Smokenator Dry Runs

[DrQuatsch]

Oh, and on an unrelated note, my in-laws told me that they have an old Portable Kitchen Grill that belonged to my father-in-law's father. He passed away before I met my wife, unfortunately, but he bought it in the 50's or 60's. They said it needs new grates, but that it is still in great condition. They haven't used it in years and asked me if I'd like it....didn't take me long to answer that question!

Anyway, after springing for the Maverick and the SN already this year, I don't think I'll be able to replace the grates right away...but I'm looking forward to giving it a go as well. It certainly got a great review on here.

[JeffJ]

"I just wasn't very confident that they were finished"

Some people do the toothpick test. If a toothpick slips through the meat easily the ribs are done. I saw Harry Soo on Youtube using his instant read thermometer as the toothpick using the pointed probe to check for doneness. The next time you cook ribs try the toothpick test. If they aren't quite done next time you'll know that you need to feel a bit less resistance when pushing the probe into the meat. After 2 or 3 times you should be able to know if they are done by feel using a sharp probe.

[Huskee]

Good advice. To add my best suggestion- to master the toothpick or probe test, poke the snot out of a rack of ribs that are cooked perfectly to your liking. Then you can really get a feel for it.

[JeffJ]

"I just wasn't very confident that they were finished"

Some people do the toothpick test. If a toothpick slips through the meat easily the ribs are done. I saw Harry Soo on Youtube using his instant read thermometer as the toothpick using the pointed probe to check for doneness. The next time you cook ribs try the toothpick test. If they aren't quite done next time you'll know that you need to feel a bit less resistance when pushing the probe into the meat. After 2 or 3 times you should be able to know if they are done by feel using a sharp probe.

That's what I was trying to clumsily articulate - getting a feel with ribs that are done right.

[Medusa]

Hi All,

So I decided to do my 1st dry run today. Started with 60 unlit coals and 12 lit. 3 cup loaf pan / boiling water placed over the main opening when the Food Grate temp hit 225 - which only took 15 minutes!! You'll see where temps are way too high throughout. ( I could control it for a turkey, but ribs on the food grate won't go ). At 11:58 I knocked the intake down to about 1/8, and @ 12:10 I stopped the run. No sense in wasting T&E, and charcoal. Jeez, I only ran for 1 1/2 hours

I'll definitely have to do some more research and testing with vents. Every piece of charcoal had been touched, and I think that I might have 20 or so good briqs to reuse.

Dr. Q:

I saw that you started with the Intake @ Full / Exhaust @ 1/2, and placed the water pan as soon as you lit the coals. I'll have to try this.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

TIA,

--Ed

[DrQuatsch]

Just saw this...surprised that the temp came up so quickly and went so high.

As for the vents, I think starting with them both fully open will bring the temp up faster (as you demonstrated). But I would turn set the bottom to 1/2 or so before it reaches 225 so that it slows down just a little and not overshoot as much.

Nice graph though...I like the idea of the bar plot to cover the intake vents as well.

With those temps at the lower grate you could definitely do some good ribs!

I think that once the temp really overshoots it's hard to bring it back down because that means the coals got lit too soon. If you look at the last run that I posted, once the temp got to 225 I started monkeying with the exhaust vent. Keeping it fully open will probably cause it to suck too much air in and that might be why the temps went high so fast. You might have closed it to 1/2 or so at 10:50.

I was very disappointed with my first run, but stick with it and you'll gain intuition. Much better to waste charcoal than ribs!

[Medusa]

You know, I'm lookin' @ the picture of the SN w/ the Weber Rib Racks. I'm pretty sure I can control the temp at the Lower Grate well enough to do some good ribs. I've got the Weber Rib Racks on the Wish List!

Still have calibrations to do ... Tally Ho!

--Ed