First Time User Question on Ribs.........Again...

[raf315810]

 Another dumb series of questions.  Sorry for the silly questions.  Thanks for everyones help.

1.  When I warm up the Bradley Smoker for ribs,  I am going to cook the ribs at like 225 degrees.  But my question is when I am pre-heating before I put the ribs in, do I keep the vent closed 100% then open it up after I put the ribs in?  Or do I open the vent while I am warming the smoker up?  Also do I open the vent all the way while smoking and cooking or should I leave the vent at like 1/2 or 1/4 open the entire cooking and smoking process? 

2.  Do I wait to turn the smoke on after I put the ribs in or do I need to pre-smoke while the smoker is warming up to the 225 degrees?

3.  I hear a lot of people on hear saying they lose the temp in the smoker after they put the meat into the smoker because the door opens up.  Is there anyway to prevent heat loss?  Or do I just have to move quickly when putting the ribs on the rack in the smoker?    Or do I keep the metal racks out and put the ribs on the rack while it is warming up then once the desired temp is reached put the racks in with the meat on the racks?  Or should I take the temp up higher while pre-warming then turn it down once I put the ribs in the smoker?

4.  I hear reference to cooking methods like 3-2-1.  Is this 3 hours of smoke, turn off the smoke, cook for another 2 hours in the aluminum foil with a juice, then take out of the foil and cook for 1 more hour  and then add your sauce with about 15 mins left?

5.  Does it really matter if I use spare ribs, baby back ribs, boneless ribs or is it just personal preference?  I just think sometimes there is way to much bone on ribs and not enough meat.  Can you do boneless ribs in the smoker or is that really a rookies mistake?

[devo]

I will answer Q#5 first, to me ribs are finger foods so no ribs need the bones

Now onto the warm up, no matter what you do you will loose heat when you put your ribs in. You can do a few things to lesson the affect like have hot water in your drip bowel. Take your ribs out of the fridge early and warm to room temp so they don't drop the temp. Put a brick in the smoker and it will warm back up faster, it will hold the heat and help on recovery.
3-2-1 you have that right. It all depends how much smoke you like, me more the better  ;D
Oh and preheat the smoke generator so its ready to go
Good luck on the ribs

[Consooger]

I have done about 8-10 racks of ribs in my Digital and I have found these methods work best. I will answer all your questions below.

#1 - I do not keep my vent closed at all even when heating it up. I have closed it during pre-heat if it's really cold of windy out. When smoking I open my vent wide and keep it open fully during the cook process.

#2 - Once you hit your desired temp turn smoke on. At this time you can put your ribs in. Take them out and keep them at room temp. I normally do this for about 60-90 mins before throwing them in. Putting them in before doesn't hurt either.

#3 - You will lose temp when putting ANY meat into the smoker. I normally turn up my heat about 40 degrees more to compensate and then take back down when it reaches the desired number.

#4 - This is ths method I use 3-2-1 brings out the juciest and tender ribs you can imagine. If you sauce and like a thicker glaze you can apply at the beginning of the last hour. I normally do it in the beginning of the last hour and then put more sauce on every 15 mins. At this point the ribs are pretty much done. If the temp decreases you can always FTC or even keep them in a little bit longer. Fresh apple cider I use here but apple juice or beer is a good substitute.

#5 - I have used beef ribs, pork baby back ribs, and whole spare ribs. My personal preference are FULL babyback ribs. You get more meat, less bone and they cook well for me, but that's my preference.

Enjoy my friend, ribs are amazing with smoke and are very hard to mess up if you use the above methods!

-Sugar

[Tiny Tim]

As with most things, everybody has a little different way of doing things.

1.  My vent (as well as those of several others) is stuck in the wide open position.

2.  When doing your preheat of the cabinet, let the smoke generator plate warm up as well, but don't load and advance bisquettes to the plate until you put the meat into the smoker

3.  For preheat and then after adding the meat, set the temp wherever you would like to set it...the meat won't know or care because it's already dead, and if it takes a few minutes longer because of additional time to get the chamber up to temp, that's okay too.

4.  3-2-1 is a good method, although not a hard and fast rule due to differences in the pigs that produce the nice ribs for us...could take a 3-2-2, or even 3-2-0...also depends how you like them.

5.  I prefer St. Louis cut Spare ribs, due to a little more meat than backs, but don't have the "cartilage" bones that a full spare will have.

Most important tip of all...have some fun with what you are cooking.  The best meals I've created for myself was when I was flying blind into it and doing things as I thought them up.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi raf315810;

Welcome to the forum.

1- Never close your vent while the Bradley is operating, unless Bradley Tech. request you to do so; as part of their troubleshooting. I adjust my vent according to the load, and what types of food I have in the smoker. The provided link is a guide to help you determine what vent setting works best for you - Vent Settings

2&3-  Others have giving you some good tips. For more ideas on how to maintain cabinet heat go to the following link: Bradley FAQ's

4 - The following link is a good example of 3-2-1 method: How To Make Ribs In The Bradley

5 - I am mainly a spare rib person. They have more texture and flavour, but need to be cooked longer. You just need to find a good source that trims the ribs and leaves decent amount of meat. If you like baby backs, when you see whole bone-in loins on sale, pick one up and you can trim the baby backs as thick as you would like. Buying boneless ribs, or country ribs can be a crap shoot. True country ribs are cut from the loin where it attaches to the shoulder. When you buy mock country ribs or boneless, I've seen them cut from the butt or the sirloin end of the loin; depending on what store you are shopping in.