Sunday I decided to try some baby backs and threw on some beef ribs just to experiment. The weather here in Portland was terrible, I have a covered patio but the wind drove the rain sideways so I had to really work to keep everything dry. I’m using a Horizon 16” offset which provides a great smoke ring and flavor but the conditions really made airflow/temperature adjustment tricky.
I went with a 2-2-1 method and used cherry wood at the start, and nectarine wood at the end…not that my palette can tell the difference but it’s cool to say “I finished this with nectarine wood!” The racks I got were very long so I cut them in half. I doubt this is allowed by the purists but my thinking was that I could more easily shift them around for even smoking, and it did make the foiling process go smooth.
If I learned one thing, it’s that we prefer the spares over baby backs, and I’m reading that from a lot of you in the forum. There’s just more flavor and tenderness it seems. BTW any tips on how to reheat the (noticeably small amount) of leftovers? I don’t have a microwave so I was thinking of just warming them in the oven broiler.
My QView wasn’t great this time around, we had company over to enjoy the bounty and my photographer was busy being a good host, but here’s a quick peek.
Two very large racks, halved for convenience.
Rubbed and ready to go
After I took the foil off. Smoke really blowing every which way.
5 hours later...
This is actually one of the beef ribs...they came out pretty good!
Thanks for stopping in!
I went with a 2-2-1 method and used cherry wood at the start, and nectarine wood at the end…not that my palette can tell the difference but it’s cool to say “I finished this with nectarine wood!” The racks I got were very long so I cut them in half. I doubt this is allowed by the purists but my thinking was that I could more easily shift them around for even smoking, and it did make the foiling process go smooth.
If I learned one thing, it’s that we prefer the spares over baby backs, and I’m reading that from a lot of you in the forum. There’s just more flavor and tenderness it seems. BTW any tips on how to reheat the (noticeably small amount) of leftovers? I don’t have a microwave so I was thinking of just warming them in the oven broiler.
My QView wasn’t great this time around, we had company over to enjoy the bounty and my photographer was busy being a good host, but here’s a quick peek.
Two very large racks, halved for convenience.
Rubbed and ready to go
After I took the foil off. Smoke really blowing every which way.
5 hours later...
This is actually one of the beef ribs...they came out pretty good!
Thanks for stopping in!
