My ribs.

[gunman9]

Will do gunman9, just feels weird smoking something over 225.  But I need to get used to this smoker as all are different. It puts smoke flavor in food, something my pellet one does not. I just need a cart of some sort.

I built on out of 2x4, piece of sheet metal I had laying around the the things that come in the box with the 3D lol cost like $15.

 

[SconnieQ]

Will do gunman9, just feels weird smoking something over 225.  But I need to get used to this smoker as all are different. It puts smoke flavor in food, something my pellet one does not. I just need a cart of some sort.

I don't think you'll find many here who smoke over 225 for beef and pork. Some might go 235 for ribs or butt at the high end. 275 is very unusual (unless you are smoking poultry). If you are starting out, I would keep to 225/235 temp suggestions and get some smokes under your belt. Then if you want to experiment after that, you can try 275 and you'll have something to compare it to. But...other than speeding up the cook, I'm not sure what positive benefits 275 would have. And speeding up the cook is not positive benefit in my book. You don't want to rush BBQ. I would be afraid the higher temp would make the proteins contract more, thus squeezing out more juice and rendering too much fat. I'm going to stick with low and slow. 225 is tried and true, not just with the SI, but all over the world of BBQ. If you find 275 ends up producing an end product that you prefer, then by all means go with that. I personally don't see any reason to go there (and my #1 only goes to 250 anyway! )

 

[dibiase]

Have a storm rolling through right now. Does the probe unhook easily out of the box?  I know the food probe is dead on.  Just seemed like a long time on my ribs.  Maybe because I didn't preheat it? Any tips on this smoker is greatly appreciated.

  I've had my 3D for about 3 months now and I have done ribs 4 times so far.  I don't preheat, I just put the ribs in the smoker, add the wood and the water pan, set the temp to 235, close the door and pull them at 5.5 hours.  They come out awesome every time.

 

[gunman9]

Will do gunman9, just feels weird smoking something over 225.  But I need to get used to this smoker as all are different. It puts smoke flavor in food, something my pellet one does not. I just need a cart of some sort.

I don't think you'll find many here who smoke over 225 for beef and pork. Some might go 235 for ribs or butt at the high end. 275 is very unusual (unless you are smoking poultry). If you are starting out, I would keep to 225/235 temp suggestions and get some smokes under your belt. Then if you want to experiment after that, you can try 275 and you'll have something to compare it to. But...other than speeding up the cook, I'm not sure what positive benefits 275 would have. And speeding up the cook is not positive benefit in my book. You don't want to rush BBQ. I would be afraid the higher temp would make the proteins contract more, thus squeezing out more juice and rendering too much fat. I'm going to stick with low and slow. 225 is tried and true, not just with the SI, but all over the world of BBQ. If you find 275 ends up producing an end product that you prefer, then by all means go with that. I personally don't see any reason to go there (and my #1 only goes to 250 anyway! )

Considering people like Aaron Franklin and Myro Mixon cook at 275 I don't think it's unusual. If cooked both ways and 275 turns the exact same results in a shorter amount of time than at 225. Cook a pork butt at 275 and 1hr per pound, wrap halfway through. Let me know your results.

 

[NDKoze]

I haven't tried higher than 235 on ribs, and I probably won't unless I ever get into a real time crunch. I have tried 225 and 235, and I don't know if my conclusions are just in my head or if I had a bad batch of ribs (Usually St Louis Cut) from Costco. But when I tried 235, the ribs didn't turn out as well. The bark seemed pretty much identical, but the meat seemed too dry even though I took them off a little bit earlier based on my toothpick/bend tests that I always do. Bumping to 275 seems like it would exasperate the problem.

I am pretty sure that Myron does not ever use electric smokers, so I would not take his recommendations as absolute when implementing in the Oxygen deprived and moisture-rich environment of the SI smokers. Experimentation is always great and if you are happy with the results, that is really all that matters.

For me, it goes against my ingrained thoughts of low/slow for BBQ, so it is going to take some more success stories from multiple people before I will be a believer.

 

[EFGM]

I too cook my Baby Backs from Costco at 275* Almost every time they are done close to the 3 hour mark. At most 3:15. I started got this from Ed Maurin and carried it over to the electric smokers as well. Of course I don't sauce, and most who eat my BB's don't find the need to sauce either. The only thing I can say to justify it to some would be that I do believe it renders out more fat thus perhaps I convince myself they are a little more healthy. (Don't hit me Doc) I also as stated earlier do my Briskets at 275 and I am extremely happy with my outcomes. Give it a try sometime. That's how I found out I preferred it.

 

[EFGM]

Past Ribs at 275. The one in foil is after or before I wrapped for holding, don't remember which and I can't tell by the foil.