Pork Spare Rips

[ND Smoker]

Bought a pork loin today from sams.  Going to get after it tomorrow.  I'm thinking the same rub I had for the ribs and hickory.  Maybe top off with a little apple wood and then ftc with apple juice.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  Next weekend it will be the baby backs again.

[jaeger]

ND Smoker,
I hope your weather forcast beats our weekend forcast. (Severe storms predicted).
I think you will be very happy with the pork loin in the BS.
I don't think you will really need to FTC. If you get the temp to 155f or 160f max you will be ready to go. The pork loin is usually used for slicing and not pulling like a pork butt.
Just FYI, I usually smoke for 2 1/2 hours at 200-210f using apple wood. My total time is usually 4-5 hours. I like to have a rack of bacon on top to keep the loin moist.
Let us know how the smoked pork loin turns out.

[ND Smoker]

Our weather was great this weekend.  I put the same rub as the ribs on the loin on Sat night and put in the smoker today.  Smoked @ 210 for around 3 hrs with apple wood.  Total time in the bradley was @ 5 hrs.  Pulled it out at 157 and put on the grill in tinfoil at 350 until 170 with apple juice.  Everybody was really happy with the results.  I went back and forth through books ets on weather on not should cook past 160.  Everything I read said a minimum of 160 so I hit it up to 170.  It was still very moist etc.  I will have to do the loin again.  Next attempt is back to the baby back ribs I think (the real reason I bought the smoker).  jaeger - you mention chicken breasts.  Any good hints if I am starting from frozen stock from sams?  I am a little worried about the chicken, temp cooking thing - does a guy need to cure them?  The wife really likes chicken, would like to try them.  Right now the best method I use is on the Weber with their beer cooker.

[jaeger]

ND Smoker,
You have cooked chicken on the Weber so you are further along than a lot of backyard chefs. The whole chicken in the Bradley is somewhat similar but what I was referring to is Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast.  First of all, you don't have to cure them. What I like about the bnl skls breast is that after you thaw them out, you can marinade and season them as you like and if you fill the top rack with bacon, they will not dry out. The last time I smoked chicken breast, I had 4 different varieties on at the same time. We smoked some extra for quick meals out of the freezer.
Here is a web page with some recommended internal temps for chicken.http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=24&id=149&floater=disabled

[Habanero Smoker]

The recommended temperatures on the Hormel website are overkill. It is no longer necessary to cook poultry to those temperatures. For whole chicken 165F measured at the thickest part of the thigh is a good temperature. If you are just doing breast meat, then 155F is good, and I know a few chefs that only cook the breast meat to 150F; for dark meat 165F is good or else the dark meat may be a little too tough.

[icerat4]

So the internal temps of baby back ribs should be 185 -195. not to exceed 200.

[iceman]

I have to agree with Habanero on the Hormel site. Way overkill on the temps.

[icerat4]

Hey ice see my post on temps in this same section any thought on it.

[bsolomon]

ND Smoker, here's my 2 cents worth:  For ribs, it is pretty much a matter of personal preference as to the spare rib vs. baby back rib arguement.  My preference is spare ribs because I get twice as much meat for about 1/2 the price.  That aside, I would recommend using spare ribs until you get more comfortable with the results you want.  The reason I say this is again as before - more meat, and less bone, makes these ribs a bit less tempermental and far less subject to the possibility of accidentally drying them out.  In otherwords, you have a bit more room to experiment.

As to timing, I would figure at least 1-1/4 hours per lb. for smaller quantities (8-10 lbs), which will drop down toward the 1/2 hr. per lb. range for huge quantities.  I just did 40 lbs. this weekend and it took about 23 hours in the smoker.  I think the reason for this is that eventually with large quantities, as the cooking process continues, the ribs themselves become a heat source for each other, which does not occur with the smaller quantities.  I generally do not transfer them to the oven (unless the weather is really bad) because this just means two appliances to clean, and I do not wrap in foil while cooking because I think this tends to steam the ribs and I want them dry roasted to render out as much fat as possible.  I bring mine to the 189-190 degree range, but also check that the meat is receeding back from the ends of the bones, and you may also see references to the "twist test" in which a bone should be able to gently be twisted and the meat will not remain attached.

For prep, I agree with BigSmoker on not rubbing until you are ready to smoke, but for different reasons:  he stumbled on this because he ran out of time.  My reasoning is based on the fact that if you pat down the ribs and dry rub them, the seasoning goes on dry.  If you wrap them and put them into the fridge overnight, you will get a result that looks mostly like they have been bathed in BBQ sauce.  Where does the moisture come from?  Obviously from the meat itself.  I would rather leave it in there if the whole point is trying to not dry the ribs out in the first place.  In addition, if you really want to set your product above the rest, you will want to start making your own rubs.  Nothing against prepackaged, because I know there are many out there that people swear by, but for me, there is nothing better than freshly ground and mixed spices tailored to my own liking.  The same goes for sauce.  BBQ sauce is not hard to make yourself and the same arguement applies.  If you want really outstanding sauce you should find a good base recipe and then experiment.  I found a good one for KC-style sauce, which is based largely on ketchup (+ molasses, vinegar, and lots of spices).  I went to fridge to make it, and I found no ketchup.  So I found a no-cook ketchup recipe based on tomato paste and made that from scratch, again with fresh spices and vinegar, and that makes all the difference in the world.

For pork loin, I pull it out at 155 degrees.  Habanero Smoker is right on with his temps for whole chicken.

[ND Smoker]

So you wouldn't rub them until ready to smoke.  Will have to try that on the ribs.  Has anyone tried seasoning them @ half way through the cooking time.  If I was going to move them into the oven I could even try it then.  I have noted that grilled meat is better if seasoned close to the end of the process. 

[iceman]

Never tried seasoning half way thru. Grilled meats and smoked meats are going to be two different animals IMO because of the temp and time they are cooked. I'm not sure the flavors would meld enough. Olds would probably know though. He's good at that sort of thing. Fire him an e-mail if you get a chance. He's given me all kinds of help in the past. I'm sure somebody out there has tried this so hang tight and somebody will post some info soon I'm sure.

[jaeger]

ND Smoker,
If you want to be safe with poultry, read this latest info from the United States Department of Agriculture. These are minimum requirements for poultry,white or dark. These are regarding the safety standards that you were concerned about. This newsletter was posted by the gov on April 5, 2006.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_040506_01/index.asp

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't want to sound like a nuisance about this; but I have to mention that white meat only has to be brought up to 155F. I state this because I have taken several "Food Enthusiast" classes (classes the general public can sign up for) at the Culinary Institute of America, and that is the temperature that they use for white meat.

[iceman]

 I have to agree with Habanero. I was also taught this at CISC. White meat 155f Dark meat boneless 160f Dark meat bone in 165f. The USDA had to agree on (A SINGLE SAFE TEMP) so they had to go with the 165f. to cover all applications. Bummer to a novice cook that always ends up with leather dry chicken and can't figure out why. Brine on!!!

I don't want to sound like a nuisance about this; but I have to mention that white meat only has to be brought up to 155F. I state this because I have taken several "Food Enthusiast" classes (classes the general public can sign up for) at the Culinary Institute of America, and that is the temperature that they use for white meat.

[icerat4]

I like to rub my meat the night before :o.IT has more penatrating powers ;D.Go ahead guys fire away LOL. ;D :D ;D ;)