Rain, Wind, and Ribs: Baby Backs with QView

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ravanelli

Fire Starter
Original poster
Mar 3, 2011
70
16
Portland, Or
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.

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Rubbed and ready to go

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After I took the foil off.  Smoke really blowing every which way.

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5 hours later...

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This is actually one of the beef ribs...they came out pretty good!

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Thanks for stopping in!
 
Rava, Spares and Beef ribs looks mighty tastee, If I had my pick, I'd take the beef rib for dinner tonight. 1 Question, why not lay the ribs with the smoker longways?

Nice job!!!
 
Good question RibKing.  Originally I was going to use my rib rack and have them all standing up length wise, but I chickened out and laid them flat, which means 4 racks wouldn't quite fit.  So I had 3 racks longwise, then one rack top to bottom and the beefies top to bottom closest to the firebox on the right.  I rotated them all each hour to hopefully even things out.  There definitely was some inconsistency amongst the four racks, but all things considered I'm happy.         
 
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Now thoses are some fine looking ribs there
 
Little late getting here....nice looking chow and some meaty beef ribs. Hear ya on the wind and rain. I'm down here in Albany, Or. and gave up on a smoke last week due to just terrible conditions.....threw the marinated chicken in the oven for dinner. Congrats on making the banner...
 
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Yep, up here in the PNW, if you don't smoke in the rain you won't smoke much!  That looks perfect!  
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   I was grilling steaks in last Sat. night downpour, rigged thg umbrella on the gutter and wore the bike helmet with the light on to see what I was doing.  Cheers!
 
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