New guy with a few questions

[jake0531]

Hello, new to the forum. I've only been smoking for about 6ish months now. I love to grill and I got a chargriller barrel grill for my anniversary in may and I bought the side firebox and have done 3 slabs of ribs and a few chicken legs but nothing too major. I'm interested in learning more and smoking more and mostly interested in starting to smoke fully with wood. So far i've been using charcoal and adding wood chunks here and there. My neighbor moved on to a pellet smoker and had about 3 wheel barrow loads of pecan logs he gave to me. I finally got around to splitting them and I got a quarter of a cow a few weeks ago and have about 30lbs of beef short ribs that I would love to smoke with pecan so i'm planning on doing some this weekend and have a few questions that i'd like getting some advice on. Any pointers and or tips and advice is welcome!

1. Should I start the fire with charcoal then add the logs or just solely run logs

2. Whats a good temperature to smoke beef short ribs at? I'm doing about 6ish pounds of the short ribs that are about 2-3 inches at the thickest portion 

3. Pointers and tips for maintaining the temperature? I sometimes have added a pan of water and it has seemed to help

4. Flavor. What should I season them with? I have read about 24 hours salt them over and then right before i put them on to generously add a rub of my choice. Just looking for some pointers on the flavor and what you guys have used before. 

That's all i can think of at the moment. I'm sure more questions will arise as this discussion goes on

 

[SmokinAl]

 
Hello, new to the forum. I've only been smoking for about 6ish months now. I love to grill and I got a chargriller barrel grill for my anniversary in may and I bought the side firebox and have done 3 slabs of ribs and a few chicken legs but nothing too major. I'm interested in learning more and smoking more and mostly interested in starting to smoke fully with wood. So far i've been using charcoal and adding wood chunks here and there. My neighbor moved on to a pellet smoker and had about 3 wheel barrow loads of pecan logs he gave to me. I finally got around to splitting them and I got a quarter of a cow a few weeks ago and have about 30lbs of beef short ribs that I would love to smoke with pecan so i'm planning on doing some this weekend and have a few questions that i'd like getting some advice on. Any pointers and or tips and advice is welcome!

1. Should I start the fire with charcoal then add the logs or just solely run logs  I usually start the fire with charcoal to get a nice coal bed, then switch to wood splits.

2. Whats a good temperature to smoke beef short ribs at? 225  I'm doing about 6ish pounds of the short ribs that are about 2-3 inches at the thickest portion 

3. Pointers and tips for maintaining the temperature? I sometimes have added a pan of water and it has seemed to help. Start your fire & leave the dampers open, when the temp gets to 225, start shutting down the dampers & see where the smoker settles in at. Don't keep adjusting the dampers, just let the smoker find it's own temp. When it settles in, then open or close the dampers a little as needed. You will probably need to add a split every 45 minutes or so to maintain the temp & coal bed. Most important, don't loose your coal bed, or you will have to start all over.

4. Flavor. What should I season them with? I like to use Montreal steak seasoning on beef ribs. I have read about 24 hours salt them over and then right before i put them on to generously add a rub of my choice. Just looking for some pointers on the flavor and what you guys have used before. 

That's all i can think of at the moment. I'm sure more questions will arise as this discussion goes on

Good luck & welcome to SMF!

Al