Did my first smoke on my new Two Star General over Memorial Day Weekend. I tried out "grilling" first with some burgers and chicken thighs, but this was my first "smoke", pork spareribs. I prefer baby back, but at the time I went shopping they only had spareribs, so thats what I got. I wanted to basically follow something I knew well from smoking on my Weber (WSM), so I used my standard rub and a basic 3-2-1 cooking technique. I had a mix of hickory and pecan pellets. 3 hrs at 225, and then foil wrap and turn temp up to 250 for the rest, unwrap after two hrs, and one more hour unwrapped.
Verdict: very good! Im happy with my first smoke. I didn't make quite enough rub and would have preferred a little more, one rack that didn't quite get enough I put some sauce on during the last hour. They were moist, tender, good flavor, nice smoke ring, cooked about perfect for me (I prefer a little less than the "fall off the bone" many people like). Spareribs are fattier, which is one reason I dont normally do them, but Im pleased with the results for my first try. One complaint about pellet smokers, and one of the reasons I've avoided them for years was the complaint they didn't create enough smokey flavor in the meat. As far as "smokiness" goes, it was less than what I would (sometimes depending on how much wood chunks) get on the WSM, but to be honest sometimes the WSM was too much smoke, especially if I was impatient and didn't wait for the smoker to be perfect before putting the meat on. So, I thought the smoke was a little more subdued, but in a good way, smokey flavor, (I could taste the addition of the pecan pellets.) but not overpowering.
As far as using the MAK I have no complaints so far. I've done 4 grilling sessions (trying to see if it can really replace my Weber Summit gas grill for everyday grilling) and this one smoke. Im doing smoked chicken today and I have a bone in pork shoulder thawing to attempt my first long overnight cook of pulled pork sometime soon.
Anyway pictures! I should have taken some better ones, but everyone was hungry!
Verdict: very good! Im happy with my first smoke. I didn't make quite enough rub and would have preferred a little more, one rack that didn't quite get enough I put some sauce on during the last hour. They were moist, tender, good flavor, nice smoke ring, cooked about perfect for me (I prefer a little less than the "fall off the bone" many people like). Spareribs are fattier, which is one reason I dont normally do them, but Im pleased with the results for my first try. One complaint about pellet smokers, and one of the reasons I've avoided them for years was the complaint they didn't create enough smokey flavor in the meat. As far as "smokiness" goes, it was less than what I would (sometimes depending on how much wood chunks) get on the WSM, but to be honest sometimes the WSM was too much smoke, especially if I was impatient and didn't wait for the smoker to be perfect before putting the meat on. So, I thought the smoke was a little more subdued, but in a good way, smokey flavor, (I could taste the addition of the pecan pellets.) but not overpowering.
As far as using the MAK I have no complaints so far. I've done 4 grilling sessions (trying to see if it can really replace my Weber Summit gas grill for everyday grilling) and this one smoke. Im doing smoked chicken today and I have a bone in pork shoulder thawing to attempt my first long overnight cook of pulled pork sometime soon.
Anyway pictures! I should have taken some better ones, but everyone was hungry!
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