It arrives on Wednesday....

[squish]

Ok, here goes....

So I got the BES 4 rack and it'll be here tomorrow. The seasoning process will be tomorrow night, unless something seriously STUPID happens at work. Any tips on seasoning this beast?

Controllers.....what's the deal? PID? BBQ guru? Others? Someone's gonna need to break this down kindergarten style for me........PLEASE. I mean are they really needed?

Foil covered bricks......I'm already planning on using them for temp control (?) and faster recovery. I've read tons about not refilling the water pan with "cool" water, or your prefered liquid....so, boil it is.

This will be my first leap into a smoker, and my wife ( the one who lets me live and breathe) is begging for ribs this weekend. I'm not exactly complaining about it. She started out wanting me to do a brisket, and I told her no way.....not just yet.

Oh yeah, I'm already more confused that before I started, and I don't even think I've even scratched the surface.

[rveal23]

Congrats on your new smoker!

1. Make sure your vent is open completely when you smoke (if not it may cause black rain with the moisture)
2. Keep the door close don't need to check in unless its time to spritz or cycle your racks around
3. Make sure you keep your puck bowl filled with water to turn the pucks off when they are pushed off
4. 321 method for ribs works awesome for me! And I recommend Jans Rub. http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?467-Jan-s-Dry-Rub

[squish]

How often should I be cycling the racks? I was under the impression that I could just put it on one rack and leave it alone until done.

[STLstyle]

I've made a few adjustments to my 6 rack (dual elements / PID - BBQ Guru), but if I were you I'd smoke with your new beast as is at first. 

After numerous smokes I decided to modify mine.  It improved performance no doubt but it was not necessary to turn out fantastic eats.  a PID does become more important to make sausage though.

Others will be by with suggestions.  If you decide to do ribs ( I think it's a great idea) and have questions don't be afraid to ask.  I do it all the time!  Jan's rub / 3-2-1 method will have your wife begging for more...

Follow the instructions in the box for initial seasoning.

Good luck and congrats on your new toy!

[STLstyle]

For ribs (3 slabs) I rotate top down and front to back every hour.  Use the top 3 racks on a 4 rack.  I use middle 3 racks on my 6.  I stay away from bottom rack unless load doesn't permit.

Last note: Quick hands b/c you're letting the heat out!

[beefmann]

they have you  on the right track

[STLstyle]

If I'm busy I do this 3-2-1 rotation plan for spare ribs:
3 hours smoke no touch
Take out to foil.
Rotate top slab to bottom / bottom to top.  middle stays put.
1.5-2 hours wrapped tight in foil with brown sugar / squeezy butter / splash of beer
.5-1 hour to set sauce or to firm up a bit.

After you unfoil the ribs keep the juices that accumulate in the foil pouch in a container.  Add a little of your fav bbq sauce.  Apply the last hour of smoke / before serving.

Dang.  I think I'll do some ribs this weekend...

[tskeeter]

Squish, note that STLstyle's great instructions are for spare ribs.  If your preference is baby back ribs, cut your time back by about an hour.  Half from your foil time and half from your final time segment.  I find that at 250F my baby back ribs take about 4.5 - 5 hours.  With your new, stock smoker, I'd think you'd be on the long end of that range.  I consider baby backs done when the meat has pulled back about 1/8 - 1/4 inch from the end of most of the bones.

If the thick end of the rack is unusually meaty (happens with some Costco ribs, which can have an inch or more of meat on top of the bones on the thick end of the slab), I'll cut the slab in half and put the thick end on a lower rack of the smoker and the thin end on a higher rack.  And not change the rack locations during the smoke.  This helps both pieces of the ribs get done at closer to the same time because the lower rack locations are usually warmer than the upper rack locations.

[Saber 4]

You've gotten some excellent advice from everyone above, as for the reading so much you're confused I think it happens to all of us when we get started with the Bradley. When I start a new adventure I do my research on here then I have to pick one method that makes the most sense to my style of cooking and tastes and go with it until I can tweak it into my own creation.

[Tenpoint5]

Squish here is a link to a tutorial I did a while back it is for spares 3-2-1 babybacks a lot go with 3-1-1. Not saying this is the only way to do ribs but it will help get you started in the right direction.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=10182.0

[BAM1]

Don't forget the butter and brown sugar when you do your wrap :)

[squish]

Just finishing up the seasoning as I type this. I kept a log of times/temps and here's what I found.

Oven set temp: 150°
Ambient air temp: 76°

Temp @ 20 min 178°
Checked with acurite thermometer
Top rack 179
Middle 179

Temp @ 30 min 164
With accurite
Top 163
Middle 166

Temp @ 45 min 162
With acurite
Top 165
Middle 166

Finishing temp 160
With acurite
Top 164
Middle 165


How does this compare to what y'all have seen in yours?

[squish]

My initial observations are that it takes about an hour to settle into a temp that's close to what you've got set on the smoker, and it seems to be very stable once that temp is reached. All of my seasoning was done with the water pan half full of boiling water, and a foil wrapped brick.

[STLstyle]

Yep.  Looks like everything is working as designed.
Recovery may take longer with large loads ( example 2 pork butts =16 lbs) of cold meat.

Good luck!

[ragweed]

You are definitely on your way!  I think I can start to smell those ribs!!!!