How long do you guys smoke your ribs????

[fire in the hole]

I have been smoking ribs for a few years now and normally have wood chunks smoking for nearly the whole time. My ribs would come out black from smoke. This last smoke last weekend I used wood for first 2-1/2 to 3 hrs of the 7hr cook. They were still quite dark colored.

Meat fell off the bone, so the ribs were done and they had a nice smoke ring. But I'm thinking I still have to much smoke flavor.

I used hard maple for my smoke.

So...........how much smoke do you pros get to your ribs????

 

[flash]

Good smoke on right, bad smoke on left. Remember if you smell wood burning, you are smoking. I do 3-2-1 ribs, so usually 6 hours, but have cut back to 5 1/2 hours at times. Usually cut back on the smoke during the last couple of hours.

 

[fire in the hole]

Now that's the ribs I'm after. My smoke ring wasn't that deep either. Look'n good.

What's the secrite to getting the whisp of smoke???? I'm now using a  22" weber grill and the smokenator.

 

[rbranstner]

I also do a 3-2-1 for spares or 2-2-1 for baby backs. Thin Blue smoke is the key. Your smoke generator might be your issue. Is it putting out the thick white smoke or are you getting thin blue?

 

[lugnutz]

I put in one or two chunks of hickory when I fire up the smoker, wait for the thin blue smoke, cook straight 6 hours spritzing with apple juice every hour and keep the temp about 230. Don't put anything sugary on your meat till the end of the smoke.

I

 

[Fife]

 

[rbranstner]

How much sugar is in your rub or sauce? More sugar will give you more black bark.

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds to me that your smoke generator is putting out way too much smoke. The smoke should be almost invisible, but you should be able to smell it. I suspect it looks like the photo on the left of Flashes post.

 

[lexoutlaw]

thats a good pic to show good and bad smoke there flash......perfect example.

 

[roller]

Mine used to look like the one on the left...

I do not use sugar on anything that I smoke.

 

[richoso1]

Good smoke on right, bad smoke on left. Remember if you smell wood burning, you are smoking. I do 3-2-1 ribs, so usually 6 hours, but have cut back to 5 1/2 hours at times. Usually cut back on the smoke during the last couple of hours.

Flash has posted a great graphic example, thanks Flash. I also smoke ribs that same way. It's all good my friend.
 

 

[fire in the hole]

Thanks for all the feed back.

I do use brown sugar in my rub and i suppose it is about 1/3 the total volume of the rub. I know sugar burns, but never thought about it burning at 220-240. I may just go without the sugar on my next batch of rub.

I use hickory, and maple mainly to make smoke, and this is layed right on top of my kingsford brickets. On occassion I will use red oak cause it seems to impart a mellow flavor. Plus my wood is all kiln dried scrap from my woodworking.

Isn't a smoke generator an extra device that pipes smoke to the smoker????? If it is, I don't know how to get smoke into my weber kettle.

Oh yes...........it was metioned to spritz with apple juice.............and I do. I don't let my ribs stay dry for to long before spritz'n.

 

[hexlobular]

I use brown sugar in my rub also, but I don't get any black on the ribs from it, except maybe just the tiniest bit on the ends (yummy).  Sometimes I cook them longer than 6 hours without foil, and like many here, spray them with apple juice every hour.  I usually use a mix of charcoal and a hickory/apple wood chunk blend.  I do better with a smaller, hotter fire to keep the thin blue smoke, even though it needs more tending to.  It has been my experience that the more fuel I try to smoke with, the more bad smoke I get.  I also have a harder time maintaining even temps when I use too much charcoal at once.

Thanks for all the feed back.

I do use brown sugar in my rub and i suppose it is about 1/3 the total volume of the rub. I know sugar burns, but never thought about it burning at 220-240. I may just go without the sugar on my next batch of rub.

I use hickory, and maple mainly to make smoke, and this is layed right on top of my kingsford brickets. On occassion I will use red oak cause it seems to impart a mellow flavor. Plus my wood is all kiln dried scrap from my woodworking.

Isn't a smoke generator an extra device that pipes smoke to the smoker????? If it is, I don't know how to get smoke into my weber kettle.

Oh yes...........it was metioned to spritz with apple juice.............and I do. I don't let my ribs stay dry for to long before spritz'n.

 

[ellymae]

Depends - if I'm cooking back ribs I look at 4ish hours. Spares gos somethere in the 6ish hours...

My rub does have sugar in it.

 

[fire in the hole]

Ok......hex and elly........how much sugar are you using???? If it's simular to mine.......then sugar is not my problem. It's got to be how I apply the smoke. The "thin blue" must be my dilema.

Elly, that looks like the smokenator rack and it also looks like the green egg your cooking with???

 

[hexlobular]

I'd say at least a quarter of my rub is brown sugar.  The rest is paprika and other goodies.
 

Ok......hex and elly........how much sugar are you using???? If it's simular to mine.......then sugar is not my problem. It's got to be how I apply the smoke. The "thin blue" must be my dilema.

Elly, that looks like the smokenator rack and it also looks like the green egg your cooking with???

 

[ellymae]

Off the top of my head I don't know how much sugar - I have been using some commercial rubs lately. And yes -- that is a Big Green Egg, but no smokinator - not sure what that is. I just have an extension rack over the first rack.

 

[fire in the hole]

Ok.............I guess I somehow have to work on my smoke.

Elle...........you can google the smokenator easier than I can explain it. It really is fantastic with the weber 22" kettle. I have done 3 racks at once...........plus a couple of rings of sausage, all at the same time.

 

[flash]

Ok......hex and elly........how much sugar are you using???? If it's simular to mine.......then sugar is not my problem. It's got to be how I apply the smoke. The "thin blue" must be my dilema.

Elly, that looks like the smokenator rack and it also looks like the green egg your cooking with???

Nah, the excess smoke is your issue. All my rubs have sugar and unless the heat is real high, you should not have an issue. Here is one of my wife favs and believe me, if sugar was the culprit, this rub would be the one that would show it. Surprisingly, it is not overly sweet at all.

MDM’s FINGER LICKIN’ RIB RUB

Dry Ingredients–Only

1/3 Cup granulated sugar
1/3 Cup brown sugar
3 tspn. Old Bay Seasoning (sh-h-h, secret ingredient of MDM)
6 Tbspns. Kosher Salt or Coarse Mediterranean Sea Salt
¼ tspn. of paprika
1 tspn. dry mustard powder

2 Tbspns. ground black pepper
1 Tbspn. garlic salt
1 Tbspn. dried onion
1Tbspn. dried basil

 

 

[lugnutz]

how long do you let your smoker go before you add your meat?  also what kind of thermometer are you using? you might be cooking too hot.  I start my lump and put my hickory right on top and let it burn a while to get the smoke down to a thin blue.  I usually let it get goin pretty hot then put the lid on which creates lots of smoke till things even out.

all things said..I'm thinking your therm might be a problem ( not knowing what you are using ).