Help for Newbie

[Fran]

Greetings Pros!  My husband bought me an OBS for Christmas and I just set it up and used it for the first time.  Didn't do so good with Babyback Ribs - way oversmoked and undercooked.  I have so many questions and the little white direction sheet leaves a lot of information off of it.  How do I really use this thing without oversmoking and undercooking?  Is there a web site with detailed directions?

Any help or guidance is appreciated!!!!

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Fan;

Welcome to the forum.

It would be helpful to us if you gave more details on how much smoke you used, what temperature you smoked/cooked at, and for how long. Someone who smokes ribs more frequently will be along.

For smoke flavor don't apply smoke the full time you are cooking, use a difference bisquette flavor, and make sure you vent is opened wide enough to allow smoke and moisture to escape. For ribs most of us use on 2 - 3 hours of bisquettes. That equals 6 - 9 bisquettes, but you need to add two additional bisquettes to get the sixth or ninth bisquette to the burner; or use bubba pucks.

Here are some links that will help you get started and on your way.
Bradley FAQ's
Recipes for the Bradley

[deb415611]

Welcome Fran.

Habs has you gotten you started. Don't be afraid to ask any questions, there is always someone here to answer your questions.

Deb

[Tenpoint5]

Welcome Aboard Fran!! Tis the season for Ribs and Chicken. Here is a link that you might find helpful. How to Smoke Ribs in a Bradley

[Caneyscud]

Welcome aboard Fran - Habs has you on the way to rib stardom.  And if you do a search for ribs, you will find a bewildering array of doing ribs.  Do this - do that - don't do this - only do this - do this if!  You get the idea.  Pick one that looks good to you, is the type of rib you want - dry rub or wet - and you understand.  Then do that one to the letter.  Note the goods and bads.  The next time try a few changes - accentuate the goods, correct the bads.  Keep doing that until you have the ribs that YOU want!  Don't worry, ribs aren't the easiest first smoke.  There is a fine line between ribs with a little bite, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and overdone ribs. 

A little information about your smoke would be helpful do help find out what to change next time.

Right outta the blocks I'm thinkng Great husband there - buying you a Bradley. -  He might just be a keeper.  But then reality kicks in, a wife that wants a smoker - wants to do ribs, - NOW that is a keeper or maybe just my dream!  Will you marry me! ;D ;D

[Roadking]

Hi Fran, Welcome below is how I do my ribs, I don't like to over power my ribs with smoke but want to taste it.

Cooking Ribs My Way with a Digital Bradley Smoker -  Original recipe from Amazing Ribs


Remove the diaphragm meat from the concave side of the ribs. Don't throw this away save it for sausage meat or cook it while cooking the ribs.
Remove the silver skin from the concave side of the ribs. Just push a finger under it and it'll come off with some persuasion.
Trim off any excess fat. Some people will trim off some of the thick meat so the ribs cook evenly I leave it on. Never had a problem with it.
Ribs are ready for your favorite rub. Cut racks of ribs in half to fit on smoker racks
Coat the ribs with a light coat of cooking oil or mustard and then apply your favorite rub. Apply the rub a minimum of 2 hours before going into smoker
Ribs should now be at room temperature before putting into smoker.
Preheat your smoker to 225ºF and preheat you smoke generator plate.
Fill the bowl with water 2/3 full and place in smoker.
Place your ribs in the smoker and close the door. Here's what I do now with the smoker and generator preheated. Pull the plug out of the wall and put it back in. Turn the smoker back on and load your favorite wood pucks and set the smoke generator to your desired time of smoking (I use 6 puck or 2 hours plus 2 Bubba pucks home made) and get the first puck on the plate. Set the cabinet to 225ºF for 5 hours (check note below). The reason I pull the plug is not to put a puck on the plate when there is only 5-6 minutes left of time to burn the puck. Did you ever clean up and notice two or three pucks are not burned completely? Wal-la, so I like to start the cycle from the beginning.
Don't open the door for 3 hours if cooking St. Louis Cut ribs (2 hours for baby backs - my baby backs usually go for 3 hours). After the 3 hours (or the 2 hour for the BB ribs) take a peek and grab one of those pieces of diaphragm meat (if you put them on the racks to cook with the ribs, just a cooks bonus) and check the ends of the ribs to see how far back the meat is shrinking back.
Now is a good time to spray the ribs with some apple juice if you like. An alternative is to take the ribs and put them into a foil boat (or alum. pan which I do) and pour 1 cup of apple juice into the boat (don't pour on the ribs) and seal the boat to steam the ribs for 30-60 minutes. 60 minutes is the actual time I do.
Remove ribs from boat and coat with your favorite BBQ sauce. Your can either finish this last 30 minutes with the sauce in the smoker, on a grill or in the house oven. I leave them in the smoker.Your ribs are done a good indication is the rib has pulled back on the bone. We're looking for ¼" or more.


Note: Cooking time - 5 hours for St. Louis Cut ribs and 3 hours for baby backs.

Just remember everything is personal taste (smoke time & seasoning) and doness (staying on the bone or falling off the bone)

[smokeitall]

Welcome aboard Fran.  I think you will get the help you are looking for here, everybody here is amazingly helpful.  Sure helped me out a ton.

[oldsmoker]

Welcome fran. Looks like everybody has you covered. Dont be shy ask and somebody will come up with something to help you.

[starship]

Welcome,

Looks like the basics have been covered, except,  go to the link in my signature, and look for the Magic Dust Rub. It don't get any better than that!

[jha1223]

Welcome aboard Fran.  Sorry to hear the first run didn't turn out too well.  I had a smoke recently go pretty bad by my standards.  But, all it took was posting a bit more detailed information on time, smoke, how far open the vent was, etc.  and the nice people on this site got me straightened up right away!

You said they were oversmoked.  Did you mean that the smoke flavor was just too strong?  Or did they look oversmoked.  There's a big difference there.  As far as being under done, I found that 3-4 hours of smoke and then foil boating until the ribs came up to temp produced some stellar results.  That extra time in the oven makes then insanely tender and fall off the bone.

But, I'm still a newbie myself so here's the post that made the difference for me (he's kind of what you call an expert)  ;D

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=449