Smoking 2lb. 15 oz. spare ribs

[SmokinSusie-Q]

I found spare ribs weighing 2lb 15 oz in the back of my freezer.  I got them from Costco, and they already had a rub on them.  How does this change the time for smoking them and the amount of wood?  Should I brine them and then add some of my own rub before smoking?  This will be the first time I've smoked something in my 2D without using my probe. . .sorta like riding my bicycle without training wheels for the first time!

 

[SuperDave]

No need to brine.  I've done the pre-rubbed meat a couple of times and didn't like the stores version of a rub at all.  I would wash thoroughly and put a lesser amount of your own rub on them.  Or, just let this be a sacrificial experiment.  Are the full spares or St. Louis cut?  The cook time will be slightly different.  Wood, 2 to 3 oz. 

 

[SmokinSusie-Q]

This is a full spare but it's so small.  Would it really take 5-6hrs. to smoke it?  I will definitely take their rub off and use my own.  I have been making my own rubs for years when I only had a gas grill and feel no need to improve on what works!

 

[kz0m]

I smoked 3 small racks on Sunday.  I went with a brine,  Famous Dave's rub and into the smoker.  I set temp for 235 and let them go 4 hours like that then pulled them.  According to others, the time should have been 5+ hours at 235 but if I had let them go that other hour, they would have been pretty dry.  You could also foil after 2 hours with apple juice inside and cook another ~2 hours, foiling will keep them from drying out if they are a small rack.

 

[SmokinSusie-Q]

Carl, I guess I'd be safe to check after 4 hrs.  Does it make any difference how many hours whether it's 3 racks or 1?  How long did you have the brine on before smoking?

 

[SuperDave]

Does it make any difference how many hours whether it's 3 racks or 1? 

Not really.  Multiple pieces of any cut tends to cook as individual pieces.  The caveat being that if you really load up the smoker with lots of "pieces", it does take the smoker a little longer to get up to temperature and can have a small impact on time. 

 

[SmokinSusie-Q]

That really helps me, Dave.  Thanks for taking the time to respond.  I'm smoking the rack of spare ribs Sat. and invited one of my husband's friends.  His girlfriend of many years died suddenly, and I really want to do something special.  He loves ribs so I want to do a good job.

 

[SuperDave]

Start doing your toothpick test at 4.5 and every 15 to 30 minutes depending on how close you think you are at that given test. 

 

[kz0m]

I brined the 3 racks for 6 hours which was plenty, had to rinse them off about three times to get most of the salt off of them.  If I had to do it over again, and I will ;>) I'd brine the same time, set the temperature for 225, not 235, and still check at the 4 hour mark.  I put one rack on the top grill and the other two on the rack below the other one.  Maybe I got some skimpy ribs ;>)  They are good but they could have been pulled probably 15 minutes earlier.  I used a digital thermometer and checked at 4 hours, they were done, and then some.  That's just my own experience, each smoke is probably a little different, the outside temp was about 68 so it wasn't a typical winter day in the DFW area.  You'll have some nice ribs, let us know how they turned out ;>)