Rib redemption!

[Smkryng]

Been smoking with a MES for some time with awesome results but my wife recently bought me a Pit Boss Austin XL. I did two shoulders and a rack of ribs and they definitely were not up to snuff. The shoulders were okay but not as tender as usual and the ribs were the toughest I’ve ever made. I made a few minor adjustments to my technique and the next rack was awesome! Used Rendezvous dry rub and cooked at 225 no wrap on classic blend pellets and also ran a smoke tube. Probed tender at 197.

Sauced with equal parts Sweet Baby Ray’s, Stubbs original, and peach preserves. Definitely better than the last cook.

 

[mojo123]

Yum!! Looks delicious

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

Good looking ribs sir

 

[Smkryng]

Yum!! Looks delicious

Thanks! I’d definitely do it like this again

 

[Smkryng]

Good looking ribs sir

Much appreciated! The try before this was shameful

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Looks great, nice cook!

 

[TNJAKE]

Nice ribs. Love my Austin xl

 

[kruizer]

Good lookin ribs. I am having a hard time waiting to start my BBQ season.

 

[Buttah Butts]

I went thru the same thing when I switched from my GMG to my Rec Tec. Just had to learn the sweet spot on my new smoker.

 

[Blues1]

Looks really good! What do you think was the difference between this one and the first?...for us newbies

 

[Smkryng]

Looks great, nice cook!

Nice ribs. Love my Austin xl

Good lookin ribs. I am having a hard time waiting to start my BBQ season.

Thanks!

 

[Smkryng]

Looks really good! What do you think was the difference between this one and the first?...for us newbies

For one thing, there is what pit boss refers to a heat deflector around the burn pot. With that in place the right side of the pit was a lot hotter where I did the ribs. On my MES I cooked at 275, the Austin temp dial goes from 250 to 300 so I figured I was good to go. I bought an inkbird 6 probe thermometer and placed a probe grate level left, right, and center. Turns out when the pit boss controller reads 160 the grate temp is actually 200, and at 225 it averages about 260 so I suspect at the 300 setting I was probably cooking around 360 if you take into account the temp swings of the pit. Not knowing this before I got the thermometer, I ended up blasting the first rack of ribs with to much heat. Cooked them in about an hour instead of the 5 or 6 that I planned on. So I guess the difference for me was a good thermometer so I know exactly what’s happening grate level.

 

[Smkryng]

Looks really good! What do you think was the difference between this one and the first?...for us newbies

Oh and probably the most important, I cooked to a temp of 195 and then started probing for tenderness and then sauced when they were probe tender.

 

[Blues1]

Thanks for the info. Good stuff for us to be aware of...

 

[SmokinAl]

Those ribs look absolutely fantastic!
Very nicely done!
Al

 

[Smkryng]

Those ribs look absolutely fantastic!
Very nicely done!
Al

Thanks a lot! They were definitely the best I’ve done on the pit boss yet. I suspect all my cooks will improve since I bought a multi probe inkbird and can see what the actual grate temps are. I’ve learned so much abou my pit in my last two cooks that I may have never figured out without it.