Anyone here smoke?

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

I've been trying to talk my wife into a "real" barbecue grill for a long time but our hesitation in getting one is that I rarely have 12 hours to stay around the house and tend charcoal. Are you guys really cooking these overnight? Are you getting up in the middle of the night to check on them? How on earth do you keep a good constant temperature?

You can get an electric smoker. It's really easy to smoke with, but it's frowned upon by hardcore bbq folks. It maintains a consistent 220 degrees and all you have to do is add wood. It's not as versatile as other smokers, but very simple to use.

[Keyzer Soze]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

I've been trying to talk my wife into a "real" barbecue grill for a long time but our hesitation in getting one is that I rarely have 12 hours to stay around the house and tend charcoal. Are you guys really cooking these overnight? Are you getting up in the middle of the night to check on them? How on earth do you keep a good constant temperature?

Like the Napper, I too have a Weber Smoky Mountain smoker and if you use the minion method, and spend an hour or so at the beginning of the smoke getting your vents locked in where they need to be, then yes, it will burn unattended all night long with less than 10 degrees variance in temperature. I have a remote thermometer that I use that has an alarm if the temp spikes above whatever temperature I preset it at, and it has only gone off once in the middle of the night, and in that case, a strong wind was blowing, which raised the temp in the smoker a bit. I got up, closed the vents down a little bit, the temp fell to where it needed to be, and that was that. The WSM is a great piece of engineering.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

I love to smoke. Especially ribs. I am still toying with my process (which I think is more important than the rub used for ribs), but here is what I do:

0.5. Soak wood chips for 48 hours- I like mesquite on ribs
1. Strib membranes off of ribs.
2. Rub ribs in yellow mustard (thin coat)
3. Apply rub mix
4. Wrap ribs in saran wrap tightly, then wrap in tin foil. Put ribs on grill (I have a side firebox where I put all my charcoal). The thermometer reading in the main portion of the grill where I cook (with no charcoal in that part of the grill) should be about 180-200. If that low, the saran wrap won't melt. Let the ribs cook like this for about 2-3 hours.
5. Take ribs off grill, remove saran wrap and tin foil. Place ribs back on grill for smoking. Add pre-soaked wood chips to side firebox (lots of them) and replace them when they burn out. Ensure smoke burns white rather than black (which indicates an acrid smell).
6. Gently flip ribs as needed, smoke on lower heat for around 2-3 hours.
7. Start basting ribs with your favorite bbq sauce- I love Sweet Baby Rays. Wait for outer coat to start to harden onto ribs, then apply another coat. Do about 3-4 coats.
8. Enjoy.

The saran wrap makes the ribs literally fall off the bone, so it is a bit tricky to cook them on the grill after that. You can play with the time they cook in saran wrap a bit to ensure they aren't fully cooked in saran wrap. It is a balancing act, but they are fantastic when done.

Wow, that sounds like a ton of work.

I use a much simpler approach. I apply lots of rub and then throw the ribs in the smoker for one hour. I then put them in a covered roaster in the over for 5-6 hours on 250 degrees. They come out moist and tender (fall off the bone) and they taste fabulous.

I have found that one hour in the smoker is plenty. You can tell by the color of the meat that the smoke fully penetrates the meat. No matter what meat you use, maximum penetration is about 1/2 inch any smoking after the first hour or so does not add any smoke flavor, it simply cooks the meat (and potentially dries it out if one is not careful).

I use a Paul Kirk (world-champ bbq pro from KC) rub that I mix up myself and keep in the freezer.

[FMCoug]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

Wow, that sounds like a ton of work.

I use a much simpler approach. I apply lots of rub and then throw the ribs in the smoker for one hour. I then put them in a covered roaster in the over for 5-6 hours on 250 degrees. They come out moist and tender (fall off the bone) and they taste fabulous.

I have found that one hour in the smoker is plenty. You can tell by the color of the meat that the smoke fully penetrates the meat. No matter what meat you use, maximum penetration is about 1/2 inch any smoking after the first hour or so does not add any smoke flavor, it simply cooks the meat (and potentially dries it out if one is not careful).

I use a Paul Kirk (world-champ bbq pro from KC) rub that I mix up myself and keep in the freezer.

That's an interesting idea. Lots of times on Sunday we do ribs in the crockpot since they are so easy ... the meat literally falls off the bone. But you don't get the smoky flavor. I may have to try your method one of these days. Hour in the smoker and then put them in the crockpot.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by FMCoug

That's an interesting idea. Lots of times on Sunday we do ribs in the crockpot since they are so easy ... the meat literally falls off the bone. But you don't get the smoky flavor. I may have to try your method one of these days. Hour in the smoker and then put them in the crockpot.

Yes, you should try it. Furthermore, I usually put them in the smoker for an hour on Saturday night and then put them in the fridge in an airtight container. Then I throw them in the oven Sunday morning and let them cook while we are at church. The house smells lovely when you come home.

I used to use a crock pot to slow-cook the smoked ribs, but I prefer to use a covered roasting pan in the oven. With the crock pot, the bottom half of the ribs get soaked in water. With a big roaster, I can keep the ribs out of any water that comes out. And with the slow cooking, they are plenty moist. The low setting on a crock pot is 200 degrees and the high setting is 300 degrees, so you get slow-cooking either way.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

I love to smoke. Especially ribs. I am still toying with my process (which I think is more important than the rub used for ribs), but here is what I do:

0.5. Soak wood chips for 48 hours- I like mesquite on ribs
1. Strib membranes off of ribs.
2. Rub ribs in yellow mustard (thin coat)
3. Apply rub mix
4. Wrap ribs in saran wrap tightly, then wrap in tin foil. Put ribs on grill (I have a side firebox where I put all my charcoal). The thermometer reading in the main portion of the grill where I cook (with no charcoal in that part of the grill) should be about 180-200. If that low, the saran wrap won't melt. Let the ribs cook like this for about 2-3 hours.
5. Take ribs off grill, remove saran wrap and tin foil. Place ribs back on grill for smoking. Add pre-soaked wood chips to side firebox (lots of them) and replace them when they burn out. Ensure smoke burns white rather than black (which indicates an acrid smell).
6. Gently flip ribs as needed, smoke on lower heat for around 2-3 hours.
7. Start basting ribs with your favorite bbq sauce- I love Sweet Baby Rays. Wait for outer coat to start to harden onto ribs, then apply another coat. Do about 3-4 coats.
8. Enjoy.

The saran wrap makes the ribs literally fall off the bone, so it is a bit tricky to cook them on the grill after that. You can play with the time they cook in saran wrap a bit to ensure they aren't fully cooked in saran wrap. It is a balancing act, but they are fantastic when done.

Cali, we don't agree about anything politically, but this sounds devastatingly delicious. I'm going to give it a try.

[Clark Addison]

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

Cali, we don't agree about anything politically, but this sounds devastatingly delicious. I'm going to give it a try.

The Food category brings people together, where the Religion and Politics categories divide. We should all eat more and go to church less.

[fusnik11]

Sounds very good, you people care to share rub recipes?

[ewth8tr]

I haven't done it before, but I just bought a firebox attachment for my grill, so I'm going to be cooking with it a lot over the next few months to get a feel for it. Any tips for a beginner?

[Goatnapper'96]

<http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/>

I will pull out my book of recipes some time and post.

What I want to find is a really good mustard based sauce. I like to smoke my ribs for about 4-4.5 hours at about 250. Then I slather them with sauce and throw them on the grill on high heat for about 4-5 minutes to burn the sauce a bit.



Here is one basic dry rub I use for beef. It is great for tri-tips, burgers or steaks. I have yet to do a brisket in my smoker so I cannot speak for it on brisket.

4 parts granulated garlic
3 parts chili powder
3 parts season all salt
3 parts lemon pepper
2 parts black pepper
1 part paprika
1 part cumin
1 part basil

It has a bit of a kick and if you really like some spice throw in some cayenne pepper.