didn't get it all.

2) the smoker was losing smoke from the doors... not a ton, there was still far more smoke coming out the chimney... but losing smoke nonetheless. I will be adding a gasket of some sort before the next job.

3) I didn't really measure out any weight for my wood chunks (mesquite) i just filled the whole box and when it got low i threw some more on. I dont know how this would have made the meat tough but worth mentioning.

4) During the first 3 hours... i had the gas knob on the lowest setting and it held 225 perfectly... Took them out and wrapped them in foil with apple juice in the bottom and put them back in. For the rest of the smoke... I had to keep the knob on the HIGHEST setting just to keep the BOTTOM rack at 225???  Also at this point i put another probe on the top rack just because i was curious and i found the top rack was running about 30 degrees colder.

5) despite running 30 degrees colder for 2 hours, I added more wood and the temp between the bottom and top rack ended up being almost the same temp... ?

6) After not touching the door for the first 3 hours i found out that the water pan was completely dry

8) i didn't want the probes touching the hot grates so i stuck them in an apple, and i just ran the wires out the door. Is either of these a bad idea?

Thanks for all the help guys... If anyone thinks one of those of notes above would make tough ribs let me know, however im baffled... the temp never got above about 235 and they were in there for 6 hours

 

[bama bbq]

I think the first rule of BBQ is "it's done when it's done".  A certain time at a certain temp is a good start point to check for doneness but if it's not done at that certain time it's not done.  Each piece of meat is different.  There are many ways to ck doneness: the bend test is a good start and incerting a toothpick or other skewer is another good one.  The meat should have pulled back about 1/4 to 1/2 inch showing bones.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Were all the Racks a similar Size, Weight and Thickness? Thicker meatier Racks, from older pigs, will have more connective tissue and may take a little longer. You also mentioned you checked the upper shelf temp after the first 3 hours. There may have been a difference far longer than you thought. With a full verticle smoker the meat on lower shelves can block heat getting to the upper levels. It may be a good idea to rotate bottom to top periodically, say every hour...Hang in there, new smokers take some time to figure out...JJ

 

[sqwib]

OK so I ordered a GOSM but it wasn't going to make it by the weekend, and i saw some great reviews of the Lowes Master Forge 2 door charcoal/propane smoker.

Also got a maverick et-73 in order to know the true temperature because i dont trust the dials on the door.

Anyways, the ribs ended up being wildly mediocre, and to be honest, I was expecting better. Some of the racks came out pretty good, while a few came out incredibly tough. Like tough enough that you had to saw at them with a knife. So now starts my quest to figure out why...

SO.... heres my list of things that might have gone wrong. I did a 3-2-1 with a rub with a highly reccomended rub i found on this site FYI  OK so far

1) I used a paper towel to tear as much of the connective tissue off the bottom of the ribs as I could, however i was in a rush to get them in the smoker in order to eat on time, and i started tearing meat off with the tissue so I didn't get it all. OK so far

2) the smoker was losing smoke from the doors... not a ton, there was still far more smoke coming out the chimney... but losing smoke nonetheless. I will be adding a gasket of some sort before the next job. How much smoke were you producing?

3) I didn't really measure out any weight for my wood chunks (mesquite) i just filled the whole box and when it got low i threw some more on. I dont know how this would have made the meat tough but worth mentioning. Would not make tough but could over smoke.

4) During the first 3 hours... i had the gas knob on the lowest setting and it held 225 perfectly... Took them out and wrapped them in foil with apple juice in the bottom and put them back in. For the rest of the smoke... the 2 should be foiled, followed by a one no foil for a 3-2-1 I had to keep the knob on the HIGHEST setting just to keep the BOTTOM rack at 225??? Sounds awfully low for a high setting. Also at this point i put another probe on the top rack just because i was curious and i found the top rack was running about 30 degrees colder. Sounds normal for vertical water smokers and will fluctuate with the positioning of food.

5) despite running 30 degrees colder for 2 hours, I added more wood and the temp between the bottom and top rack ended up being almost the same temp... ? The ribs that were tough, did they happen to be on the cooler racks, you may want to move the ribs around next time or get a rib rack and try cooking all the ribs on one grate level.

6) After not touching the door for the first 3 hours i found out that the water pan was completely dry They do evaporate and need to be filled periodically.

8) i didn't want the probes touching the hot grates so i stuck them in an apple, and i just ran the wires out the door. Is either of these a bad idea? The probe must stick out past the apple or you are reading the cooking temperature of the apple, the apple or potato  is used to hold the probe, the sensor on the probe is about 1" in on most probes and must stick out. I run my wires through the top vent and not the door.

Thanks for all the help guys... If anyone thinks one of those of notes above would make tough ribs let me know, however im baffled... the temp never got above about 235 and they were in there for 6 hours The problem may be that they were undercooked not over cooked.

Chef Jimmy made some valid points.