Smoking for the River Day 2 - 4 racks of ribs

[petehalsted]

I put the other 2 racks of St. Louis Style and 2 racks of Baby Backs in the MES 30 yesterday. To go with the 2 racks and Pork Belly burnt ends from Tuesday, all to be vacuum sealed to take the the river for a family camping trip this weekend.

I am really liking foiling in a pan versus wrapping in foil. But cleaner, easier, I can do the prep ahead of time, no burnt fingers wrapping, not burnt feet pulling them out of the smoker (yeah I shouldn't wear flops smoking!). I am getting a lot more of a steaming effect as well. I know not something everyone wants but the crew I am feeding think fall off the bone is the "bomb". Well this batch is pretty much Pulled pork on a stick!

Wife is really loving the Cherry Dr. Pepper and Honey, glaze, you can't make BBQ to sweet for her!

I really got to figure out how to make up with the BBQ gods, after the popup thunderstorm right when it was time to foil Tuesday, Yesterdays cook, I decided that the DP/Honey glaze would be cleaner and easier to apply via spritz than brush. I got 3 squirts out of my spritzer bottle before it quit. Not clogged up just seems the diaphragm must have gotten a hole in it, you can see it come about 1/2 way up the straw, but won't come further than that. So had to go back to brushing on. What do those of you that spritz use for a spritz bottle?

Anyway process was
Smoker @225
Ribs Spritzed with Pineapple to wet them and rub applied. I am playing with not using oil or mustard binder and liking it so far.
In the smoker for 3 hours (bones down)
Foil Pan has Brown Sugar, Honey, Rub, Butter
Ribs go in Pan meat down, 1/4 cup pineapple on top of bones.
In smoker 1:45
Out of the pan, little rub on top. Spritz with Dr. Pepper/Honey glaze (if only spritzer would work!)
In the smoker
15 minutes, spritz again
Bump smoker to 250
25 minutes pull ribs
So total of 40 minutes for last stage.

These are absolute fall of the bone (what the family wants), I am calling them Pulled pork on a stick. The flavor profile is over the top complex. FYI my rub is a Sweet Savory Memphis style, combined with sweetness of the pineapple, and then the Dr Pepper/Honey Glaze, your brain can't lock on to one flavor before the next one hits you. They are also very tender and moist, the one pic looks a bit dry but trust me they aren't.

To get them a bit closer to ribs with some bite, I think taking 15 minutes off stage 1 and 15 minutes off stage 2 (maybe even 20-25 minutes), would get them there. If I were running a wood burner, I would prob do them without foil, spritz with pineapple for first 3-4 hours, and switch to spritzing with the DP glaze for the last couple of hours. But I just haven't been happy with "naked" ribs from my MES and the temp hits from all the spritzing would be an issue.

I didn't take pics, but I strained the pan juice and defatted it in the fridge. I am putting a rack in a vacuum bag, with 1/4 cup of pan juice, letting setup in the freezer for a bit then sealing. At the river we will reheat as "boiler bags" in simmering water, and that extra 1/4 cup of juice should really put them over the top and help keep them moist. I am saving the rest of the pan juice to go into the baked beans at the river.

One more smoke today and I am ready to head to the river. Got a pack of thick pork steaks to do, and doing another batch of Pork Belly burnt ends. For some reason there are only a few left from the batch I did Tuesday, seem every time I did was near them one or two more disappeared.

So finally on to the pics.

This is what I am talking about when it comes to being able to prep the foil ahead of time. I guess I could do the same with foil but I know me, I would make a heck of a mess doing them ahead of time on foil.


Ready to go in the foil. They are meat side up for their portrait, but went in meat side down.


Out of the foil.

Ready to head to the fridge and be vacuum sealed (this AM)

 

[oldsmokerdude]

They look great to me. Sounds like you've really thought through you process from prep to table. Nice. I've started panning as well as just wrapping in foil cuz the meat is too hot to handle, the foil rips and gets holes in it, and I generally make a mess of the surrounding area.

 

[SmokinAl]

You sound like a man with a plan.
It sure makes cooking something easier, when you think it out ahead of time.
And the ribs look pretty darn good to me!
Al

 

[petehalsted]

takes guys, every family member messaged me to ask if I was "bringing the smoker", I think what they meant was "are you feeding us smoked meat" LOL.

I didn't want to spend my time on the river messing with smoker, so 3 days of smoking, couple rolls of food saver bags, Camp Chef stove and big stock pot and we ready to roll.

Porksteaks and another batch of Pork Belly burnt ends just went in the smoker.

So that's 6 racks of ribs, 6 giant pork steaks, couple of pounds of pork belly burnt ends. Bunch of cans of bush's baked beans (again going to be lazy at the river, but the "pork syrup" I saved from the pans will take it up a notch for sure!)

Let's see am I forgetting anything. Oh yes cold adult beverages. Anything else, hmm wonder if we have a tent LOL. Maybe my camping priorities are a little out of whack ?