After Smoke Report of my first smoke (chicken and STL Ribs)

[Manstrom]

looking for some technique feedback after my first smoke.

I got a Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) for christmas from my bro-in-law this year and have been dying to get the smoker going. the weather was JUST warm enough this weekend for me to invite a few close friends over for some honest feedback on my chicken and ribs. Before the smoke, I pored over Meathead's book, this forum, youtube, and various technique books. I want to make sure i got the smoking technique down before i start experimenting with different flavor profiles for sauces and rubs, and more expensive cuts of meat. The group consensus was that the the chicken was really good, but the ribs were meh/not great; too chewy. Here is what i did for STL Ribs, Split Chicken, and Drumsticks (pics included):

2 full racks of STL Ribs

• prep the night before...trimmed ribs, removed rib tips, and dry brined. wrapped in plastic wrap. left in fridge over night.
• prep the day of...added meat dust (plus white pepper, ground thyme, and cayenne) to both sides of ribs with a mustard to help the rub stick. two meat hooks on each rack between 2nd and 3rd rib.
• smoke technique....before adding to smoker, added two half-fist size chunks of applewood that lit up nearly immediately. added ribs to one side of the smoker. after 30 minutes, sprayed w App Cider Vinegar and added another half-fist size chunk of apple wood. after an hour rotated ribs to the other side of smoker and sprayed w ACV again. the rest of the cook went as planned with little peaking and steady temps. at a little over 3 hours i removed the ribs because meat was pulling away by about 1/4 inch from end of most of the ribs (not all). did the "bend test" when i was saucing the ribs and it didnt separate like i've seen in other pics. i guess this meant i took them off too early?
• sauce....added one coat of KC BBQ Recipe (meathead recipe) sauce to each side and cooked under broiler in oven to caramelize the sauce and give it some chew. no more than 2-3 minutes under the broiler set on high two racks from the top.
• taste....plenty of smoke taste and flavor with the rub. i think i got a nice smoke ring on them. The ribs were tender that i could bite all the way, but still a bit chewy. That KC sauce was stupid good. it looks like i needed a bit more time.

Split Chicken

• prep the night before...removed backbone and cut through breast bone . trimmed excessive fat around neck cavity and used fingers to gently lift up the skin. injected breast, thigh, and leg with 0.6% salt solution. put chicken on sheet pan and left in fridge uncovered to firm up the skin.
• prep the day of...added meat dust as above. one hook under the wing.
• smoke technique...ribs take longer, so didnt need to add wood chunks. added to one side of the smoker with neck side toward the top. rotated the chicken the same time as i rotated the ribs. after a little over 2 hours and at 145 degrees, i took off and cooked it over my gas grill on direct heat to sear up the skin nicely.
• no sauce.
• taste...these were very tender and good throughout. picked up an amazing cherry/amber color. nice smoke flavor. skin was crisp, but a little chewy skin around the breast and thigh. meat was tender throughout. one of the chicken leg bones pulled right out as i was cutting/serving. friends preferred the chicken over the ribs. i thought the chicken rub flavor couldve used a bit more heat, and some sort of vinegar based/tangy/acidic sauce. but with sauce, the skin goes from perfectly crispy to limp and chewy....

Drumsticks

• prep the night before...dry brined each leg and gently lifted the skin. left in fridge overnight and uncovered.
• prep the day of...added meat dust to each leg. added each to an aluminum chafing tray that you get at the store with 50/50 butter and veg oil to coat the bottom of the tray. uncovered.
• smoke technique...this was my experiment. no new wood added. added to smoker after chicken and ribs were done and the temp was still holding strong at about 250 in the cooker. these were added with the tray on the grill grates and uncovered. after 30 minutes in tray, no discernible color or temp change. removed from cooker and cooked for about another 30 minutes until the temp hit 160 in all.
• taste...nice cherry/amber color like the split chicken. tender and crisp skin. no chewy skin and good clean bites through skin and meat. good smoke profile. still could use some acid/tangy sauce.

Smoker Notes:

• maintained a temp between 240 and 275. i know this is high but the PBC generally runs higher.
• outside temp was about 35 but with a 10-20 mph wind. smoker intake was pointed downwind
• used only applewood, but i have hickory too.
• used standard kingsford briquettes with chimney. no lighter fuel.
• nearly 1/4 of the coals didnt burn. the ones that didnt burn were over the ribs on the first 30 minutes. i stupidly gave a few kicks to the bottom of the smoker to kick off the ash from the coals and that ash shot out of the smoker at me and i got a nice inhale of it in my face. it also picked up on the meat. oops.

Technique Questions:

1. should i have wrapped the ribs at 3 hours when they were nearly done?
2. with the PBC, should i have sprayed meat with Apple cider vinegar?
3. whats up with the coals not lighting under the ribs? was that because of the ACV spray dripping down onto the coals? or is this a common problem with PBC?
4. if the coals not lighting is a consistent problem should i do anything during the cook to light the other coals?
5. what sauces would go well with this chicken? im thinking about smoking some limes and lemons and making a citrus salt, with some cayenne. or keep the same rub, but add a citrus based sauce/modified chimichurri?

Appreciate any feedback you can give. Rib and Chicken pics are below.

[Mudkat]

I don't wrap for brining or during the cook. Once the rub is on I just smoke 5 - 6 hours depending on thickness of ribs. No spritz. If sauce I finish on a grill. IMHO I'd say they didn't cook long enough. You're temps were okay I'd say.

[Henrik]

Yep, what Mudkat said. You took them off too early. 3 hours is too little time. Skip the spritzing, not needed. No need to wrap either, just give them more time. As for the unlit coals: most likely due to fat/juice dripping, but there’s plenty of experienced pbc owners in here who could offer advice.

Great job not only preparing by reading up, but also reporting/analysing post cook.

[Jerod Broussard]

Extra subcutaneous fat content on chicken makes for rubbery skin. I think the competition guys when they are prepping their chicken skin they scrape most of the fat off. Obviously not always practical.

[RonB]

Well planned and executed. A very nice report too. You have also done a good job of self diagnosis. More time for the ribs as you deduced. Chicken looks great. You might try Simon And Garfunkel rub on it. If you want a sauce, maybe use a dipping sauce so the skin doesn't soften.

[Manstrom]

Thanks Mudkat and Henrik for the feedback.

so what's best method to test ribs for "doneness?" do you suggest the bend test? or when meat is pulled back from end of each bone by 1/4 to 1/2 inch?

When is it appropriate to smoke/spritz? for longer cooks like tri-tip, brisket, or half hogs? i read that spraying/spritzing adds humidity to the environment and helps with the smoke flavor attraction to wet surfaces (thermopherosis).

might do tri-tip next time it warms up again.

[Troutman]

A lot of guys go straight 5-6 hours for ribs. I disagree with them. I smoke nekkid for about 4 hours, wrap in foil with some brown sugar and butter for 1 hour. I sauce and stick them back on for maybe 15-20 mine to set the sauce. Other guys go 3-2-1 for the same method.

Bottom line, you had the right methodology just not the right amount of time. Give your que time, drink a beer, relax and let the magic happen.

[Troutman]

If I’m reading your analysis correctly you smoked your chicken at 250*. That will certainly cook your bird but not crisp the skin. Try 325* or higher for crisping. Also make sure your skin is very dry. Keep uncovered in the frig overnight works well.

[DWCowles]

Looks beautiful to me

[Manstrom]

Troutman thanks. Skin was crispy except around the wing joint on the breast. If I split chicken again I could airline the wing joint and leave bone exposed or wrap it with foil.

Ill try the higher temp next time as you recommend. I've been successful with the same technique when roasting any poultry in that low temp dry heat (injection brine, loosen skin with fingers, leave uncovered in fridge overnight).

[jfmorris]

As others said, more time for the ribs. I wrap but I don’t have a PBC, I understand it stays pretty moist in there and wrapping is probably not needed. Spare ribs like you cooked will take 5-6 hours, baby backs 4-5 normally. Chicken needs a higher temp to have crisp skin.

You put out the fire under the ribs with that spritzing. It also cools the ribs down and increases required cooking time. Leave the lid closed and forget it in the PBC. That’s the beauty of it. It’s not quite like smoking in an offset or other upright smokers.

i advise you to go to the pitbarrelcooker.com website and read/watch their recipes over there, as they’ve fine tuned all those recipes to their cooker, and tell you exactly the process for both these things.

[Henrik]

The bend test is a very reliable method, pullback is not. Wrapping ribs is done in an ‘ordinary’ grill where the ribs aren’t hanging vertically in hooks. The nice thing with the PBC is that it has a humid environment by construction, so I wouldn’t worry about spritzing. Just give it more time, do the bend test and you’ll be fine.

[Troutman]

Good point on wrapping Henrik , that was a PBC something I don't personally use.

[Huskee]

You'll likely find on future cooks that doing ribs & chicken together isn't the best for one or the other, but it sounds like you were happy with your results of cooking chicken at a lower temp. I'm one of the 'cook ribs nekkid' guys, since I like a crisp candy-like bark on mine. There's fifty right ways to do them. The beauty of it is the experimenting and finding your favorite!

[HawkerXP]

I don't think I've ever had ribs go 4 or more hours in the PBC. Bend test with toothpick probe works for us. Chicken we cook at a much higher temp with one rebar removed.

[Mudkat]

@XPHawker What are you looking for with the toothpick test? Probe tender like short ribs or some other indicator? Sometimes the ribs are pretty thick (Wegmans) and I am not sure the bend test is as good in that situation.

[HawkerXP]

Yes Mudkat Just poke the toothpick in between the bones at a nice thick piece of meat. Easy in and out, your done.

[Mudkat]

Roger that. Thanks!

[fzxdoc]

The PBC is great at holding humidity, which is one possible reason, even at it's higher-than-225°F temps, the meat does not dry out or get tough. I run my PBC routinely at 275°F and for chicken 325°-410°F, and it's plenty humid in that barrel. So there's never a need to spritz, which runs the risk of the extra moisture dousing your coals and washing off the rub. Cooking vertically is a whole other thought process.

I really enjoyed reading your report, Manstrom because you were so thoughtful in your prep and analytical in your cook. That's a great way to zip right up the learning curve with the PBC. Plus it's entertaining for us fellow Pitsters to read.

About adding wood to the PBC: The PBC folks don't recommend it because it causes the PBC to run hotter, they say. I always smoke with wood, but seldom more than 4 oz for short cooks or 8 oz for long cooks. You don't need more than that for flavor (see some of Meathead's comments on this as well), and it burns nicely when nestled in the coals before the chimney of burning coals is poured over it in my experience. Many of us get our wood chunks from www.fruitawood.com and those small chunks are pretty doggone close to 4-6 oz each.

The PBC can handle large loads at once, but you'll have to be more attentive with fire maintenance if you prefer smoking at the higher temps it likes to run at. I've had a load of 3 chickens and a couple of sausage racks play havoc with the fire; chickens put out a lot of moisture and can douse parts of the PBC fire if they're smoked herd style. I'd guess that the fire under the ribs was somewhat doused by all the spritzing running right off the ribs into it. That's why I always make sure my fire is well lit before adding the meat.

Sounds like you had a good setup to get such hella good chicken with crispy skin the first time out. Don't change a thing. I agree with others that the ribs need to go longer. You might want to check the sticky (if you haven't already) in the PBC forum for cook times to get a general idea of how long a cook might take. Here's a link to that sticky: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...ts-if-possible

Congrats on doing such a great job on your first cook. Enjoy all the hundreds of PBC cooks to come.

Kathryn

[Manstrom]

thanks for the fruitawood site tip and the PBC cook times forum link.

[Troutman]

Gee Kath I had to turn on a lamp, find my reading glasses and settle in on your post. You sure you don't work for PBC? Nice write-up girl. It's almost "sticky" worth.

[fzxdoc]

Hey, thanks, Troutman . It's easy to talk a bit about such a fun cooker.

K.