re: Smoking Ribs question

2-2-0.5-0.5

2 hours unwrapped
2 hours wrapped
0.5 hour unwrapped
0.5 hour sauced unwrapped


Smoker at 225



Absolutely amazing ribs, tender and fall off the bone

A few weeks back I set up my Weber the night before for the snake method 3 coals on the btm 2 on the top with some woodchips on top of that. Vent on the btm wide open, top vent 1/4 open. The next morning I woke up at 5 and and lit it on both ends, put the ribs on about 5:30. At 10 AM they were done. So 4 1/2 hours was perfect for me. Temp was 220-250 the entire time.


ETA: to answer some questions I see you asked. I seasoned mine the night before and wrapped them in plastic wrap. I cooked baby backs, they were a little to tender. Also, starting tonight soak your woodchips in water and dont forget a water pan in the middle of the snake. My snake went about 2/3rds of the way around and still had some left when I pulled them.

quote:

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soak your woodchips

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Never agreed with this. To smoke, the wood needs to burn. To burn, the wood needs to be dry. But to each his own.

Soaking the wood just makes it burn longer

I didn't foil yesterday, and didn't do any sauce while on the grill. Hands down the best ribs I remember cooking. I think it was a combo of the heat source and grill set up, the cut of ribs, and somehow getting them off at just the right time. I had two racks of St Louis, a store bought rub I put on the night before and wrapped, and enough time to just leave the house and go back to work and let the magic happen.



I put them on around 1:00 and the grill was hovering above 200, but there was plenty of work to be done in the snake. I started it with one single row layer of Kingsford, and on top of that went with natural wood coals. On top of that was some of the hickory my neighbor gave me that I split and made into chunks. And I bought a disposable foil pan and filled it 2/3 with water and placed under the ribs.



I left the house around 1:30 when everything seemed to be going great. Came back at 3:30 or so to flip them and rotate, since I was doing two racks and one was closer to the heat, and I didn't want one coming out too done. The temp was around 275. I got home around 5:20 from work and just looked at the temp, and it was between 275 and 300. So it had probably held that range for the entire time. I fixed myself a mint julep. My first buddy got there at 5:30, and the next one around 5:45. The last guy coming over was bringing Yuengling infused brats and a 6er of Yuengling, and was on his way. I checked them then and when I went to flip one rack over to check, it was bending great. The meat was tender, juicy, and not quite fall off the bone, which is how I like them. I don't want to eat meat mush, but don't want to gnaw on a bone to get it off either.



Since the grill was still around 275, I put the brats on to smoke some while I was finishing up everything inside. Prepping the sides and letting the ribs rest, wrapped loosely in foil. I had some smaller potatoes I sliced thin on the blade side of my cheese grater, salted and peppered, and cooked on a sheet in the oven until crispy. I also had a cheddar biscuit mix from a local BBQ place. I shredded the cheese and mixed all that up and got them ready to go in the oven once the potatoes were done. One of the guys used to be a pro chef, and he saw the stack of fresh cukes on the counter and asked if that was from my garden. He works landscaping now and is the guy I borrowed a tiller from. He sliced one up for us and seasoned them. They were awesome. It was about 45 minutes from when I pulled them off to when we ate. 30 minutes later we had several empty bottles, a plate stacked full of clean bones, no potatoes left, no brats, one cheese biscuit left, and a peach cobbler in the oven warming up for dessert.