I'm Sssmmoookin!!!

[Nathans_Dad]

Well, it's 6:30 AM local time and the coals are almost ready. I'll be posting to this thread through the day with updates on the smokin for the day if anyone is interested.

The menu for this afternoon is pulled pork sandwiches with Carolina BBQ sauce and homemade slaw, fried pickles, and Buccanneer Ribs (a recipe from Raichlen's Ribs...more to follow).

First, the prep from last night:

I thought I would take a few shots of how to prepare spare ribs St. Louis style. Spare ribs come from the lower rib cage and are packaged with the sternum part still attached. There is decent meat in this area, but there is also a lot of connective tissues and joints which make for generally less pleasant eating. Thus, I like to prepare my spare ribs St. Louis style, which involves trimming the unwanted bits off and squaring up the rack a little.

To do this, start with a thawed rack of spare ribs. First, I like to remove the shiny membrane on the back side of the ribs. If you leave this membrane on, it will get tough and it's basically inedible so it's nicer for your diners if you take the time to peel it off. The easiest way is to start with a butter knife and just try and peel up the membrane from the middle of the rack. An important point, you don't want to peel the full thickness of the membrane, leaving the rib bones completely bare. If you do, the rib bones will tend to just fall out of the meat when the ribs are done. It is not too hard to get the membrane to start peeling in the middle. Once you get it going, get your finger in there and wiggle it across the entire width of the rib. Then grab the membrane with a paper towel (it's pretty slippery) and just pull it off. This pic shows the membrane started correctly with also an area where the entire membrane wanted to come off, showing the bare rib (I'm pointing to it).


Ok, now to trim up the spare ribs. Find the flex point where the rib meets the sternum and start your cut there. Once you locate the joint, it's pretty easy to envision where the other joints are, there is sometimes a line of fat along the joint line to help you.
Here's the full rack before trimming (membrane already removed):


Just slice right through the whole area and then trim up any meat on the ends (squaring the rack) leaving you with this:


Don't throw away the trimmed bits, they will cook faster than the ribs, leaving the chef a nice little mid-smoke snack!!

Now we're ready to rub/marinate. For this meal I am doing two racks of spares and 3 racks of baby backs. The baby back rib comes from higher up on the ribcage, nearer the spine from the spares. There is no trimming needed, but you do need to remove the membrane. Both ribs have their good and bad points, baby backs are usually a little more tender and take less prep time. Spare ribs are often a little fattier, will take a touch longer to cook and require more prep. I think they are more flavorful though. Anyhow, I usually do a mix of both so people can choose.

These ribs were then marinated overnight in a mixture of onions, garlic, italian parsley, red wine vinegar, orange juice, orange zest, chili peppers, soy sauce, oil, allspice, black pepper and cloves. Buzz all this up in your food processor. I can post the actual recipe if anyone is interested, it comes from Raichlen on Ribs (a truly FANTASTIC book, IMHO).

Ok, the pork shoulder was dry rubbed with a pretty basic rub consisting of brown sugar, paprika, cayenne, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, mustard powder and Emeril's Essence (recipe is on food network site).

All of this was then put into the fridge overnight.

Ok, now to the smokin! First my smoking rig. This is a Weber Smokey Mountain I have had for about 3 years now. Notice my super trick modified lid with the thermometer in it. This way I know what temp the cooker is at without opening the lid. Very easy to do.


I set up for smoking this way. 5-6 chunks of hardwood (apple in this case), soaked overnight go into the bottom. Then charcoal over the top of that, about 2/3 of the way full. Then a few more chunks of wood on top. Like this:


One chimney starter of charcoal goes on top(mine took 35 minutes Dottore, I timed it). This cooker will stay at temp with this setup for about 14 hours, easily. No further charcoal addition is needed. Just light it, adjust the vents from time to time to keep the temp where you want it (225) and let it go.


Ready to assemble the rest of the cooker:


Fill the water dish with water, and put the shoulder on, fatty side up (this way the fat will drip over the meat and keep it a little more moist:


Oh, I'll also be basting the shoulder every few hours with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, brown sugar, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.

Ok, that's it for now, I'll check back in when the ribs go on...probably about 3 hours or so...

[azasadny]

Wow! Looks great!

[Fritz Peyerl]

I am on my way. the 912 is driving as fast as it can. I can see the smoke already

[gassy]

Nice ! I'll be checking in.

[Dottore]

...just leaving the house...heading your way...

[Nathans_Dad]

Update time!

It's been about 2 1/2 hours since the shoulder first went in. I have about 5 1/2 hours left till chow time. Time for the ribs to go in!

First a gratuitous shot of the shoulder as it looks now. It's starting to get that nice mahongany color you are looking for. Total smoke time for the shoulder will be about 7-8 hours, it's just over 5.5 lbs.


Here are the ribs after marinating overnight. I have a rib rack that will let me put 6 racks in there vertically, if you lay them flat about 3 racks on the top and bottom is about all you can fit. Some people have added extra levels to their Smokey Mountains to fit more meat...but that's another thread. I do the 2-2-1 method with ribs, 2 hours direct smoke, then wrap in foil with a little liquid (apple juice in this case) and return to the smoker, then unwrap and smoke for another 30 mins to an hour, until done. Then sauce and let rest. More on that later.

[Jeff]

Rick, Great post, I look forward to the updates. I had my smoker fired up over the 4th of July weekend, 2 pork shoulders, 3 rack of baby backs, and a dozen drum sticks.

I will check back to see the progress.

[Nathans_Dad]

Ok update time again!

The ribs have been in for 2 1/2 hours now and it's time to put them in foil (I let them go another 30 minutes to get a little more color to them.

Here's the ribs now:


I put 2 racks on a sheet of foil, baste with a little apple juice and then crimp up the foil, like this:


Now the ribs go back into the smoker for another hour to hour and a half...this is where you have to kinda judge it to know when they are done.

Oh yeah, the shoulder is doing just fine ...you can also see all the trimmed bits I am cooking for snack:

[Jeff]

Man, my mouth is watering. They look great Rick.

Do you sauce your ribs? On or off the smoker?

[Nathans_Dad]

Ok last update!

The shoulder came off the smoker when it was 170 degrees internal temp. It then rested for about 30 minutes before being shredded with two forks and tossed with vinegar based Carolina style BBQ sauce.


The ribs were removed from the foil and returned to the smoker where they were sauced. I made a tomato and rum based BBQ sauce per the recipe for these ribs. I let the sauce set in the smoker for about 20 minutes before pulling off the ribs.


The finished product:

[Dottore]

I am humbled.

Great thread Rick.

[Nathans_Dad]

Boy, am I STUFFED! The ribs were really quite good. Nice and tender, meat pulled right away from the bone. The pulled pork was good too, I really like pulled pork with the cole slaw with it but the ribs always seem to be more popular.

Anyhow, now the part that sucks comes, clean up!!

[Jim Bremner]

no wood chips in the water ?

[Nathans_Dad]

No, I just use plain water in the water pan. I have experimented with adding things like apple juice or beer to the water and I can't tell a difference in taste. It does make cleanup a LOT harder though!! So, just water for me.

The idea of the water pan is:
1). To provide a physical barrier between the meat and the coals.
2). To help keep the smoker temp more stable using the water to store and release heat.
3). As the water evaporates it rises and smoke particles stick to it, then it bastes the meat, adding more smoke flavor.

Maybe someone else can chime in on using different things other than water but I've never had luck with it.

[Drdogface]

Rick...err...Doc,

I just received my Weber Smokey Mtn. from Fed Ex yesterday and have not even unpacked it. Can you point me in the right direction for buying/installing the thermo on the lid ?

All that food looks marvelous !

[Nathans_Dad]

Sure thing! Welcome to the wonderful world of smoking!

It's super easy, just buy a thermometer that has a threaded end on it (that's what I did anyhow) and then drill a hole the correct size in the lid. Mount the thermometer with a simple nut and away you go!

Here is the main article on mounting a thermometer, there are other ways to do it on this site too.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/mounttherm.html

[trekkor]

radical thread!!

The water also promotes moist meat while cooking.


KT

[Jim Bremner]

do add wood chip to the water next time!

[artplumber]

Originally Posted by Nathans_Dad

Ok last update!

It then rested for about 30 minutes before being shredded with two forks and tossed with vinegar based Carolina style BBQ sauce.
..

Was this written in TEXAS??!?!!?!?!

Where's the Beef?

[Nathans_Dad]

LOL. No beef this time, just pork. I often do brisket but wanted to do pulled pork this go around...

Brisket will get a whole 'nother thread!!