Summertime...Barbeques, Grills & Smokers!

Getting a head start on a brisket for Monday.

 

That's a heckuva head start, since it's Saturday.

 

5 hours on the grill with about an hour of hickory smoke. It will rest in the fridge until Monday morning when it will go in the oven for another 4 or 5 hours before the festivities begin.

 

Ahh, that explains it. It looked like it was done in the photo so I was a little confused. Do you add liquid in the oven or just leave it wrapped in foil?

 

I'll just leave it wrapped. I didn't cut off much of the fat at all so it should baste in its own juices nicely.

 

I finish my ribs wrapped in foil and in the oven, as well. Saves on charcoal. One thing I add is a quarter cup of "rub tea" to help keep the meat moist. Take a tablespoon of rub and steep it in boiling water for about five minutes, pour it over the meat, seal up the foil, then into the oven for the last couple of hours.

 

Why did I enter this thread... So hungry now

 

The last rack I smoked I rubbed down with a pepper jelly and that came out really nice

 

Anybody out there have a good smoked Baby Back Rib suggestion? I tried the 2 hour on smoker, 1 hour tin foil wrap, and the another 1 hour on the smoker. Taste was good but ribs were a little tough. Looking for a "fall off the bone" smoking style.

Thanks.....

 

I do three on the smoker at 275 +/-, then 2 hours in the oven @ 275 wrapped in foil with the tea rub I mention above. Can't pick up the rack without at least a few bones falling out.

 

I have never tried eating a rack, but that sounds amazing

 

Tender ribs take time. There are shortcuts one can take to speed up the cook time but in the end, 'low (temps) and slow (time)' seems to be the ideal. Minimum 3-4 hours for baby backs, 4-6 for spare/country ribs. They can be finished (last hour or so) wrapped in foil in either the smoker or oven. This last step usually ensures a 'fall off the bone' product.

 

Baby backs don't take as long as spareribs. 2 hours with the grill at 300-350 plus 45 minutes wrapped in foil then 15 minutes unwrapped works for me. I just did two racks tonite and they turned out great.

If your a purist, you can even forget about the foil. I use a Weber charcoal grill set up for indirect, if your smoking at lower temps it will take longer. The Weber kettle is a little difficult to control for lower temps, it was better when they had three separate air inlets in the bottom and you could adjust the air inlet into each,

 

I normally use a Weber 22.5" kettle grill whenever I smoke ribs. For thin baby back ribs I normally do 1 to 2 hours on the grill in a rib rack over a water pan and then an hour wrapped in either the grill or oven. Two hours on the grill at 275-300 and 2 hours wrapped in the oven at 250 make fall off the bone ribs. For larger ribs I would check them after two hours in the oven and see if they might need a third. My wife prefers her baby back ribs a little tougher, so sometimes I'll do 2 hours on the grill and call it good.
My Weber likes to sit between 250 and 300 with the bottom vents barely open. It holds the heat really well for over 2 hours. I always use the minion method to make the charcoal last.
If I use my offset smoker, I spend all day continually stoking the fire box which often ends up using a whole bag of charcoal. My first smoker was a vertical Brinkman model which is really hard to control the temp even after some modifications. It leaks air like crazy and has to be watched like a hawk. I once smoked a chicken in it while thankfully using a remote temp probe. I was mowing the yard when my wife yelled out at me that the monitor was saying the chicken was done after less than an hour. Smoke was pouring out of it like it was on fire and the thermometer on the smoker said it was 900 degrees. That chicken was black.
If anyone is looking for a good versatile "smoker" I highly recommend the old standby Weber kettle grill.

 

My Stefano pipe pictured with 3 slabs of ribs cooked earlier today. Temperature was rather mild for Alabama this time of year. Settled in with my pipe, checking ribs and adding a little charcoal here and there, when a little rain started up. Rolled the Weber kettle grill under covered portion of the deck, settled back in with the pipe, and everything was good!

The ribs were great; they weren't burned and black like it looks in the pic, just the sugars in the rub browning very well. They were really more of a dark brown. My old iPad2 struggles a little with pics.

I dry brined the ribs overnight, then applied this rub: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/rubs_pastes_marinades_and_brines/meatheads_memphis_dust.html
Misted about every 45 minutes to an hour with 50/50 apple cider vinegar/apple juice, and cooked in a rib rack about 4 1/2 hours over indirect heat in the Weber kettle grill. The meat was very tender, you can see how one slab broke in a couple of places as I took it off the grill. I applied a small amount of home made sauce, although with dry brining and this rub, it's really not needed. I also posted this in the Pipe of the Day thread, so anyone following that will see this twice!

 

Looks dang tasty. Great job.

 

Nom nom nom

 

Is that good? What do you use them for?

 

4th of July BBQ…
4 slabs of baby-back ribs

 

Here's a recent batch of beef jerky I finished: ten pounds of sliced beef round, soaked in two type of marinades for several days. Next the load is then hung to dry in a 150°F smoker for an hour or so. Once dry to the touch, I applied smoke ( a hickory/oak mix) for the next 4-5 hours; same temp. After about six hours, the texture ('pull') felt right and the jerky was take from the smoker to rest in the refrigerator for a day or so.


Variety: Approximately 6.5 lbs of black pepper jerky (spicy!) and teriyaki jerky…..