First Smoke!

radamo · April 10, 2011, 06:58:53 AM

After years of "shopping" for a smoker I finally decided on a Bradley. It arrived on Friday and upon getting home from work I unpacked and assembled my new gear. Given that I always loved hickory and mesquite in my smoker box on my grill those were the first two woods I ordered with my smoker. Then I hit the forums here (I guess maybe that was the wrong order... LOL). Seems EVERYONE feels that the mesquite is too strong a flavor and there aren't too many fans of the hickory. Oh well...

I seasoned my smoker on Friday night and used the mesquite to smoke it up. The mesquite scent was wafting into my den each time I opened my back door. The smoke made my whole house smell awesome. It seemed to come to temp much slower than the manual stated and that made me a little nervous. But once it achieved temp it ran fine. Construction of the smoker seems pretty solid and I was happy to see that. Once the smoke finished I let everything cool down and did a cleanup and covered the smoker for the night.

Now on to the big day!

Picked up a pack of ribs from our local Costco. Love their ribs!

Decided on hickory for my first attempt and based my process on the wonderful tutorial post by 10.5 using a 3/2/1 (Smoke/Foil Wrap/Sauce) method. Didn't have the ribs ahead of time so could only put my rub on a few hours prior to cooking.

Wrapped up the ribs after a coating of sea salt, garlic powder, chili powder and fresh ground black pepper and let them set for a couple of hours. Then loaded in the hickory, added boiling water to my pan and heated up the smoker. Got to temp in about 15 or 20 minutes.

Racked the ribs...

and loaded up the Bradley...

Then, 3 hours later...

... we were looking pretty good!

My dog was going crazy from the delicious smell of the ribs...

Now I wrapped the ribs up in foil and added a splash of apple juice. Put back in the smoker and gave them another 2 hours.

After the foil stage I removed the ribs and hit with a nice coating of barbecue sauce (for this batch I used Famous Dave's). Then put the ribs back in for their final hour to set the sauce... The ribs came out amazing!!!

Thanks to 10.5 for a great intro... and for everyone's help. This is a great forum and community.

Rich

Mr Walleye · April 10, 2011, 07:06:43 AM

Hi Rich and welcome to the forum.

Excellent post and awesome lookin' batch of ribs! 8)

Hickory is my "go to" wood for everything.

Mike

radamo · April 10, 2011, 07:12:52 AM

Thanks Mike! I have to say. The ribs came out amazing! My family LOVED them. Much easier to manage than trying to slow cook on my weber grill.
Rich

pikeman_95 · April 10, 2011, 07:53:02 AM

Welcome to the forum Rich. It looks like you are off to a great start.

Kirby

KyNola · April 10, 2011, 08:07:13 AM

Quote from: Mr Walleye on April 10, 2011, 07:06:43 AM
Hi Rich and welcome to the forum.
Excellent post and awesome lookin' batch of ribs! 8)
Hickory is my "go to" wood for everything.
Mike

Hickory here too!

SoCalBuilder · April 10, 2011, 08:15:04 AM

Those do like fine!!! Hickory and apple seem to be my favorites. I do use maple for Canadian bacon, cuz it just seems like the thing to do.

muebe · April 10, 2011, 08:33:59 AM

Very nice job on those ribs!

radamo · April 10, 2011, 09:25:41 AM

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Much appreciated.
Rich

Chili Head · April 10, 2011, 11:06:11 AM

Whoo those look tasty!! Hickory, oak and apple are my favorites. Nice job bud!

smoke em if you got em · April 10, 2011, 12:04:39 PM

Welcome!
Great job on the ribs. I use mainly hickory and apple. Never tried mesquite because everyone says it's too strong. Might try it on my next brisket though.