Newbie smoker on the Florida Treasure Coast

[16again]

Wife an I decided to buy a smoker. Kinda how we landed on this site. Soooo many choices! We decided to start with an electric smoker to get our feet wet.
Picked up a MASTERBUILT electronic unit at Lowe’s.
We assembled it and seasoned it yesterday. Going to attempt our first smoking around 1:00 eastern time.
Gonna do a rack of Pork and rack of Beef.

 

[MCQSmoker]

Good luck with the cook, hope you have fun with the new smoker!

 

[Hamdrew]

I'm a fan of a pork rack. Beef has me real eager to see!!

 

[Brokenhandle]

Welcome from Iowa! Hope it turns out good for ya! Make sure to post up some pics

Ryan

 

[Wurstmeister]

Welcome from SC. Don't forget to post how you made out with it and like Brokenhandle said, add pictures. If you have any issues, post them. These folks will gladly help.

 

[TNJAKE]

Welcome from Tennessee

 

[sawhorseray]

Welcome from Gilbert, AZ! RAY

 

[ChrisLane]

Welcome from PA!

 

[kruizer]

Welcome to SMF from Minnesota.

 

[16again]

Well I hope we get better at this.
Cooked for 3 hrs at 225* I ordered the temp probe this morning, will be here tomorrow. Everything looked and went fine, until we cut into them. WELL DONE!
The homemade rub was good, apple chips smoke was good as well. Timed cooking failed us today. We’ll figure it out and it was a great couples time cooking outside together.

 

[pineywoods]

Well done or underdone?????
I see no pull back at all on them

If overdone then the temperature gauge on the smoker is way off

 

[16again]

Over done.

 

[16again]

Cleaned everything up. Meat probe arrived this afternoon. We will make attempt number two later this week. Rack of pork ribs, measuring the internal meat temp. We are sure that we will get a much better result.
Suggestions on the Flavor of wood chips for the pork with our own dry rub?

 

[912smoker]

Well done or underdone?????
I see no pull back at all on them

If overdone then the temperature gauge on the smoker is way off

Agreed. They should not be overdone at 225* for 3 hrs. But you"ll get it and a meat therm will make it ALOT easier to measure and determine you cooks. I like apple or pecan for pork. Most of these folks have a lot more experience than I do and are willing to help guide you in the right direction.
And welcome from SE Ga

 

[pineywoods]

If the ribs were overdone in 3 hours then there is no way the smoker was running at 225 degrees. We all smoke baby back as well as regular spare ribs for longer than 3 hours more like 4.5-6 hours depending on type

 

[16again]

The unit is digital, can only tell you what it told me. That sure doesn’t mean it’s right.

 

[16again]

If the ribs were overdone in 3 hours then there is no way the smoker was running at 225 degrees. We all smoke baby back as well as regular spare ribs for longer than 3 hours more like 4.5-6 hours depending on type

Perhaps the electronic temperature is wrong. I’ll shoot the temperature with a heat gun, then I’ll adjust the temperature based on that. Meat probe arrived yesterday. The next rack of pork ribs we will cook to internal temperature.

 

[pineywoods]

Ribs are one of the very few things most of us smoke by time and not internal temp some people try to place a probe in the ribs without being to close to the bone or the outside of the meat some do it quite well some not so much.
Some do 3-2-1 method for regular spare ribs or they play with the numbers to suit their tastes.
Some do 2-2-1 for baby back ribs or they play with the numbers to suit their tastes.
The 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 are figured on a smoker temp of 225.
The first number is hours the ribs are in the smoker on the rack.
The second number is the time the ribs are in tightly sealed foil with a little juice of some type added before sealing.
The last number is the amount of time the ribs are put back in the smoker on the rack after being removed from the foil.
Using 3-2-1 or 2-2-1 depending on type of ribs will give you fall off the bone tender ribs. You will find different people use different times and they can vary quite a bit. Some people don't wrap at all.
If you wish to baste with bbq sauce I suggest doing it the last half hour as most sauces contain quite a bit of sugar which burns pretty easily. Most of the time I just serve sauce on the side and warm it if I have the time and think about it.
Have fun and good luck with your smoke

 

[16again]

We have 2 racks of St Louis ribs to smoke. Thanks for taking the time to explain things to me, much appreciated.

 

[16again]

Meat probe arrived. Also have my heat gun. We will make another go of this Thursday or Friday. Will bring the unit up to temperature and check to see if the unit is true or off, will adjust accordingly AND cook to internal temperature NOT time.
Cleaning everything the 1st time was a learning experience. Water tray and drip pan now are wrapped in foil.