Thanks to you - My 4th of July success: First ribs ever, salmon redux, and crazy cheesecake

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Danabw

Smoke Blower
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
May 29, 2020
141
110
First, I want to thank members of this forum w/out whose expertise and experiences I would still be living a smokeless and lesser life. :D You guys are great, the info here is amazing, and I would not have made it through yesterday or other days smoking w/out you. Thank you so much!

Had a very small (three members of immediate family and 90 year old mother properly distanced) for 4th of July.

I started the day w/a quick salmon smoke before lunch, as we had run out of the previous lot and my family eats smoked salmon like candy when they can get it. Easy-peasy process now, 2:1 brown sugar/kosher salt brine ~8hrs, the wipe clean/dry and back in the fridge uncoverd for an hour or more, then smoke @215 w/apple until 140. Just great.

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Then a quick nachos "snack lunch" and time to get to the ribs.

I had gotten a very large rack of spare ribs a week or two back, I forgot to look at the weight but it was a beast, the biggest rack that I've ever seen or cooked. I usually go for St. Louis style but this was a curb-side pickup from local grocery so you get what they have when they have to substitute. What they have turned out to be a good thing.

Applied my rub and they rested overnight in the fridge. My wife is a little sensitive to smoked food, so I did 1/2 rack in the oven the way she prefers (add some apple cider vinegar and seal up in foil, cooked for almost 3 hours at 350), and then sauced and broiled on both sides. Even at that heat and for that time, the rack was big enough that it was almost but not quite FOTB when I pulled them. That's the way my wife likes them so bonus points for me. :)

The other half rack (even larger/meatier end) I did in the Masterbuilt 30" smoker at 225 on hickory. First 3 hours to get to high 160s IT, then wrapped in butcher paper w/some butter, spray of apple cider vinegar, and a few more sprinkles of rub. Then it took another hour and 15 or so to get to 203 IT - my son and I prefer FOTB so went for higher IT.

I had some unexpected adventures due to some issues (two known, one new one) w/the Masterbuilt:

1. LEDs in control panel are starting to go, makes it hard to read the temp/time info correctly, so at one point I had set the temp too low and didn't realize it due to the wonky display.
2. Control panel flakiness - sometimes it just turns off the smoker. Only happened once yesterday, luckily, and I think I caught it pretty quickly and turned it on again, but wasn't sure exactly how long it had been off.
3. Discovered a new heating element issue yesterday getting to correct temps - set at 225 and I got 210 measured by 3rd party calibrated thermometer. Set at 235 and I got into the high 2-teens. Finally set to 245/250 and it was in the 225-235 range depending on the smoker's whims.

So my temps were a bit scattered. So much fun. I've ordered a new control panel and new heating element from Masterbuilt - only $55 shipped and hopefully will resolve my issues. Smoker is five years old but has been covered, when cleaned up looks almost new, and is in great shape overall, so a relatively cheap fix to make the core components new again.

Both oven and smoker ribs came out great. Oven ribs tender and juicy, and good, but of course lacking any smoke. Smoker ribs were just amazing - this is my first ribs smoked at home both my son and I thought they were right up there w/local quality BBQ spots, just excellent.

And so let's get to the b-roll...

After a night peacefully resting in the fridge w/dry rub on.
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Sorry, no progress pics, it was a busy day w/cooking, cleaning/prepping the back yard, talking w/my mom, etc.

Oven ribs were ready first and were gone in seconds...I did get a shot of the last lonely rib. The first half-rack was so large it could have fed all four of us.
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Smoker ribs, came out second so we were already a little full (just too hard to not have a serving of the oven ribs after waiting all afternoon), so I had time to take a picture or two! :) FOTB wonderfulness...
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Wife made a red cabbage salad and a macaroni salad, and we also had a wonderful watermelon that was sooo sweet. Really nice to have two cold salads to completement the ribs and the warm day.

My son made a crazy cheescake (below) that I've never seen before...tall as the Eiffel tower, less dense (in a good way) than traditional cheesecake, w/an intentional browned top, and homemade crust based in part on cinnamon graham crackers. Combined w/fresh raspberries it was extremely good, yummy through and through, and my new favorite cheesecake. (Just can't tell my wife, she's too proud of her version.) :)
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It was a great meal and a fun day, just wish we could have shared it w/more family members, but we're trying to not become part of the problem w/increasing covid infections in SoCal where we live.

And I enjoyed every backyard BBQer's happy moment at the end of a successful day - when things were all buttoned up and the racks are gleaming again. ;-)
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Thank you guys so much for your help, suggestions, and just posts here in general. So easy and fun to learn and do knowing I have all of this to lean on!

Soon I'll be on to the next "first" for me - pork shoulder butt! :D Happy belated Fourth to all!
 
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Looks like you all had a great meal. I must say. I'm not a fan of salmon. I'll eat it when the wife wants it. But yours looks fantastic. I might give that a whirl the next time I have the proverbial gun to my head to make some.
 
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Nice work there, that looks like a delicious meal. That cheesecake looks so damn good.

I know! Hate to admit I was a little jealous. :) Up until we brought out the cheesecake my smoked ribs were the star, but they were eclipsed by my son's dessert. Damn... ;-)
 
That is one fine looking meal!
The ribs look fantastic!!
But I bet that cheese cake went fast!!
Al

Thanks, Al, that means a lot. Your posts and recipes have been so helpful for me! I have a growing "SmokinAl" respository saved in OneNote that I refer to continually. :D
 
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