My first smoke (ever) in a word; difficult

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Original poster
Jul 2, 2019
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Smoked my first piece of meat ever last week for the wife's birthday and got my ass handed to me.
Spent countless hours studying here, the net and YouTube. Made my own rub from a recipe I found here and tried smoking 2 racks of ribs on my new Weber kettle, using the snake method and 3-2-1.

I struggled most of the smoke to get my temps up into the 225-275 zone with all my vents wide open. Used the igrill ambient probe on the grate to measure temps. Most of the smoke was spent below 225. 6 hours into the smoke the meat still hadn’t pulled back from the bones, so I gave up and just ate them. It was 630pm and the birthday girl was getting pissed off that dinner wasn’t ready yet and the kids had to get to bed within the hour. Ribs were a little tough, but tasted ok. The beans I smoked in the drip pan were awesome.

Spoke to my brother in law, a seasoned smoker, who thinks I screwed up the snake. Not enough contact between briquettes, so not enough heat.

Going to give it another try tomorrow or Friday, depending on the rain in the forecast.

Any and all advice is welcomed, as this was a humbling experience.
 

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next party I would do them a day or two ahead of time and then just heat them in the oven or on the grill, as you found out it's very hard to plan a exact time when things will get done. anyway I think smoked meats taste better when they sit a day or two and it could save another as you put it another ass chewing, but don't feel bad i'm sure we all had a couple of those. just another warning try not to out do her cooking at parties believe me you will here about that to!!!
 
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Not enough coals. Get the little Weber coal baskets and put them both on one side of the grill and put your ribs on the rack on the other side. Use chunks of wood in the coals and use a temp probe at grate level to monitor the temp. The thermometer on the lid is notoriously innaccurate. set your bottom vent about one third open to start and the top vent one third open to start. Put the top vent over the ribs so the smoke rolls over the ribs. You should hav done ribs in about 5 or 6 hrs. Good luck
 
I would echo kruizer. I smoke on a 22 Weber Kettle fairly frequently. Instead of using a snake method with your coals, I would pile them all up on one side, and put your meat and vent on the other, then just use your vent to control your temperature where you want it. You will need to monitor your coals occasionally and add fuel as they burn down.
 
Above plus...Try smaller chunks of wood. Those LOGS you are using could have impacted the coals lighting and the amount of heat generated. They virtually Cover the briquettes completely...JJ
 
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As someone mentioned, you could use one of these to help keep coals to the side


I didn't really think your chunks were too big, I'm just curious on why you tried the snake method. It doesn't seem necessary to me. To me that is for a long cook and I'm not sure how that works in a weber especially with indirect heat.

I have a 22 inch weber and filled one of those charcoal holders above and had no issue holding 250-300 degrees. My guess is you simply didn't have enough coals going.

Don't worry, my first rack of ribs I smoked on a friends smoker came out like jerky. I kept waiting for the meat to shrink up on the bone and they never really did. Turned out just about inedible. It happens. It's all part of the adventures of smoking =)
 
Pull back is not a good indicator of Doneness. Look for Probe Tender, about an IT of 195, or a good Tug on a bone and it slips out...JJ
 
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Not enough coals. Get the little Weber coal baskets and put them both on one side of the grill and put your ribs on the rack on the other side. Use chunks of wood in the coals and use a temp probe at grate level to monitor the temp. The thermometer on the lid is notoriously innaccurate. set your bottom vent about one third open to start and the top vent one third open to start. Put the top vent over the ribs so the smoke rolls over the ribs. You should hav done ribs in about 5 or 6 hrs. Good luck
^^^^^^^^^^ What kruizer said... I smoke on my Weber kettle all the time... The baskets work great, but even if you don't have them, just piling up on one side will work. No need for the snake method.
 
I’d suggest doing a pork butt or two for pulled pork as a learning tool. They are very forgiving and will allow you to master the temperature management.
 
Yup, I agree with the above suggestions. Use charcoal baskets. Here's a shot of two ribs on my 22" with the baskets.

One St. Louis, one baby back.
dsc01058-jpg.402214
 
next party I would do them a day or two ahead of time and then just heat them in the oven or on the grill, as you found out it's very hard to plan a exact time when things will get done. anyway I think smoked meats taste better when they sit a day or two and it could save another as you put it another ass chewing, but don't feel bad i'm sure we all had a couple of those. just another warning try not to out do her cooking at parties believe me you will here about that to!!!
great idea!
heating them back up later doesn't dry them out?
 
Not enough coals. Get the little Weber coal baskets and put them both on one side of the grill and put your ribs on the rack on the other side. Use chunks of wood in the coals and use a temp probe at grate level to monitor the temp. The thermometer on the lid is notoriously innaccurate. set your bottom vent about one third open to start and the top vent one third open to start. Put the top vent over the ribs so the smoke rolls over the ribs. You should hav done ribs in about 5 or 6 hrs. Good luck
I was going to grab those baskets but my bro in law talked me out of them.
He swears by the snake method, but I'm thinking about picking up the baskets.
The weber baskets are $17 on Amazon, then there's the slow and sear for $100. Is the slow and sear that much better than the weber baskets? They look very similar.
 
Above plus...Try smaller chunks of wood. Those LOGS you are using could have impacted the coals lighting and the amount of heat generated. They virtually Cover the briquettes completely...JJ
Thanks for the tip!
They were given to me by a friend before I bought a bag of weber hickory.
 
I’d suggest doing a pork butt or two for pulled pork as a learning tool. They are very forgiving and will allow you to master the temperature management.[/QUOTE
I’d suggest doing a pork butt or two for pulled pork as a learning tool. They are very forgiving and will allow you to master the temperature management.
I can't wait to try some pulled pork!
It's what got me interested in smoking :)
 
Yup, I agree with the above suggestions. Use charcoal baskets. Here's a shot of two ribs on my 22" with the baskets.

One St. Louis, one baby back.
dsc01058-jpg.402214
Dayum, they're sexy.
Do you usually use two baskets?
I've seen a lot of guys using one basket for slow and low.
 
Another tip... Don't overlite you charcoal in the chimney ... meaning... If you let them keep going until they are fully ashed over... It's going to be way to hot when you dump them in the kettle... It's so much easier to bring temps up than it is to try and bring temps down... so start out with just a half chimney full and then only lite until just half way lit ... let temps come UP in the kettle... you can throttle it down as temps get to where you want them ...
 
great idea!
heating them back up later doesn't dry them out?
no, I do it all the time I put them in a tinfoil pan, add a little liquid like water, apple juice or what ever you want, add your bbq. sauce if you use it, cover it with tinfoil and put in oven on 275-300, it usually takes about 45-60 minutes to get them hot.
 
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