Hanging Baby Backs On The Bronco!

[Panhead John]

I’m pretty excited today, I just put on a slab of baby backs at 2:00. This will be my first time ever hanging any meat in my new OJ Bronco. I got a lot of good tips a while back and read a lot of the posts from a bunch of barrel heads here. Filled the charcoal pan with some KBB and a couple of hickory chunks. I lit 3 Royal Oak Tumbleweeds to start the fire.
I found a new, to me, rub today at HEB I wanted to try. It’s made by Ronnie Killen, of Killen’s BBQ near Houston. One of the top BBQ joints in the state of Texas. Out of the jar, very good! I’d call it a sweet heat type of rub. First the sugar taste hits your mouth, followed by a slow burn. The good kind of heat! Very tasty. We’ll see how it tastes at the end of my cook.

Here’s the ribs hanging, I cut the slab in half to keep them from rubbing the diffuser plate. I’ll post the finished product and more pics as the day goes by.

[bbqLuv]

something or someone is missing,
Oh yeah, Me and PBR!

[latenight71]

I hear the OJ really serves it up.

[Panhead John]

2 1/2 hours in, lookin’ and smelling good! Meat is just beginning to pull away from the bone.

[glitchy]

Be careful not to overcook them and turn your promo into this:

[glitchy]

They are looking tasty. Glad to see you enjoying the barrel.

[Panhead John]

For my first attempt at hanging ribs, instead of my usual in the WSM on a grate, I was fairly pleased. My only quibble was they were too tender. Falling off the bone tender. I did the 3-1-1 method for my first attempt. (3 hours hung..1 hour wrapped in foil on the grate..1 hour unwrapped to finish) While they were still good, I like mine with a little more tug on the meat. The flavor had just the right amount of smokiness and the Rub I used added a great flavor. The factory thermometer read around 250* the whole time. I suspect I was running higher than that, but didn’t have any ambient probes available to test actual temps. I was probably running around 275 or so. I’ve ordered a new ThermoPro Smoke for future cooks on the OJ Bronco. Next time I’ll hopefully do better. Overall they still came out....pretty good.

Also, I can’t brag enough on the way the OJ Bronco holds temps. The first 2 hours it held a rock solid 250* without budging. It dropped about 20* after that, opened the vents a little more, and about 10 minutes later it was back to 250*. It held that temp for the duration of my 5 hour cook. I only had to make one more minor adjustment during the rest of the cook. I love this thing.

[latenight71]

those look really great! Good cook, Bruh!

[Clark]

Panhead John Those don't look like paper plates. Are you getting classy now?

[latenight71]

those look darn tasty. i think you done good. Great cook! i don't use a a thermo for ribs and rely on time, and cooker temp and then wait for bend and brealk. hasn't let me down yet. when i sauce i pull off hooks, sauce and put on grate so i don't lose in fire. if your meat is too loose use less smoke wood

[ecowper]

For the first time with a new cook method on a new cooker … that seems like a home run.

[jharner]

Great looking cook!!

[Uncle Bob]

Your guess of the barrel running hotter than where the dial measures is most likely correct. Them ribs looks good.

Happy to hear you already have the temp control thing in hand. I suspect your WSM experiences help you understand temp management. In the hands of folks who have learned to manage fire the Bronco temp control is near epic from low to high, whatever you wish.

[Panhead John]

Thanks Uncle Bob Your earlier assessments were correct. I had asked you a while back of your experience with accurate probe temps. compared with the factory thermometer. You told me probably 25-30* higher than what the factory gauge shows. Based on my cook I’d say you were spot on.

[FireMan]

Looks good to me! Mebbee next time don’t wrap em. I don’t when I hang em & it seems the tug yer talkin about is there. Just sayin.

PS. I’d sure eat em, yessir!

[Panhead John]

FireMan I agree about the no wrapping next time. With the WSM having a water pan, I wasn’t too concerned with wrapping. Since the OJB doesn’t have a water pan, thought I’d wrap. Lesson learned. I appreciate hearing from experienced barrel users. We can all benefit from your past experiences. Thanks for your input!

[Soonerpop]

Yep, no wrap. More bark, too.

[SmokingSteve]

Lookin' good there, Panhead! Just don't wrap them.

[Dewesq55]

They look really good, PJ. I've had a little run of slightly overcooked ribs lately. I'm not sure why it is. As you say, still tasty, but a bit too tender.