Newbie - First attempt at 3-2-1 Baby Back Ribs

[gm528]

Hi all!

After my dad passed his Original Bradley on to me, I was quite excited to take a run at smoking/cooking some ribs. I did a bit of homework and decided to try the 3-2-1 method. The results were not as I anticipated as the ribs did not fall of the bone and a bit tough.

My conclusion was that I did not have the temp high enough.(?) I kept the temp at 200-225 degrees for the 3-2-1 and admit that I opened the door a few times through out the process. (I won't do that again!)  :)

Being new to the smoker I do have a question in regards to the heating element and wonder if it is possibly needing replaced? Even when I slid the temp to the highest temp it never got hotter than 300? (Tried to not open the door for a bit!) LOL  :)

Any input is appreciated for:

1. Temperature issues?
2. Cooking tips!?

regards and thanks,
Gary

[tskeeter]

Gary, Bradley smokers are designed for low and slow smoking/cooking.  There are temperature limiters built into the smoker that keep the temperature below 300F.  Many Bradley smokers top out at about 270F.

Opening the door is a problem.  A rule of thumb sometimes cited is that every time you open the door, the cooking time extends by 15 minutes.  so, I'm guessing your ribs weren't quite a well done as they could have been.  To keep from opening the door, many forum members use a remote thermometer to monitor how things are progressing without having to open the door.  The Maverick 733 is a popular model because it has a sender and a receiver unit.  So you can monitor the progress of your smoke from the recliner during a football game.

Did you move your ribs directly from the fridge to the smoker?  It's a pretty common practice among forum members to allow meat to sit on the counter for an hour, sometimes two for thick cuts of meat like roasts, to allow the temperature to increase a bit before putting the meat in the smoker.

To help stabilize smoker temps, many members keep a heat sink or two in the bottom of their smoker.  A foil wrapped brick works well.  The hot brick stores Btu's  when you preheat your smoker.  Then when you open the door or put cold meat in the smoker, the heat sink releases the stored Btu's until the temperature of the heat sink equalizes with the other things in the smoker.  Since there are more stored Btu's available with a heat sink, heat recovery times are shortened (but you still want to keep the door closed as much as possible).

Did you use cold water in your puck bowl?  Don't.  Use as close to boiling water as you can.  If you put cold water in the puck bowl, the smoker is heating the water at the same time it's heating the meat.  So it will take a long time to get the meat up to temperature because the water will absorb a tremendous portion of the Btu's the heating element is generating.  Using hot water in the puck bowl shortens the heat recovery period significantly when you  put cold meat in the smoker.   

[Wildcat]

I modify the 3-2-1. I don't sauce ribs unless someone asks for it. For the end cook, I make sure the meat is pulling away from the bone rather than strictly going by time or temp. It sounds to me like your meat did not cook long enough.

[gm528]

tskeeter & Wildcat,

Thank you for the replies! Words (of wisdom) to live by. I'm sure I lost "at the least" an hour of cooking time by opening the door! :) I read a quote in my research on smoking: "If you're looking, your not cooking!" Pretty much sums it up! Buying a thermometer this week.

Will learn from my mistakes and excited to try again!

Greatly appreciate your input!

Regards and thanks again!

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi gm528;

Welcome to the forum.

Depending on how old your Bradley is, the older models would trip around 320°F, but with a single element I couldn't get mine above 275°F; with an empty cabinet. Some say opening the door, depending on how long it is opened; can extend your cook time up to 30 minutes, each time it is opened. If you are using the temperature gauge on the door; that may not be an accurate temperature. That is where a digital probe thermometer also comes in hand.

Also the 3-2-1 is not meant to be an exact time. Rather it is a guideline for spare ribs cooked at around 225°F. Each slab can be different in that they may have more or less tough connective tissue, and they vary in thickness; requiring more or even less time. So each slab should be tested first before taking them out of the smoker. There are different ways to test for doness. I use a bamboo skewer, and when I can slide it in and out with little resistance, they are bite off the bone ready.

The below link give other methods for testing ribs:
When are ribs ready?