T1B

Finally after getting the equipment needed and reading y'alls suggestions I am prepping for an indirect heat deal on the gas grill.

I ordered 3 BBQ books by Steven Raichlen from Amazon and there are simple techniques in there I never would have known. For example, these pork spareribs are fairly cheap, but there is a bit of trimming to do. (When cooking chicken last week, I remember Mikey talking about "brining," and I'll tell you what, the chicken I prepared versus the chicken prepared by another person wasn't even close due to brining).

So, I expect these ribs to be pretty decent. Since this is a gas grill w/o a smoker box, I'm soaking apple chips and will make foil pouches to put them in. Eventually I'm going to buy another Weber Kettle charcoal grill after I get fairly comfortable with this easy to use gas grill. I did get a few instant read thermometers to help out.

I bought some Pappy's Seasoning, and am not sure this is the "rub" I want to use, but for now... it is what it is. I will of course use IndyFrisco's Hot BBQ Sauce during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Today will be a great BBQ day!

Why am I starting this thread that most of you are yawning at?

It's because I've never made good ribs ever. They were always dried or burned... whether beef or pork. These are looking and smelling good so far. I must RACK Brent for the tip on spraying Apple Cider over the rack to keep them moist. I have another hour and a half it seems to go. 1/4 inch shrink off the bone tip is what I'm looking for.

I marinated them in Apple Cider and Lemon Juice. After 2 hours I rubbed in the Pappy's and let it go for about another hour. I put the apple chips in the aluminum pouch bags on until they started smoking and then added the rib rack.

If this is cooking 101 g/d, then sorry for my enthusiasm. Not really. The apple smell is something I've never experienced. It's all over the place but not too strong.

So, how did they come out? I just read this thread this morning for the first time and now my stomach is growling.

Awesome AP.

I actually smoked 2 racks of spare ribs yesterday myself. Did them for about 6 hours using mesquite. I did the rub before putting them on the heat. I made a mix of ground habanero, ground cayenne, ground jalapeno (all from my garden) and then S&P, Tony's and some Butt Rub.

As usual, threw my HOT BBQ sauce on at the end.

I only could eat 6 of the ribs. I have about 12 left. Guess what's for lunch...

Hope yours turned out ok. Oh, and I spray with AJ, not cider, although there may not be that big a difference. And I would love to get a hold of a lot of peach wood. I used that one time to smoke a chicken when I lived in Dallas. It was amazing.

They came out pretty damned good. It took about 3 & 1/2 hours coking time and temperature control was still an issue. I understand it now due to having some experience. The instant read thermometer really helped

The one thing I'm not sold on is the Pappy's seasoming. I too need to get another order of Tony's as it's my favorite spice and have been out of it for about a year.

Brent's HOT BBQ Sauce really gave them a good kick. I never turned them during cooking time and I think yanking that paper thin membrane from the bone side helped both with marination and cooking.

I was skeptical about using the soaked chips in foil pouches, but it worked surprisingly well. I have chunks of Mesquite which can be soaked and thrown on without using pouches. My question is, does Mesquite give ribs a better smoked flavor?

The spraying with cider or AJ was critical in keeping them moist. I thought you talked about cider for some reason and didn't put 2 & 2 together for "AJ."

For $9 of meat, it beats paying a lot more for those from a restaurant. I almost need to use a strap wrench to break open the mason jars with Brent's sauce. hahaha

This coming weekend, I'll make a better rack as I gain experience.

Would you send me some?

AP,

The choice of wood is all in what your taste buds like. Traditionally, fruit woods are best on poultry. Best woods I have ever used on beef are mesquite, then pecan, then hickory. pork is a happy medium between beef and poultry so using a fruit wood is not unheard of, but the ones for beef will definitely make them much smokier...which is my taste preference.

I have plenty of mesquite around here to last months if I cooked daily and a bit of hickory.

The recipe called for apple chips and I just went along with it as a novice. That is good to hear about fruit wood being used with poultry. Yesterday I cooked brined chicken using some apple chips and it tasted really good along with your hot bbq sauce.

ytinhtown and Barnes Troll over at the other board posted some good stuff in the smoked bbq thread. Barnes put up a pic of his smoked ribs and they looked perfect. yt posted his series of pics using beer can up the ass for chickens in his smoker.

http://thetrolls.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.p ... sc&start=0

Good times...

I was skeptical about using the soaked chips in foil pouches, but it worked surprisingly well.

Buy a smoker box ya cheapskate......

With practice the foil pouches kick ass, you can use more than one package placed in a couple different areas above the heat plates . Try soaking the chips overnight in water with a lil apple or cherry juice added in. Use a ratio of around 70/30 water to juice as the juices have a lot of natural sugar content and burnt sugar taste isn't the smoke you're looking for. I prefer using hickory chips but I'm always experimenting. Grape wood soaked in wine is cool and outstanding used on any poultry. Brine and slow smoke a big ole turkey breast using the indirect method, rub it with Pappy's and "don't sauce" it, serve warmed BBQ sauce on the side for dipping if you are jonesing for a Brent's fix.....:)

Ahhh, activity in the cooking forum...

I've had no luck with those damn foil pouches and I've soaked the chips. It seems after the chips dry back out then they create the smoke. I would put at least two pouches in and they just don't get it done even after going full blast on the burners for 15 minutes prior to adding the meat.

So you're saying those smoker boxes you can get at HD actually work? I have no shortage of different wood chips.

Also, now that you mentioned it, my dad used grape wood quite a bit back in the day for the charcoal grill since we had so much of it on our property.

I'm actually thinking about getting one of those electric smokers but since I have so much tied up in the propane Weber grill, I might blow it off for now.

A buddy of mine gave me 3 of his old tanks that I can use to exchange at HD for a cheap ass price. So that puts me at 6 propane tanks available.

6 tanks? Are they the 5 gallon variety?

If so, I think you've assembled just the number you need to propel yourself into the stratosphere in a ballistic trajectory. See instructions by following the link.

www.buildyourownrocket.com

When you get up there, be sure to take pictures and share them with the board.

Good luck!!!

Yes, however the weight issue wouldn't fly. Anyway Vern Estes may have figured out cheap rocketeering 30 years ago.

Atomic Punk wrote: Also, now that you mentioned it, my dad used grape wood quite a bit back in the day

If it's any good, let me know. I have access to grape wood, but never thought about using it in a cooking fire.

I'm actually thinking about getting one of those electric smokers

This won't go over too well with the "purists" here, but it's not the great evil some make it out to be. Just bear in mind, that it's generally going to be working at much lower temps. For most stuff, you're only going to actually cook the meat about halfway in the electric box. That imparts the smoke flavor. You then bring the meat up to sanitary-temps either in the oven(where's the fun in that?), or on the BBQ.


Works fine, just takes more planning, since with stuff like poultry or larger cuts, you might spend 3-4 hours "seasoning" it in the electric before you actually start cooking. That's the drawback.

Probably the best thing there is for fish, though...but "smoking" fish and smoking meat aren't exactly the same thing.

Dinsdale wrote:

Atomic Punk wrote: Also, now that you mentioned it, my dad used grape wood quite a bit back in the day

If it's any good, let me know. I have access to grape wood, but never thought about using it in a cooking fire.

I remember my dad did it mixed in with regular charcoal and if I remember correctly it burned hot and created a lot of smoke. I don't remember if he did it with chicken or with the "Santa Maria Cut" otherwise known as "tri-tip." Tri-tip used to be a very inexpensive meat in the San Joaquin Valley before it caught on as a desired cut elsewhere maybe 25 years or so ago. I don't ever remember him making a bad tasting BBQ on whatever he cooked.

Give it a shot if you have grape wood around. I don't remember whatever it was he used it for ever tasting bad. It's a hot fire as I remember those knarly logs on top of the coals smoking the shit out of whatever it was.