Next comparison experiment: Kurobuta spares

[DaveD]

Howdy folks, today I'm doing my next comparison experiment, cooking a pair of Kurobuta SLC spare ribs with one on the SnS kettle and the other on the Pit Boss Copperhead 5 vertical pellet smoker. Flight plan is to run them at 250F/120C, with the PB rack getting an hour or so on the "smoke" setting before going to that target temp. It's a glorious autumn day here on the east coast so it should be great cookin' weather this afternoon when these go in.

Edit: forgot to include, B&B charcoal & two hickory chunks on the kettle, Cookin' Pellets 100% hickory pellets on the Pit Boss.

Starting material: got these from CrowdCow [EDIT: had Wild Fork at first], and have had excellent quality from them before on these Kurobuta spares. Very meaty and flavorful in prior cooks. These look good too, and these shipped with the membrane already removed, a very welcome touch!




Got 'em dry brining and will hit them with Central BBQ Rib Rub at about T minus 30 minutes. See ya in the early afternoon eastern time

[Jfrosty27]

Good eating coming there Pitmaster! Let’s see. If I leave now…….. 🤔

[texastweeter]

Those ribs look really good. What did each weigh pre trim?

[Sid P]

And what do they cost?

[STEbbq]

Sid P texastweeter

https://wildforkfoods.com/products/berkshire-pork-st-louis-ribs-whole?algoliaHit=true&variant=32684247253058

[DaveD]

Whoops! I totally misspoke. This is a pair of racks that I got from CrowdCow, not Wild Fork. They're both very close to 3lb/1.4kg, one is a bit over and the other is a bit under. They're just over US$9/lb ($19/kg) at the moment, but I don't remember what they were when I got them in early September.

Got them in at 1:30pm, about an hour later than I'd hoped for a variety of reasons. One hour in, bumped up the set point on the Pit Boss from "smoke" to 250F/120C, and the SnS has been holding nice and steady at that temp, give or take just a few degrees.




After the first hour:



I'm monitoring the grate temp in the Pit Boss with a non-datalogging probe, but that cooker is super stable so I don't really need to. Kettle behaving very nicely, once I got my adjustments right (first three dots on the profile).


Nice to be rolling smoke from two rigs at once! It is a beeeee-YOOO-teee-full day here, hardly a cloud in the sky, just a breath of a breeze, leaves in near-peak colors, temps just over 60F/16C, dew point way down at 40F/5C. Perfect fall day!

[Sid P]

Nice! There are a bunch of jealous people downwind of you…

[texastweeter]

3lbs seems to be the sweet spot to me on st Lewis cut to me. Lookin good.

[Redwng]

Hope you have better luck with the higher dollar per pound (Heritage) ribs than I have. My cooking process (pellet, offset or kettle) doesn't vary too much but we didn't think they were any better than the cheaper ones at Costco or BJ's. I have tried this three or four times from Creekstone and SRF and have quit trying.

[DaveD]

We have definitely noticed the difference compared to local store-bought (mostly Smithfield branded). And Wild Fork's prices are only a shade higher than local, their prices seem to be consistently lower pretty much across the board, and the quality is quite good IMO. Sorry you haven't had the same experience!

[tstalafuse]

I bought two racks from Wild Fork and they were so thin you could almost see through them.

[DaveD]

Cruising along on this spectacular autumn afternoon. We're about four hours in now, and I just checked temps for the first time, they're coming in between 175-185F/80-85C and not probe-tender yet. The SnS has been rock steady all day. Significantly less futzing around than last time, that's for sure, because none was needed. And unlike last time, when I put the lid back on things picked right back up promptly.

2.5 hours in:


Almost 4 hours in:



The most recent unlidding lasted longer, I was measuring those temps. Still came right back.


Today's office:

[DaveD]

Deliverables: pretty sure these are the best spare ribs I've made. I couldn't ask for better in any category: flavor, tenderness, juiciness, etc. We can easily taste the difference between the kettle-smoked and pellet-smoked versions, but once again, the pellet smoked rack absolutely holds its own with the kettle rack when that "smoke" step is included. The bark on the kettle rack is definitely barkier, no doubt. But my lovely bride said she was just slightly leaning toward the pellet-smoked version... but then when she went for another rib, it was a kettle-smoked one

They were probing tender and near 200F/93C at about five hours in, so off they came to rest on the counter for 10-15 min, then we dug in.

Kettle-smoked rack on top, pellet-smoked below.

Kettle rack:

Pellet rack:

Pellet rack on the left, kettle on the right (roughly half of each rack):

With corn on the cob & black bean charro.

[Sid P]

Great looking ribs, Dave. There aren’t any losers on that cutting board!

[Jfrosty27]

Another winner Dave! You’ve been really on a roll lately with your cooks. Keep it up Pitmaster!

[rlozinak]

Good looking ribs, mine go on tomorrow.

[DaveD]

Alright, good luck with them!