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First time smoking St. Louis style Ribs
Posted on 6/26/15 at 7:27 am
Posted on 6/26/15 at 7:27 am
I bought the Smokenator add-on for the Weber 22.5" kettle and did a test run on Monday this week to understand how the temperature would react by toying with air valves and did well maintaining 250 kettle temp. Yesterday I decided to do some St. Louis style spare ribs using Alton Brown's dry rub, using no sauce, and using pecan wood.
I had some trouble stabilizing the 225 temperature at first but all in all they turned out pretty good. Some lessons learned - get a real meat thermometer, and rotate the meat if something is closer to the heat. One rack sat closer to the heat source the whole time and I didn't rotate it, it wasn't over done but wasn't nearly as moist as the further rack. As for the thermometer, i threw the ribs in the oven wrapped in foil at the end and now i believe that was unneccessary, a good thermometer would have taken out the guess work.
My review on the rub was that is was good, i probably would have added a little more cayenne. The pecan wood was perfect for a first time smoking, very light smoky taste and not at all over taking the pork flavor.
Can anyone share any tips or recipes on smoking ribs?
I had some trouble stabilizing the 225 temperature at first but all in all they turned out pretty good. Some lessons learned - get a real meat thermometer, and rotate the meat if something is closer to the heat. One rack sat closer to the heat source the whole time and I didn't rotate it, it wasn't over done but wasn't nearly as moist as the further rack. As for the thermometer, i threw the ribs in the oven wrapped in foil at the end and now i believe that was unneccessary, a good thermometer would have taken out the guess work.
My review on the rub was that is was good, i probably would have added a little more cayenne. The pecan wood was perfect for a first time smoking, very light smoky taste and not at all over taking the pork flavor.
Can anyone share any tips or recipes on smoking ribs?
![](https://i.imgur.com/1yiQHfi.png?1)
![](https://i.imgur.com/T6dppxE.png?1)
This post was edited on 6/26/15 at 7:52 am
Posted on 6/26/15 at 7:31 am to Larry Gooseman
We can't see pics from your gmail
ETA: Those look pretty good. Nicely done. As the guy below said, not much use in using a thermometer on the ribs.
ETA: Those look pretty good. Nicely done. As the guy below said, not much use in using a thermometer on the ribs.
This post was edited on 6/26/15 at 7:55 am
Posted on 6/26/15 at 7:51 am to Larry Gooseman
I wouldn't worry about using a meat thermometer with ribs. The bones are going to mess with it and throw it off. Use the bend test from now on. I would recommend getting a maverick and use it to keep track of what the temp is in the kettle.
As for the smokenator, I've had one for a few months now and used it about 5 or 6 times. It takes a little while to get going and at a sweet spot but once you get it there you are good to go for a good while. I normally try to stay around 225 (give or take 10 or 15 degrees). It takes about 30 mins to get there after I put the meat in, then after a few hours it normally starts spiking (gets close to 280 if I'm not paying attention) and I have to close the vents off some.
It takes some getting used to, but is very consistent once you know how it acts.
When I do spare ribs I normally do 3-1-1, where I crutch (foil) for just an hour and then do another hour without foil to get back some of the bark.
As for the smokenator, I've had one for a few months now and used it about 5 or 6 times. It takes a little while to get going and at a sweet spot but once you get it there you are good to go for a good while. I normally try to stay around 225 (give or take 10 or 15 degrees). It takes about 30 mins to get there after I put the meat in, then after a few hours it normally starts spiking (gets close to 280 if I'm not paying attention) and I have to close the vents off some.
It takes some getting used to, but is very consistent once you know how it acts.
When I do spare ribs I normally do 3-1-1, where I crutch (foil) for just an hour and then do another hour without foil to get back some of the bark.
This post was edited on 6/26/15 at 7:57 am
Posted on 6/26/15 at 8:46 am to Larry Gooseman
Looks great to me! IWEI
Posted on 6/26/15 at 8:59 am to Larry Gooseman
They look good. Considering that was your first time, you did great. Did you wrap them, or just pour the smoke to them the whole time? I Usually like to see the bone protruding a little more. Were they tough? I use a dry rub, pour the smoke to them for a few hours and then wrap them in foil with a little apple juice and steam bake them until until desired tenderness. Some people don't like to wrap but I find that my ribs are less dry this way, so I continue to do it. It also helps to prevent bitterness from over smoking. I use a mixture of mesquite and hickory though because I like my smoke taste to be a little bolder. I have a larger smoker, so I'll put a brisket on at 4am and cook for 13 hours - that's dinner. In the interim I put ribs and chicken wings on different racks - that's lunch. Anyway, looks great and I have this same grill so I may have to try this smokenator you speak of for the times I'm just smoking a couple racks of ribs.
Posted on 6/26/15 at 9:22 am to Larry Gooseman
Look up the 3-2-1 method. No need for a thermometer.
3 Hours smoking with rub
2 Hours wrapped in foil in smoker with a little liquid added
1 Hour unwrapped in smoker, with sauce if you want it
3 Hours smoking with rub
2 Hours wrapped in foil in smoker with a little liquid added
1 Hour unwrapped in smoker, with sauce if you want it
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