Hey all. Happened upon this site while researching the best way to smoke some spare ribs. I bought a Brinkman Electric smoker as Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m a novice and my current residence does not allow charcoal. I like the little thing and want to master it. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m a grill guy and take pride in making good steaks, chicken, tenderloins, etc on the grill and I think I do a good job. I wanted to do something different this summer and wanted to take on the challenge of smoking. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve come to realize there are a lot of nuances involved but that makes it fun and challenging.
In the past Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve made some good spare ribs using my oven. I do a good rub, wrap the ribs in foil and place them in my oven at 285 deg for about 4 hours. From there I take them to my gas grill and place them on the top rack and I cook them for an additional 30-40 minutes at medium heat to brown and I add the sauce, etc. and they crisp up and are unreal!
So I thought if this tastes good then the smoker will be even better. I set up the smoker and I had 2 racks of spare ribs at about 5lbs each. Cut the racks in half and I was able to place 3 halves in a rib rack and the other half I put directly on the grill gate above the water pan. The spare ribs had a good rub on them and I also put a little coating of bbq sauce on too (not sure if that is a no-no?!). Heated up the electric smoker and place some Jack Daniels oak chips in the smoker. I had an oven thermometer inside the smoker that I checked occasionally and I was cooking near 240 deg. So got the ribs going and I had some smoke going, not a lot but I think enough. We plugged in an electric skillet on the same outlet to cook some fried zucchini and apparently we blew a fuse. I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t realize this and I think my smoker was off for a good 35 minutes. I checked the thermometer and I was down to 185 deg. Not good. So we got everything figured out and resumed smoking.
Now I put these ribs on at 1pm and after the electrical snafu I took the ribs off at 7pm. I figured 6 hours was long enough as they looked good on the outside and smelled incredible. However, when we cut into them they were clearly not done and some were still bloody and not the good pink color. My dad and I thought that another 2 hours would have been perfect. Now I did peek on occasion when I added more wood chips and to check the temp, that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m sure let some heat out. So what gives? Does altitude affect smoking? The unit was in the sun and it was 80+ deg outside. So from now on should I smoke my ribs minimum 8 hours no more than 10? Would the 3-2-1 method help me here? Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m frustrated but at the same time excited to try again. I think this weekend I will do a brisket or a boston butt but now I need to figure out some cooking times. Any help and/or advice would be appreciated!
Mark
In the past Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve made some good spare ribs using my oven. I do a good rub, wrap the ribs in foil and place them in my oven at 285 deg for about 4 hours. From there I take them to my gas grill and place them on the top rack and I cook them for an additional 30-40 minutes at medium heat to brown and I add the sauce, etc. and they crisp up and are unreal!
So I thought if this tastes good then the smoker will be even better. I set up the smoker and I had 2 racks of spare ribs at about 5lbs each. Cut the racks in half and I was able to place 3 halves in a rib rack and the other half I put directly on the grill gate above the water pan. The spare ribs had a good rub on them and I also put a little coating of bbq sauce on too (not sure if that is a no-no?!). Heated up the electric smoker and place some Jack Daniels oak chips in the smoker. I had an oven thermometer inside the smoker that I checked occasionally and I was cooking near 240 deg. So got the ribs going and I had some smoke going, not a lot but I think enough. We plugged in an electric skillet on the same outlet to cook some fried zucchini and apparently we blew a fuse. I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t realize this and I think my smoker was off for a good 35 minutes. I checked the thermometer and I was down to 185 deg. Not good. So we got everything figured out and resumed smoking.
Now I put these ribs on at 1pm and after the electrical snafu I took the ribs off at 7pm. I figured 6 hours was long enough as they looked good on the outside and smelled incredible. However, when we cut into them they were clearly not done and some were still bloody and not the good pink color. My dad and I thought that another 2 hours would have been perfect. Now I did peek on occasion when I added more wood chips and to check the temp, that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m sure let some heat out. So what gives? Does altitude affect smoking? The unit was in the sun and it was 80+ deg outside. So from now on should I smoke my ribs minimum 8 hours no more than 10? Would the 3-2-1 method help me here? Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m frustrated but at the same time excited to try again. I think this weekend I will do a brisket or a boston butt but now I need to figure out some cooking times. Any help and/or advice would be appreciated!
Mark
