Ahh the sweet taste of redemption.
I was really mad at myself for for screwing up my first rib cook on the WSM so badly. So on my way home from a quick trip to the Gulf Coast, I swung through Costco and grabbed another pack of St. Lou's and instead of staring at the TV for the night, I lit a fire and set out to get it right.
Setup was the same as the first attempt. Shot for a cooker temp of 275F, water pan was in place but empty. To compensate for an outdoor temp of right around freezing I added another 1/2 a chimney of charcoal lit using the Minion method. Two tennis ball sized chunks of hickory went in with the lit coals. and two smaller ones were added about an hour and a half into the cook. I had a little trouble holding temp this time around, and had to close the vents down a lot more than I expected. My thought is that in my previous cooks the amount of charcoal I used was always one chimney of unlit coals, and 20 or so lit coals on top of those, so I'm thinking the extra half a chimney of unlit coals made more of a difference than I was expecting. I'm wondering what those of you that actually know how to use one of these things think? I'm also curious if anyone has tried using one of the after market rib hangers, and if so what you thought of them?
Once I got the temps settled in, things ran very smooth, and this time I pretended like it wasn't the first cook of my life, and paid attention. Novel concept I know, but I think it worked well enough that I might just try to make it a part of every cook. Total cook time ended up being just a tick over 4 hours before all three slabs passed the bend test. I'm getting better at hitting my preferred smoke profile too, so I'm happy about that. But on to what really matters... While not the very best I have ever made, these slabs certainly hit the "very good" mark, and I was able to go to bed with a clear conscience that I had not abused three poor slabs that had never done anything wrong to me. My GF was happy to indulge me about making ribs at 10:30 at night, and also thought the one she tried was good, but while she was supportive of the effort, she seemed more interested in going to bed instead of listening to me babble on about smoke rings and tenderness. Some people just don't understand what's important I guess.
I'm not sure what is up next for this adventure. While at Costco I also grabbed a brisket, but I don't feel like I'm ready for that challenge on the WSM just yet. I also pickup some pork belly, so maybe pork belly burnt ends would be a good next step. Or maybe just keep at the ribs until I can claim better than a 50% success rate.
I was really mad at myself for for screwing up my first rib cook on the WSM so badly. So on my way home from a quick trip to the Gulf Coast, I swung through Costco and grabbed another pack of St. Lou's and instead of staring at the TV for the night, I lit a fire and set out to get it right.
Setup was the same as the first attempt. Shot for a cooker temp of 275F, water pan was in place but empty. To compensate for an outdoor temp of right around freezing I added another 1/2 a chimney of charcoal lit using the Minion method. Two tennis ball sized chunks of hickory went in with the lit coals. and two smaller ones were added about an hour and a half into the cook. I had a little trouble holding temp this time around, and had to close the vents down a lot more than I expected. My thought is that in my previous cooks the amount of charcoal I used was always one chimney of unlit coals, and 20 or so lit coals on top of those, so I'm thinking the extra half a chimney of unlit coals made more of a difference than I was expecting. I'm wondering what those of you that actually know how to use one of these things think? I'm also curious if anyone has tried using one of the after market rib hangers, and if so what you thought of them?
Once I got the temps settled in, things ran very smooth, and this time I pretended like it wasn't the first cook of my life, and paid attention. Novel concept I know, but I think it worked well enough that I might just try to make it a part of every cook. Total cook time ended up being just a tick over 4 hours before all three slabs passed the bend test. I'm getting better at hitting my preferred smoke profile too, so I'm happy about that. But on to what really matters... While not the very best I have ever made, these slabs certainly hit the "very good" mark, and I was able to go to bed with a clear conscience that I had not abused three poor slabs that had never done anything wrong to me. My GF was happy to indulge me about making ribs at 10:30 at night, and also thought the one she tried was good, but while she was supportive of the effort, she seemed more interested in going to bed instead of listening to me babble on about smoke rings and tenderness. Some people just don't understand what's important I guess.
I'm not sure what is up next for this adventure. While at Costco I also grabbed a brisket, but I don't feel like I'm ready for that challenge on the WSM just yet. I also pickup some pork belly, so maybe pork belly burnt ends would be a good next step. Or maybe just keep at the ribs until I can claim better than a 50% success rate.
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