Last Friday after work I stopped by the butcher shop to see about getting a pork shoulder. With the help of the great folks here, I had figured out what I had done wrong and I was confident that my next pork shoulder would be perfect.
As soon as I walked in the shop, my eyes immediately fell upon 6 big slabs of pork spare ribs. After glancing around the store briefly, I picked up the two smallest slabs I could find, and a bottle of "Sweet Heat" BBQ sauce that had been recommended to me. I was going to use the sweet heat on my pulled pork. I figured I'd try it on the ribs as well.
I don't know what everyone else gets, but these slabs were huge. Probably at least 14" wide and at least 24" long. Are they usually that big?
So I got them home and trimmed them down. I didn't do that the first time I did ribs, and they didn't seem to cook right. I don't think I trimmed them down far enough this time either, but they were still great.
After trimming and removing the membrane:
I rubbed them down and into the smoker they go:
From what I have read, they should be shrinking on the bone by the time you put them into foil. Mine didn't seem to want to shrink. So I just kept cooking and cooking them. After 6 hours, I lost patience and threw them into foil. I think I should maybe raise my temps up. I kept my temp from 200-220 degrees, most of the time it was around 205. My smoker has a lot of variance in temperature from the pit to the exhause, even with the baffle and exhaust extension.
The ribs go into the foil:
After two hours in the foil, I slathered them with BBQ sauce and put them back in.
Slathered:
Thirty minutes later, they were done!
These were so good, I had to call my father to come over and try them!
Thanks to all the great information here! Without this site, I don't think I could have figured out how to get such good results from my smoker.
I think I'm ready for a bigger model :D
As soon as I walked in the shop, my eyes immediately fell upon 6 big slabs of pork spare ribs. After glancing around the store briefly, I picked up the two smallest slabs I could find, and a bottle of "Sweet Heat" BBQ sauce that had been recommended to me. I was going to use the sweet heat on my pulled pork. I figured I'd try it on the ribs as well.
I don't know what everyone else gets, but these slabs were huge. Probably at least 14" wide and at least 24" long. Are they usually that big?
So I got them home and trimmed them down. I didn't do that the first time I did ribs, and they didn't seem to cook right. I don't think I trimmed them down far enough this time either, but they were still great.
After trimming and removing the membrane:

I rubbed them down and into the smoker they go:

From what I have read, they should be shrinking on the bone by the time you put them into foil. Mine didn't seem to want to shrink. So I just kept cooking and cooking them. After 6 hours, I lost patience and threw them into foil. I think I should maybe raise my temps up. I kept my temp from 200-220 degrees, most of the time it was around 205. My smoker has a lot of variance in temperature from the pit to the exhause, even with the baffle and exhaust extension.
The ribs go into the foil:

After two hours in the foil, I slathered them with BBQ sauce and put them back in.
Slathered:

Thirty minutes later, they were done!


These were so good, I had to call my father to come over and try them!
Thanks to all the great information here! Without this site, I don't think I could have figured out how to get such good results from my smoker.
I think I'm ready for a bigger model :D