PulledPorkSandwich
Member
I'm generally very happy with my SI Model 2 Analog. I've used it to smoke a variety of meats -- brisket, pork shoulder, salmon, meatloaf -- with very good results.
One meat I have not been able to get right is spare ribs. I've tried about 6 times, following the "no peeking" Lazy-Q recommendations, and they came out dry and over-cooked every time. I've varied box temperatures from 225 to 260 with the same results. I've tried with and without a water pan on the bottom of the box. I check the ribs for doneness with the "bend" and "toothpick" tests after about 4 hours and again at 5 and 6 hours. They never test "done", but when I pull them at about 6 hours, they're overcooked and dry. The seem to go from not done to dry almost instantly. I don't spritz, sauce, or wrap the ribs, consistent, I think, with the Lazy-Q recommendations.
I had another bad experience yesterday. I really like spare ribs, so I will try again, and next time I cook them, I'm going to use Aaron Franklin's approach, including spritzing, saucing, and wrapping -- never mind the no-peeking rule!
I'll report back with my next experience. In the meantime, do any of the experts here have an opinion on what I might be doing wrong? Has anyone gotten excellent results using the no peeking rule? I've thought that perhaps the meat I'm using might not be good enough, but I've tried a variety of sources with exactly the same results.
Thanks for any feedback.
One meat I have not been able to get right is spare ribs. I've tried about 6 times, following the "no peeking" Lazy-Q recommendations, and they came out dry and over-cooked every time. I've varied box temperatures from 225 to 260 with the same results. I've tried with and without a water pan on the bottom of the box. I check the ribs for doneness with the "bend" and "toothpick" tests after about 4 hours and again at 5 and 6 hours. They never test "done", but when I pull them at about 6 hours, they're overcooked and dry. The seem to go from not done to dry almost instantly. I don't spritz, sauce, or wrap the ribs, consistent, I think, with the Lazy-Q recommendations.
I had another bad experience yesterday. I really like spare ribs, so I will try again, and next time I cook them, I'm going to use Aaron Franklin's approach, including spritzing, saucing, and wrapping -- never mind the no-peeking rule!
I'll report back with my next experience. In the meantime, do any of the experts here have an opinion on what I might be doing wrong? Has anyone gotten excellent results using the no peeking rule? I've thought that perhaps the meat I'm using might not be good enough, but I've tried a variety of sources with exactly the same results.
Thanks for any feedback.