Ribs for a Newbie

[ShadowNix]

Hey All,

I am about to embark on my 3rd smoke and was thinking of ribs Friday. I have perused the post and I like what I see, but I have a few questions.  I am trying for those ribs that just fall apart...yummy!

Anyway, when you all refer to the "Vtray" what do you mean? I plan on putting water in my bowl and such, mopping and I want to do all I can to keep things moist!

Is finishing in the oven really necessary? I was planning on like 4-6 hours of smoking....

Do most of you brine?  I saw one brine and thought this may keep it moist...

Also, what do you mean by "FTC"? --> Just found the answer to this one on a different post...thanks!
Well, I appreciate any help!

Ciao.

Brian

[Gizmo]

The V-tray is the shield between the puck burner and oven heater and the 1st set of racks.  It is shaped like a V and has a hole in the middle for depositing the drippings into the water bowl, and has slots to allow the smoke and heat to rise up into the cabinet.

Finishing in the oven is not necessary.  The Bradley, or any similar type smoker, is just an oven after the smoke finishes.  The location of the finish does not matter as long as you get to where you need to be.

After the smoke is finished, I like to wrap the ribs up with a little AJ or Jack.  The sealed in moisture will help to tenderize the ribs.

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't smoke/cook ribs that often. If you are thinking about brining, make sure you check the package. If you have "enhanced" pork, that is pork already brined or pumped with a brine, and it will not benefit from brining. To check if you have "enhanced" pork, it should be clearly listed on the label as self basting; enhanced or similar wording, or if the ingredients have more then pork listed you have "enhanced" pork.

[ShadowNix]

When you say wrap, do you mean in tin foil and cook/smoke a bit longer ,  or the FTC thing?

Brian

[tommy kid]

Brian,
Funny, my third smoke was this past weekend and it was pork ribs. Maybe I got lucky, but they turned out fantastic. First, I peeled off the membrane on the back. I applied a dry rub made by Dinosaur BBQ and put them in the fridge overnight. I smoked with apple for three hours and cooked another hour at about 210 F. Every hour I would spray the ribs with apple cider for moisture. I then took them out of the Bradley and placed them in a tray with about a cup of apple cider, applied some Dinosaur BBQ sauce and covered. I cooked them in the oven for about three hours at 300 F. No FTC. They looked too good and it was dinner time, so they were consumed right away.
Enjoy!
Tom

[Kane]

hey ShadowNix,

what Giz means is smoke your ribs. lets say 4 hours at like 210.   Ill spritz mine with apple juice at say the 2 hour mark. when you come to the end of this 4 hour smoke cycle. pull the ribs out of the Bradley. spritz em real good with say apple juice or Jack Danials. sometimes I even do a 50/50. than wrap em up in foil real good and cook em another say 3-4 hours at 210. they should be awesome!!!   I like to toss em on the grill at the very end to sauce em up. than enjoy!    I dont think a brine on ribs is needed.

[ShadowNix]

Cool...thanks for clarifying...looking foward to the process...like 3-4 hours smoking and another 3-4 cooking (foiled wrapped in sauce....).... sounds yummy!  I will try to take pics!

Brian

[Gizmo]

Shadow, the above posts are on target with where I was going.