Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Well in Texas smoking bbq is pretty much an HOA requirement lol jk

wow no WSM in Seattle? They dont know what theyre missing

 

Reached 165 in about 3 hours at 235*. Pulled wrapped in foil and reached 200* about3 hours after that. Baby girl is resting now in a cooler for a couple more hours.

 

Home Depot, yes. Walmart, no.

 

Time for Amazon.

 

our local walmart has the 14 inch wsm for $138, original price $199.

Sweet deal for anyone looking to get their first WSM!

 

Po'Man!

Amazon. $130 shipped.

 

Better texture and better bark

 

Don't think they be Done in Three hours?

 

I agree with this. I never foil my ribs. I go out of my way to never braise/boil the meat I'm smoking. I hate the texture of boiled ribs (which some people do) and I've never seen a need to wrap them.

That being said, some smoker setups are high flow, with lots of air moving over the meat. In those cases, I can see needing to foil to prevent dryness.

Everyone does it differently. Hell, I hear some folks even like St Louis ribs more than baby backs, which is pure craziness if you ask me, even though I'm from Missouri!

 

but do you get the tenderness you want?

 

Absolutely. I smoke my babybacks for about 5 hours at 225, then I paint on BBQ sauce and let it set up for 15 minutes between coats, four times, for a total of 6 hours cook time.

I like my ribs to have some firmness, but not be chewy. The consistency with my method ends up being similar to a nice BBQ chicken leg. Pulls clean from the bone but no mushiness.

 

I did some baby backs today. I've done 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 and no wrapping at all. Today I smoked 4.5 hours at 235, then wrapped for an hour. Then left them in the foil for 30 minutes on the counter. This was the best texture and bark I've had yet on ribs.

 

I think whatever YOU like is the right way to do it! I don't care what KCBS says, or what Joe blow on this website or that website says.

Take everything you read, and make it to your taste!

Smoke on y'all!

 

Cool works for you

Hey What ever works for you man.

 

Smoke meats, not drugs

 

100% agree.

 

I don't think any ribs would be done in 3 hours unless you were cooking them at a high temp. I cannot condone that. 321 is spares. 221 is babies. The last ribs i did without foil were spares and I think took around 5 hours. They are done when they're done. They are done when they pass the bend test.

 

When you say spares, do you mean whole ribs? Or St. Louis style with the tips removed? I agree, on the fold test on being done regardless.
I was always under the impression that 3-2-1 (or variants) was three hrs smoke, two hrs foil, one hour unwrapped at a higher heat to help the bark tighten back up a bit. However, I don't foil ribs any longer.

 

Yes. I buy the spares and trim the tips off. You can buy "st Louis style" at publix that lack the tips, but imho, that's one of the best parts. I don't foil ribs anymore. There's science behind it, but essentially you are steaming the meat by foiling it which gives it a different texture than if you just cook them. The foil is a crutch to help power the meat through the stall. If you like the way your ribs turn out by doing foil, do it. The only wrong way is what tastes bad to you or whoever you are feeding.

 

I never buy spares. I think spares are well "Spare" babies only for me