dry ribs

[squirtthecat]

I just might try dumping a couple bottles of Dr Pepper in the water pan next time I do ribs..

I'll do a rack of BBs 'naked' this weekend, and report back.

Hopefully this doesn't turn your water bowl black!  Maybe dilute it a little?

I use the disposable foil cake pans.  Hat tip to Pachanga for the suggestion about using them..
WalMart sells them in 2 packs (usually in 'festive' colors) and they fit perfect.

I'll more than likely dilute it.

[Paddlinpaul]

That is how I do my ribs. I rub them and smoke them. I add sauce for the last 45 minutes. My wife also doesn't like pork (GASP!) so I too will do 1 rack at a time.

Check my post from last Sunday.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=14812.msg176934#msg176934

[Tommy3Putts]

There are many ways to do ribs.  But I like to do them "dry."  IMHO Pachanga is a smoking god.

[MPTubbs]

There are many ways to do ribs.  But I like to do them "dry."  IMHO Pachanga is a smoking god.

DITTO!

Hats off to Pachanga!

[db14]

So here we go.  I'm out of town this weekend, but want to try and get my first smoke in on Sunday when I get back.  I went ahead and prepared the meat tonight because I don't know when else I could've done it.  I normally do the night before, so I hope a couple extra days won't hurt.
Here they are in the package, baby backs btw


Here they are after trimming.  There was a thin layer of fat between the outer most meat and inner most of the thick side, but I hope it is rendered because it would've taken a lot of trimming to get rid of it.


Here they are with the rub applied.  I used :
4 tsp paprika
2 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp onion powder
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp brown sugar
couple shakes of Lawry's
a dash of cumin
This is modified from what I usually do, but I was feeling like experimenting.


And here they are wrapped up in foil.  I didn't have the plastic wrap.  I also covered the foil with press n seal just to be safe.

[KevinG]

Here's a link to help get those pictures fixed.

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showpost.php?p=768&postcount=11

[MPTubbs]

Hope the rub don't eat holes in your foil!

Been there...done that.

[db14]

Got the pictures on there, thanks.

I've used the foil before without any problems with this rub, but you have me a little worried now.  It's in the fridge, so hopefully it will be ok.  I am use to using the foil because I was always stuck doing them in the oven.

[squirtthecat]

Doesn't look like any vinegar/acid in that rub, so you should be Ok.

[db14]

I'm more worried about them losing moisture over the next couple days.  I normally only have them wrapped overnight, but I want to be able to come home on Sunday and go straight to the smoker.  I've had this thing for a week and have yet to put a piece of meat in it, it's driving me crazy just sitting there.  This isn't ideal, but I'll make due with it.

[OU812]

Cant wait to see the finished ribs.

[MPTubbs]

Doesn't look like any vinegar/acid in that rub, so you should be Ok.

Squirt is right.....it happen when I was using CYM.

[OU812]

Doesn't look like any vinegar/acid in that rub, so you should be Ok.

Squirt is right.....it happen when I was using CYM.

Damn CYM.  ;D

[db14]

Well, they're done and I'm full.  Here's how it went down:
I got home and unwrapped the ribs, they seemed to have held up good over the weekend.


So I preheated the smoker to 235F with the water bowl 3/4 full.  I put the meat in and pressed the bisquette advance button to drop the first puck.  The button actually got stuck.  I finally got it unstuck, but it managed to drop a few pucks before I did, so I decided to open the door and see where the pucks were.  I got lucky and it had just pushed the first puck onto the burner, not into the water bowl.  By the time I had gotten everything under control the temp had dropped to 185F, but it rebounded to 210F within 5 minutes.  For this smoke I decided to go with 3:40 of smoke, with all but 3 of those pucks being hickory (the other three were apple). 
After 20 min the temp was at 225F and I slightly back the slider down.
After 30 min the temp was at 230F and I scaled back the slider again.
After 45 min the temp was at 240F and I scaled back the slider a little more this time.
After 1hr the temp was at 237F and I scaled back the slider even more.
After 1hr 15min the temp was at 224 and I left it alone.
After 1hr 30min the temp was at 219 and I bumped it up a little.
After 1hr 45min the temp was at 224 and I slightly backed it off.  I also gave the top a light basting with some apple juice.
After 2hr 40min the temp was at 223F and I slightly backed of the slider again and emptied the water bowl and refilled it. (only because I forgot to do this when I opened it to baste and was afraid all the spent wood in teh bowl would become a problem.)
At this point I actually had to leave the house for a while, so I put my OCD on hold for a bit.
When I returned they had been in for 4hr 20min and I one side of the ribs I could see the bone pocking out, so I shut things down and pulled them.  Here's the finished product:

And a little closer:


I was thinking with my stomach and actually tore into them before snapping the pics.  They were juicy enough for me inside and most of the fat had cooked off.  As you can see from the pics, they had a nice bark on them although it was almost black.  They were some of the best I've had, but they were pretty spicy.  I'll tweak the recipe in the future, but I was satisfied.  The apple juice didn't make any noticeable impact in the taste.  I feel like they probably needed to cook just a little longer, but I would have had to baste again to keep them moist inside. 

[Tommy3Putts]

Nice looking ribs DB.  If they were too spicy, looking at your rub recipe, I'd back off the salt, Cayenne, and black pepper just a bit.  Then also increase the amount of brown sugar a bit.