Author Topic: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs  (Read 2969 times)

newuser

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Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« on: July 08, 2017, 01:49:43 PM »
Hopefully I'm in an acceptable spot on the forum to post some steps from a cook in progress. If these steps help someone else, great!

3 racks, St. Louis cut ribs, 1 cut in half.
Prepped right before smoking and put straight in smoker (didn't feel like doing it overnight since I wanted to get started asap)

On 1.5 racks, used Meatheads Memphis Dust (1/2’d recipe)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup Morton's kosher salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder
After all was blended, further blended in spice grinder

On 1.5 racks, used Championship Rib Rub from Gcue.com (full recipe)
1/2 C White sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/4 C Ancho chili powder (used regular chili powder)
1/4 C Kosher salt
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chipotle powder
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp allspice

Wood: 1 5/8 oz hickory and 1 ¾ cherry (a hair more wood than I wanted, but I'm cutting chunks freehand)
Liquid: One 12oz guiness in a disposable loaf pan (put beside the smokebox)
Temperature: 235 (set timer for 5 hours)

Started all 3 racks at 12:30pm EST. Box temp was 91 degrees the moment I turned the Auber on. Took about 10-15 minutes to get to 235 degrees. Initial smoke coming from the vent was significant, but settled down to a wispy smoke after 5 or so minutes.

1:48pm - The whole back deck smells nice and since there's no peeking, I expect I won't update again the first test of the ribs, which will take place at 5:30pm EST.

2:56pm - Trying to decide if I should do 3-2-1 method or just let the ribs do their thing for the whole cook

3:30pm - For better or worse, I decided to do the 3-2-1 method on both 1/2 racks. I will leave each full rack alone to see how they fare. At this point, the meat is pulling away from the bones, but they are nowhere near done, which to to be expected.
For the foil wrap on each half rack, I used the following:
4 thin pats of butter
A light sprinkling of brown sugar (maybe 2 tablespoons)
About 1/2 a shot of crown royal (didn't have apple juice, coke, pepsi, bourbon, etc.)
2 teaspoons of honey drizzled over the brown sugar base

5:30pm - unwrapped the foiled ribs and took a look at the full racks I left unwrapped. They are getting close to how I like them, which is short of falling off the bone and a little bit of a bite. I tested one of the full racks and although the bark has set and is not moist, the meat is still very moist. I'm going to give them one more hour and then check them, but I'm certain they will be ready at that point.

Summary
I took all three racks off at 6:30 which was 5 hours exactly. I learned a lot from doing my ribs the way I did, which gave me 4 options:
test rub1 + no 3-2-1
test rub1 with 3-2-1
test rub2 + no 3-2-1
test rub2 with 3-2-1

All three racks looked pretty good. The unwrapped racks were darker and had a thicker textured bark. The meat on both of these racks was flavorful, but could have benefited from one more hour in the smoker. I found that these ribs were juicy and pulled from the bone fairly easily, but not cleanly. I was shooting for ribs that don't fall apart, but pull from the bone cleanly where you bite. Next time I will consider additional time on ribs that are not being foiled.

The half racks that were foiled had a thinner bark and were lighter in color. They were slightly more flavorful and juicy. The meat let go of the bone very easily when taking a bite. I preferred the half racks because they seemed to be cooked better.

In terms of flavor, the championship rib rub was very good, but was missing something. In both the full rack and half rack, I thought the flavors came together well, but didn't really wow me. I would give the rub a solid 7 on a 1-10 scale. It's a good rub to keep in your back pocket, but I will keep looking for something I like more. Meatheads Memphis Dust was the better rub for me this time. I really enjoyed the uniqueness of it and while, you aren't overwhelmed with the ginger and rosemary, it gives the ribs something special that I imagine if you didn't know, would be hard to put your finger on. Also, the Memphis Dust was a welcome change to the generic pork rub flavor that I wanted a break from. That said, it's still smoked pork, so I didn't feel like I gave up anything if that makes sense. I will definitely keep using this rub.

In conclusion, I would suggest using the 3-2-1 method if you're doing this for the first time and just want flavorful, moist pork. My personal opinion is that you sacrifice thicker, chewier bark due to the nature of the foiling process, but it's hard to mess up ribs using this method. I almost always do at least two racks, so I will continue to do 3-2-1 on one rack and experiment with the second rack. The amount of wood I used was sufficient and there was decent smoke flavor, but I would experiment with adding another 1/2 to 3/4 of an oz. This was my first cook (after initial seasoning), so I imagine a few more cooks in this smoker are going to help that flavor permeate the meat even more. Last thing, spring your vertical and horizontal racks with nonstick cooking spray!

Happy smoking!



« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 08:42:46 PM by newuser »
Ted - NC

old sarge

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2017, 03:15:50 PM »
Ted - Keep on posting your very detailed instructions. They are always welcome and I am sure many find good inspiration from them.  I know I do.  And thanks.
David from Arizona
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newuser

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2017, 03:41:05 PM »
My pleasure Sarge. Thank you for your many contributions to this forum. I've read a ton of your posts during my research on this smoker.
Ted - NC

jcboxlot

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2017, 06:10:47 PM »
Those look good! 
Smokin It #2.  Weber Genesis. Old Smokey charcoal.  Work from home antique tool dealer and living the dream.  Dad, Husband, Cook.  John~York PA

newuser

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2017, 08:33:53 PM »
Thank you sir!
Ted - NC

Glock_21

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2017, 01:56:58 AM »
Great write up.  Thanks for posting.

Now I'm hungry.
Travis from North Central Oklahoma
SI #3 with Bella Smoke Generator, Traeger Texas Grill, Kamado Joe Classic 3 and Joe Jr, Anova WiFi 900 watt

JustChillin

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2017, 06:37:06 AM »
Those are some tasty looking ribs. Good job!
David from Roswell,GA. My tools currently include the SI #2 with an Auber, Grill Dome, Solaire 27", Holland Grill (Companion) & Weber (Smokey Joe). The Companion & SJ are primarily used for tailgating.

EFGM

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2017, 06:37:56 AM »
Excellent post, excellent smoke! Thank you!
Doug
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drains

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2017, 11:13:23 AM »
Fine looking ribs! Thanks for all the details and pics.
Dale from East Texas
Smokin It #3

newuser

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Re: Newly arrived 3D - First Cook St. Louis ribs
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2017, 11:57:19 AM »
Thanks again for the feedback guys. I did something similar in MS Word when I got my WSM years ago and I found that it helped immensely to be able to look back and learn from what I was doing. It's certainly easier than trying to remember the little things associated with a smoke that was done months ago. When time allows, I'll detail out my progress with various types of meat. In the near future, I'm going to hit all the normal items - boston butt, brisket, whole chicken, wings, salmon, beef ribs and a few sides.
Ted - NC