2 racks of St. Louis Ribs....1st smoke

[KAG]

From what I have been reading with the SI#3, each rack is close to 3.5lbs so.....5-6hrs at 225F? Or since it's analog....235F?

I wanted to do bacon on a stick but with a new smoker I will just use my dry rubs. One with a coffee rub and the other a molasses rub. Both racks will get finished sauced the last hour with a heavy on the Makers Mark, bbq sauce I mix up. Plan to use Pecan

 

[DivotMaker]

Spares will take you around 6 hours, most likely.  Smoke them at 235, and make sure you use a water pan, on the floor of the smoker.  Start checking them, with a toothpick, at 5 hours.  If it goes in easy, and the meat pulls sideways easy, they're done!  If not, give them another 20-30 min and try again.

 

[elkins20]

Hey Keg, When you insert the tooth pick put it between the bones. And when you pull the meat if it breaks the meat is not done. And like Tony says go another 20 to 30 mins. and recheck. Also after you sauce just leave them in the smoker about 30 mins. Any longer and the sauce will turn the bark to mush. This I did on my first rack of ribs, that bark just slid off when I cut the ribs. And was a gooey mess reason I left them in too long. I took some ribs to my Dad's and we talked for a little while. Did not think this would mess the ribs up. It is better to pull and wrap in foil for a rest.

 

[KAG]

Just prepping.....


Bourbon & Blackstrap Molasses baked beans simmering with thick cuts of pork loin that will get shredded up tomorrow for our BBQ. Baked beans are always better if cooked the day before then added to the smoker with the St.Louis style ribs. Of course smoked mac & cheese then watermellon for desert

 

[swthorpe]

That's looking good, KAG! 

 

[drains]

Way to go KAG! Some seriously delicious looking eats you got there.

 

[elkins20]

I too am doing 3 slabs of St. Louis ribs in my new/used #3 tomorrow. I am going with maple and cherry woods. But, will start a new post in the am. As going to use the Auber just for temps. and time, no food probe in ribs.

 

[KAG]

Well since I do not have an Auber I will use my digit probe to give me idea of how hot the SI#3 is. Plan to just lay on the top rack. I will check them at 5hrs and then wrap them and back in for another hour....that's the plan.

Also going to use my AMZ pan and see how it does in the SI3

 

[elkins20]

Good luck

 

[swthorpe]

Plan to just lay on the top rack.

KAG...I don't know if you mean you plan to lay the probe on the top rack, but if that is true, you will want to attach the clip for the probe to the rack rather than laying the probe directly on the rack.  By laying the probe directly on the rack, you will see very high temps as it will be measuring the heat of the rack rather than air temp in the smoker.

 

[elkins20]

Hey Steve what if you do not have a clip for the probe? How would you then attach it to the rack. Rick whom I purchased the #3 from said he just used to place the probe a couple of inches from the meat on the top rack.

 

[swthorpe]

I guess if you could dangle it down so it hangs from the rack, that might work.    I think I read here somewhere that someone ran the probe through a piece of wood and then hung the wood clip on the bottom side of a rack.

I have run into problems if the temp probe touches the meat or the rack, so I try to keep it away from both. 

 

[elkins20]

I plan on ordering a permanent mount sensor for the #3 this week. Which will fix this problem. Thanks for the tip, right now it looks to be running fine. I am doing ribs at 235 degrees and has not varied at all. I did see it jump up to 237 when I remember to add the bread pan half full of apple juice. It was right on the drain board where I added the juice this morning. It was only an hour late getting into the #3. I am glad I remember to add the wood to the box and foil the top of the box and floor of the smoker.  :

 

[swthorpe]

Sounds good, Bill!  I knew when I had messed up with the probe and started getting wild readings.  The frustration then is that you have a probe that can't be trusted for the rest of the smoke!  Truth be told, though, I now really don't use the probe for the temp inside the box; I just use the meat probe and trust that SI is doing its thing correctly on the set temp.

 

[KAG]

Well in they go. I just dropped the probe down through the smoke hole.....the probe is almost 10 inches long so it's basically dangling between the top and 2nd rack. Did use my AMZ tray loaded with Pecan on the bottom and set the smoker at 230F but will adjust in in hour or so. Did not set a water pan to wet smoke, wanted to see how it does out of the box. Previous electric never had to add a water pan and never an issue with dry meat so plan to just see. If they look dry when I pull them in 5hours to wrap I will add some bourbon/apple juice to the foil wrap. They have been setting sealed in a long tupperware containers for 36hours in my garage frig.

The top ribs are Blackstrap molasses and rub. The bottom ribs is my coffee rub and molasses.

I did foil the lid to the fire box and put a large bakers sheet just above it to catch most of the drippings. We will see how it works.

 

[KAG]

So the AMZ tray won't stay lit so put wood chunks in the fire box.

Going to have to sort that one out later but will just do chunks for a while to learn this smoker. Maybe that in the SI3 the AMZ tray is strictly a cold smoking add on. From what I read......few have really ever needed the AMZ tray for decent smoke anyway

 

[DivotMaker]

KAG, the large baker's sheet between the smoke box and meat will probably play havoc with your box temp.  We went through this a couple of years ago with a bunch of folks getting low box temps, and the only common thing was the use of a large drip pan.  It seems to channel the heat up the sides, and makes the temp probe think the box is a lot hotter than it really is.  I'll be interested to see how your results are, it you have a box temp probe near the meat.  Most of us have found foiling the bottom is the best way, so there's no obstruction between the heat and the meat.

 

[KAG]

When I added the chunks after an hour the digital temp was 197F and is located near the meat.

Interesting.......

 

[elkins20]

Hey KAG, My ribs are in and out now resting in foil, towels and a cooler. They cook in a little under 5 hrs. at 235. I love the #3 and the Auber. Now need to get off my lazy butt and do the Little Brother so both will be the same.

 

[DivotMaker]

When I added the chunks after an hour the digital temp was 197F and is located near the meat.

Interesting.......

Yep.  38 degrees below setpoint...sounds about right, with the big cookie sheet.  Try just using foil on the bottom next time, and see if you get the same results.  It just "tricks" the thermostat in a negative way.