First Smoke-spare ribs- No flavor from rub? HELP!

[thill1521]

Hey Guys

I reciever my new SI2 on Thursday and seasoned it! Yesterday I completed my first smoked with some mixed results. I made spare ribs and they came out with a light smokey flavor, nice looking bark with very moist, tender meat. But, somehow the flavor of the rub just seemed to have disappeared. I don't understand what could have happened! This was my process:

Removed membrane
Painted on yellow mustard
Sprinkled rub on bone side (used Jeff Phillips rub)
Rest 10 min
Repeat same process on meat side
Using 2 oz cherry wood and 0.8oz hickory
Water pan
Outside temp is about 90
Smoking at 225
Smoked for 6 hours

I am dumbfounded on what could have happened!?!?!? Any ideas?

 

[swthorpe]

Did you let the ribs sit over night with the rub?  I usually rub ribs the night before, wrap in plastic wrap tight and let them sit in the fridge until I am ready to smoke.  If you did not do this, then I would suggest an overnight rest so the ribs can get happy happy with the rub.   

As for the smoke, you could add a bit more wood next time to get more smoke taste, but I also find that the smoke flavor is more prevalent the day after the smoke, so if you have some ribs left over, try a couple today and see if you get more smoke taste.

 

[thill1521]

I did not let the ribs sit over night. I just followed the instructions per Jeff Phillips (smoking-meat.com). I have seen other posts of great success using his recommendations so I figured since is was my 1st smoke with the SI I would try his method. His rub is delicious! I just can't figure out why after the ribs were smoked you could taste no rub. The level of smokiness on the ribs were perfect (in the first post i was just trying to say that I don't think i used too much wood and this was the cause of no rub flavor but who knows)!

 

[jpittssr]

Did you let the ribs sit over night with the rub?  I usually rub ribs the night before, wrap in plastic wrap tight and let them sit in the fridge until I am ready to smoke.  If you did not do this, then I would suggest an overnight rest so the ribs can get happy happy with the rub.   

Agreed, 10 min just leaves the rub sitting on the surface. I always prepare mine exactly as described but the spend at least overnight in the refrigerator,

 

[DivotMaker]

First off, congrats on the new #2!  Sounds like a good combo of wood and rub (I use Jeff's rub occasionally).  Jeff's prep recommendations are good, but his smoker prep recommendations not so good for the SI smokers.  Did you start with a cold smoker?  He usually recommends starting with a pre-heated smoker, which is not good with these. 

I also see you mentioned you let the meat warm for awhile before smoking.  That produces mixed results, and will effect smoke penetration.  Steve is spot-on with the rest in the fridge - really produces great results.  I prep ribs the night before, wrap in plastic and leave in the fridge overnight.  The salt in the rubs acts as a dry brine, which helps retain moisture in the meat, and the spices have a chance to penetrate.

Come smoking time, put your wood in the smoker with it cold, place an aluminum mini-loaf pan on the bottom, next to the smoke box (not on a shelf), then load your cold ribs right out of the fridge.  Cold meat, cold smoker = best results.  Warm meat, warm smoker = not so good results.

Spend a little time going through some of our successes on here, and you'll see how our techniques differ from traditional smokers.  Jeff's recipes are great, but you need to adapt them for use with an SI smoker.

 

[swthorpe]

I used Jeff's rub all the time for everything, and I agree with you it is good!  Try to the overnight method to let the rub get into the meat and I think you will get the taste.  As for the wood, I typically use 3oz of hickory, so I think you are OK there, unless you want more smoke -- maybe try 4oz.

Lots of fun in experimentation!  Cheers

 

[thill1521]

Hey Tony

Thanks! I set the smoker up according to your advice in previous posts, not Jeff's. The part I followed from him was just the prep of the ribs not the smoker. I started with a cold smoker, cold meat (they sat out for about 40 min total from the preping of them) and used a water pan. I have read just about every post under the pork section on the forums so far! Great information!!! Besides getting no flavor from the rub the ribs turned out perfect!! I am guessing that I just didn't get any of the flavor of the rub from not letting the sit over night. It is something I normally do but decided against it this time due to Jeff's recommendations.

(When I say no flavor I mean they tasted like I took them out of the package and just smoked them with nothing on them at all. Just very odd to me because I also have a weber gold that I use to smoke on and I used to have a propane smoker before I bought my SI. This was my 1st time using Jeff's rub, which has a TON of flavor which is why i feel it couldn't have been that. Normally for a rub I use a combination of one of Paul Kirk's rubs along with Meathead's memphis dust.)

 

[DivotMaker]

Good to hear, Tom!  Sorry if I got into to many details; I've learned to not assume what folks know or don't know.  Sounds like you definitely have it going on!  I agree with you that not letting the rub soak in overnight was probably the culprit here.  Jeff's rub does have a lot of flavor, so it's odd that you had the result you did. 

Glad to have you with us!

 

[thill1521]

No such thing as to many details in my book. Hopefully some others will learn from my mistake! Thanks for the help and happy smoking all!

 

[bigbassnutt]

One other thing is what you use in your water pan. I like apple juice but will also use beer. The apple juice gives just a hint of sweetness. I have found that the Famous Daves rib rub is stronger than the Memphis Dust so I use a little more rub when I use the dust.

 

[Pork Belly]

As everyone has said, you get better results resting the seasoned ribs overnight. Today I smoked six racks of BB, they were prepped with Mustard&Memphis on Friday for today's smoke. I think the extra 24 hours increased the flavor and bark they were fantastic. I can't say perfect, because I had a brain fart and put them in the smoker largest racks on top. The two racks on the bottom shelf  were a bit dry, but still quite good. I have not tried Jeff's Rub nor do I know whats in it. I have had great results with Memphis Dust with salt. I would try the Jeff's Rub if I had a bootleg copy of the recipe, but I'm not going to buy it.

 

[NDKoze]

I'm sure Jeff's rub is good. But there are sooooo many really good free rub recipes out there that I choose not to pay for one. More power to him as he has a great forum and I enjoy and have used some of his recipes from his newsletter.

 

[thill1521]

Those are some good looking ribs Brian. Next time I will definitely season them 24hrs ahead of time. Normally I am with you Gregg on purchasing a recipe when there are so many good ones out there for free. I just really like the information on Jeff's website and bought it to support his cause!

 

[NDKoze]

Those are some good looking ribs Brian. Next time I will definitely season them 24hrs ahead of time. Normally I am with you Gregg on purchasing a recipe when there are so many good ones out there for free. I just really like the information on Jeff's website and bought it to support his cause!

I totally understand supporting the cause and was this close to doing it too, but in the end couldn't bring myself to do it.

 

[es1025]

I have tried jeff's rub and meatheads memphis dust. For my money meathead is perfect.  The main reason is no chili powder (stomach can handle it).  However, i do like jeff's bbq sauce recipe, that is some good stuff. It was worth the cost alone.

I agree letting the ribs get happy overnight is the trick, also dont overload on the rub. I found back and forth once with a cheese shaker does the trick.

 

[Paul Case Luca]

Last random thought.... When you take ribs out... One can take some leftover rub in a pepper shaker and dust it lightly on as if you were salting some corn cob.

This "fresh" rub can be used to bring back to life anything that may have lost something for some reason along the way.

 

[Oscar]

I can't say perfect, because I had a brain fart and put them in the smoker largest racks on top.

OK, newbie question (I never was too proud to ask simple questions):
Why is putting the big slab of ribs on the upper rack wrong? I thought the heat was most stable there, and you'd need more heat to smoke bigger meat?

I got a lot to learn...

Gonna put rub on the pork ribs tonight for my first smoke in the SI 2 tomorrow! Woo Hoo!

-Tom 

 

[DivotMaker]

Hi Tom,

The general thought is the larger/thicker cuts, on the lower shelf, absorb more heat.  Heat rises from the smoke box, so the thicker cuts help protect the thinner cuts on top.  Yes, the heat is more stable, at the top of the smoker, but it's still rising heat.  The lower shelf will cook faster, since it's closer to the heat source.  Make sense?

 

[Oscar]

Wow! What a quick answer!

And I already have another question.
I'm reading all I can on the forum about how to do this, but I have some catching up to do before I can operate without a step-by-step procedure. Please bear with me.
How does this sound?

Tonight I take the thawing pork ribs out of the fridge,
Remove some sort of skin on the bone side,
Coat in olive oil (no yellow mustard on hand),
Rub on all the "Bone Suckin' Sauce" rub it can take (both sides),
Wrap in plastic, put in fridge overnight

Unwrap, put cold ribs in upper racks of cold smoker (bone side down),
Put pan of apple juice/water mix (only have about two cups of juice on hand) touching wood box,
Put 3 oz. of hickory (foil on bottom)  in wood box,
Set temp at 235 degrees,
No peeky for 5 hours,
Then toothpick test until done,
Then cover with foil to rest for an hour,
Then eat

OK? What should I change?
I promise to actually contribute something to the forum once I know what I'm doing!

-Tom

 

[Pork Belly]

Oscar sounds like you have a good plan. Only thing I would do different is check them at 4.5 hours. For ME with MY #3 that is ideal. Going five has been to long. But as I said that is my preference with how my smoker cooks. I like the bones to be clean but the meat have enough structure that it pulls away with very slight resistance.

You will need to experiment to find what works for you in your SI.