Chinatown Char Siu recipe -- my experience

[SmokingPat]

I looked forward to making pork ribs using the 'Chinatown Char Siu' recipe yesterday, and was so disappointed in the results.
Making the marinade and letting the ribs sit wasn't an issue. The problem was when I removed them from the grill they were burned. The marinade, that is. Afterwards, I thought about the marinade ingredients, and remembered hoisin sauce has sugar in it, and the marinade also has a little honey. So it makes sense the marinade carbonized.

Marinade: Made per the recipe, but I made 2x as much. I discarded the leftover after I put the ribs on the grill.
Cooker: WSM with a water pan (using water). Temperature probe at grate level, reading from 210-230 degrees.
Cook time: The recipe said 3 hours. I know racks take much longer, and these were individual ribs, so I went with it.
The picture below shows the ribs 1/2 hour into the cook (sorry for the shadow.)

For those who have tried this recipe, what has your experience been? Did you makes changes, thinking 'That won't work for me, I'll ...'

[Troutman]

In Meathead's recipe for Char Siu ribs he gives instructions as to how best to cook them, basically on the cool side of a two zone setup. Direct grilling is going to char the marinade beyond what you want obviously. I think the problem is in the way you cooked them.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/pork-ribs-recipes/chinatown-char-siu-ribs/

[Mark V]

I have made Meathead's recipe about 5 times on a PBC and never had a problem, I do flip them about half way done.
Other than just regular dry rubs this is my favorite recipe. I think it is definitely worth your time to figure out how to do them on
your cooker.

[jfmorris]

I made this recipe once, using my kettle and SNS, so they were indirect at 225 to 250. I don't see how it could have burned at 225 grate level temps on the WSM with the water pan in place.

My experience with the recipe was that I could take it or leave it. Just didn't have the flavor I was looking for, and I came into it never having had char siu ribs before.

This is what they looked like before and after 3 hours of cooking at 225 to 250 degrees. The recipe itself didn't call for sesame seeds, but Meathead's pictures had that on them, so I sprinkled some over the tray after I took them off the grill.