- Mar 28, 2016
- 18
- 19
Every post of mine thus far has been a Q&A on how to screw up less. Well, thanks to a lot of your advice i have two successes to share.
Success #1: Baby Back Ribs
Loosely followed the 2-2-1 method with cherry and maple woods.
1) Salted and rubbed with Meathead's Memphis Dust 3 hours before cook time.
2) Smoked for two hours at 225
3) Prepare foil with about 1-2 tablespoons of butter per half rack and about a tablespoon of rub and then i put the ribs top down into the spice, a splash of water on the bones and then back in the smoker for 2 more hours.
4) Drain foiling liquid and put the ribs back on the smoker for another 30 minutes until IT is 190.
5) meanwhile, i prepared a mixture 50/50 of the reserved foiling liquid and sweet baby rays original. I boiled the foiling liquid just to kill off any bacteria.
6) the last 15 minutes of the cook i basted on some of the bbq sauce mixture onto the top of the ribs and let that cook on for about 15 minutes.
7) Preheated my weber gas grill to 800 degrees and put the ribs on about 3 minutes each side leaving the lid open. Sealed up some of the bbq sauce sugars.
Success #2: Pulled Pork
If you haven't noticed by now, the internet is full of misinformation by people who either have very little experience in what they're doing or dont know what good food tastes like. When i started smoking, i had read so much information about how pork should take between 1 and 1.5 hours per pound. The first time i smoked one, i only gave myself about 8 hours for two 8lb pork shoulders; obviously not enough. The second time, i gave myself about 12 hours; better but still not enough. After some advice, i gave myself a full 2 hours per pound plus extra time for a holding period and time to pull. The results were exponentially better than anything i had done thus far.
Thursday night: Trimmed two 8lb shoulders of their skin cap leaving a thin layer about 1/4 inch. rubbed with kosher salt and a mixture of Memphis dust and Domino granulated honey (sweet layer). Wrapped in plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
Friday night: Prepared the smoker for 260 (the temperature of the cold meat significantly cools off my smoker, which i've learned quickly. Getting the smoker steady at 225 will result in a 190 degree grill temperature once the foods in there.) Unwrapped the shoulders and put a nice coating of "Rudy's Rub" i got from a friend who lives in Texas (heat layer). Put in the smoker and smoked for 6 hours spritzed on the hour with a mixture of apple juice and water. Preheated the inside oven for 225. Put each shoulder in their individual foil pan with about 1/2 cup apple juice and secured the top tightly with foil. Put in the oven and went to bed! (this is one of those times where the Maverick wireless thermometer is a serious godsend.)
Saturday: Woke up at 7am (Kids, amiright?) and IT was at 194, by 10 the IT rose to 202 and i turned off the oven and left the pork in the oven to rest. Meanwhile i prepared by faux cambro cooler with towels for the transport to a party. At 11, i pulled it and it was glorious. Bone pull was clean, good smoke ring and the bark was softened obviously but still had a ton of flavor that i mixed around pretty good. This is just one of the two pans. I had to pour off about 3 cups worth of pan juices from each pan that i added 1/2 back later.
Served it with cole slaw, sweet baby rays, and Chef Jimmy's vinegar finishing sauce that i got from another post on here.
Thanks for reading and thanks for everyones help that made this all possible!
Mark
Success #1: Baby Back Ribs
Loosely followed the 2-2-1 method with cherry and maple woods.
1) Salted and rubbed with Meathead's Memphis Dust 3 hours before cook time.
2) Smoked for two hours at 225
3) Prepare foil with about 1-2 tablespoons of butter per half rack and about a tablespoon of rub and then i put the ribs top down into the spice, a splash of water on the bones and then back in the smoker for 2 more hours.
4) Drain foiling liquid and put the ribs back on the smoker for another 30 minutes until IT is 190.
5) meanwhile, i prepared a mixture 50/50 of the reserved foiling liquid and sweet baby rays original. I boiled the foiling liquid just to kill off any bacteria.
6) the last 15 minutes of the cook i basted on some of the bbq sauce mixture onto the top of the ribs and let that cook on for about 15 minutes.
7) Preheated my weber gas grill to 800 degrees and put the ribs on about 3 minutes each side leaving the lid open. Sealed up some of the bbq sauce sugars.
Success #2: Pulled Pork
If you haven't noticed by now, the internet is full of misinformation by people who either have very little experience in what they're doing or dont know what good food tastes like. When i started smoking, i had read so much information about how pork should take between 1 and 1.5 hours per pound. The first time i smoked one, i only gave myself about 8 hours for two 8lb pork shoulders; obviously not enough. The second time, i gave myself about 12 hours; better but still not enough. After some advice, i gave myself a full 2 hours per pound plus extra time for a holding period and time to pull. The results were exponentially better than anything i had done thus far.
Thursday night: Trimmed two 8lb shoulders of their skin cap leaving a thin layer about 1/4 inch. rubbed with kosher salt and a mixture of Memphis dust and Domino granulated honey (sweet layer). Wrapped in plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
Friday night: Prepared the smoker for 260 (the temperature of the cold meat significantly cools off my smoker, which i've learned quickly. Getting the smoker steady at 225 will result in a 190 degree grill temperature once the foods in there.) Unwrapped the shoulders and put a nice coating of "Rudy's Rub" i got from a friend who lives in Texas (heat layer). Put in the smoker and smoked for 6 hours spritzed on the hour with a mixture of apple juice and water. Preheated the inside oven for 225. Put each shoulder in their individual foil pan with about 1/2 cup apple juice and secured the top tightly with foil. Put in the oven and went to bed! (this is one of those times where the Maverick wireless thermometer is a serious godsend.)
Saturday: Woke up at 7am (Kids, amiright?) and IT was at 194, by 10 the IT rose to 202 and i turned off the oven and left the pork in the oven to rest. Meanwhile i prepared by faux cambro cooler with towels for the transport to a party. At 11, i pulled it and it was glorious. Bone pull was clean, good smoke ring and the bark was softened obviously but still had a ton of flavor that i mixed around pretty good. This is just one of the two pans. I had to pour off about 3 cups worth of pan juices from each pan that i added 1/2 back later.
Served it with cole slaw, sweet baby rays, and Chef Jimmy's vinegar finishing sauce that i got from another post on here.
Thanks for reading and thanks for everyones help that made this all possible!
Mark
