Spare Ribs in the offset

[mrchuckierock]

My first time using the new offset smoker the future Mrs.Rock got me for our anniversary and I decided to do some ribs. I'm also trying a couple new things this time around. For starters I'm using hickory and I always use cherry or apple for pork. I'm curious about the difference in flavor it will provide for pork. And second I'm not doing a 3-2-1 cook. I'm going straight on the grate for 6 hours and I'm gonna start glazing at hour 5.

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• mrchuckierock
• Aug 26, 2013

Rubbed up ready for smoker

Stay tuned folks!

 

[yotzee]

I prefer apple or pecan for pork because I like the milder taste that lets the pork shine, but I still find hickory works great with anything.  Perhaps mix some apple with the hickory the first time out and see how you like it.

Good luck with the new smoker and soon to be new wife!!!  She bought you a smoker, so that says a ton!!

 

[mrchuckierock]

I prefer apple or pecan for pork because I like the milder taste that lets the pork shine, but I still find hickory works great with anything.  Perhaps mix some apple with the hickory the first time out and see how you like it.

Good luck with the new smoker and soon to be new wife!!!  She bought you a smoker, so that says a ton!!

Thank you! She's definitely a keeper.

1.5 hours in and the temp control is amazing. It got too hot, so I closed the dampers and we mellowed out nice. Just pulled the rib tips off that I threw on for lunch wow these things got some flavor! My rub i usually make came out a bit spicier than usual which I love and the hickory adds such a depth of flavor. I think I may throw some apple in the fire to mellow it out a touch and hopefully it's able to do just that at this stage

 

[yotzee]

I'm shopping for a smoker.  What brand is it?

 

[mrchuckierock]

It's char-broil offset 430. It is a bit on the small side, but for the amount of cooking I do at a time, it's perfect. I normally don't have to feed more than 6-8 people so this smoker is perfect for a couple racks of ribs or a butt or 2. Just a couple gripes I have

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• mrchuckierock
• Aug 26, 2013

This blasted thing and it is a bit leaky. I want to find a way to seal those leaks. Other than that its working great. Here's a couple q view of the actual smoker

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• mrchuckierock
• Aug 26, 2013

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• mrchuckierock
• Aug 26, 2013

 

[yotzee]

I'm sure you already now enough to dump the useless therm for a digital.  You can probably seal the leaks with the right mods.  Check around and Google it.  That's about the size of what I need too

 

[mrchuckierock]

Yeah, I'm looking into investing in a maverick this paycheck. After the stress my ECB put me through, I'm ready for an easy way to manage that temp

 

[dirtsailor2003]

A simple cheap fix, though not permanent is to use tin foil along the door edges to help seal. Other more permanent solutions would be adhesive stove jasket or a bead of high temp RTV.

 

[mrchuckierock]

A simple cheap fix, though not permanent is to use tin foil along the door edges to help seal. Other more permanent solutions would be adhesive stove jasket or a bead of high temp RTV.

Thanks man, after this cook I'm gonna look into those solutions.

Now for an update on the real reason of this thread. 3 hours into the cook and we're looking good. The ribs are getting a great color and it looks mighty tasty. I'll try and get a q-view of the ribs when i get ready to start glazing.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I prefer to cook my ribs naked with no foil or sauce. Depending on your temps start checking for doneness around hour 4 or 5. On full racks I like to use the bend test. My last batch only took 4.5 hours

 

[mrchuckierock]

Yeah, mine are looking just bout done. Probably another 60-90 minutes

 

[yotzee]

How is the Charbroil working for you?  I actually just ran across one on Craigslist for $45 and from the pictures it looks hardly used.  They only complaints I read about it were even heat distribution.  There are easy mods to make it a reverse flow smoker, but I aint exactly a tinknocker LOL

 

[mrchuckierock]

It's working pretty well actually aside from the fact it's kind of leaky. The heating is pretty uneven so I just rotated each rack once in a while and it's starting to look good. Just started my glazing phase with ribs. More q-view to follow shortly

 

[mrchuckierock]

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• mrchuckierock
• Aug 26, 2013

Hot off the smoker

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• mrchuckierock
• Aug 26, 2013

You can say they got quite a bit of smoke hahaha. They tasted pretty good, wasn't my best batch but still pretty good

The big piece there is the skirt. Saved all that for myself

 

[yotzee]

Those look awesome!  Great smoke ring!

I googled mods for that model of smoker and there are some easy adjustments that you can make to get the heat even.  About an hours worth of work

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Tasty looking ribs! Great Job!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Even though it's a different beast this thread has a bunch of good ideas that can help with any offset:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/58778/char-griller-smokin-pro-with-firebox-mods