ANOTHER NEWBIE QUESTION

[matwell]

I AM USING THE RIB RECIPE FROM A BOOK CALLED BACKYARD BARBECUE THE ART OF SMOKING. THE RECIPE INCLUDES A RUB FOR FOUR HOURS AND A MOP SAUCE. FOR THE FIRST TWO HOURS SMOKE AT 250 F TO FORM THE RUB CRUST THEN LOWER TO 225 F FOR THE REMAINDER OF COOKING TIME. HE THEN SAYS TO MOP THE RIBS WITH MOP SAUCE EVERY 15 MINUTES.
MY QUESTION IS IF I CONSTANTLY OPEN THE DOOR TO MOP RIBS EVERY 15 MINUTES WILL THAT DRAMATICALLY INCREASE MY COOKING TIME? WILL THE BRADLEY TAKE A LONG TIME TO RECOVER? SHOULD I NOT FOLLOW THE RECIPE EXACTLY AND MOP LESS OFTEN? HOW ACCURATE IS THE THERMOSTAT ON THE DBS? FOR EXAMPLE, IF IT SAYS 250 F WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK THE TEMP REALLY IS? SORRY FOR BEING ANNOYING BUT I WANT MY FIRST BATCH OF RIBS TO BE PERFECT. THANKS

[iceman]

I'd mop alot less and consider putting a brick or two in the tower to help with heat recovery.

[matwell]

ok i will try that. thanks

[LilSmoker]

Hi matwell, maybe that recipe wasn't written for the Bradley type of smoker?

I'm with iceman regarding the mopping, once every hour should be adequate, and you can also rotate the racks, top to bottom, back to front etc, but do this very quickly to avoid temp drop in the cabinet. I always fill the bowl with hot water when hot smoking, this also helps keep temps up.

Regarding the temp gauge, some are fairly accurate, some are way off, you might want to invest in the Maverick ET-73 or something similar, these and the Bubba pucks are essential accessories for the Bradley imo.

...............LilSmoker

[KyNola]

Matwell,
Not much I can add but the Iceman and L.S. are exactly correct.  If you open the door to the Bradley every 15 minutes you are going to be cooking a LONG time.  As for the DBS temp gauge, I wouldn't trust it.  My experience with it is mine can be as much as +/- 25 degrees off.  L.S. gives you good advice to get a Maverick-ET73 temp probe.

Good luck with the ribs!

KyNola

[SKSmoker]

Your DBS is a great machine. All those books are made for offsets or vertical smokers. Wood heat and electric heat are 2 TOTALLY different things. Ignore times in all of those books. Ribs on my DBS @ 250 take 7-9 hours depending on the load. Look up rib cooking times on this site, and pay attention to what is written here, not those books. The rubs are fine, but cooking times are going to be way off. Iceman has a great rib post that you need to read and read again. Everything in the bradley is going to take much, much longer than an offset, vertical, etc smoker. Opening that door sucks the heat away. Put a brick in the tower, open the vent 1/2-3/4, pre-heat at 320F <max for the DBS> with the water bowl full of hot tap water <as hot as you can get it> and let it pre-heat for at least an hour. When you put your ribs in, leave the tower set at 320 until your unit recovers. Unless you live in Florida, or somewhere else where it is 90F, it will take awhile to get the tower back up to temp. I have done this many times with all types of food, and it really makes a difference for recovery. Turn the tower down to the temp you want when it comes back up. If you keep it set to 250F or whatever, it will take too long to recover, increasing your cooking times substantially. Cook at 250F and you are set to go.