Newbie continues on to Ribs. Some questions.

[heinz]

Hi all.

Learned some with my chicken and brisket, I think/hope so I'm on to Ribs. Pressure is on, company is coming.

Costco ribs have been rubbed with a Kansas City Style rub and have been in the fridge overnight. Membrane was removed prior to applying rub. Rub was applied generously and rubbed in.

The questions:
1) Can rub be overapplied, or rather if applied generously, should some be 'removed' before they go into the Bradley?
2) Bone side down or meat side down to the fire/smoke?
3) Should they be turned part-way through smoke/cook time?

I have 2 racks each planned for bottom and second tray. The pieces I cut to get the rack to fit onto tray 1 and 2 are going onto tray 3 and the top will be empty.

Bradley will be pre-heated to 250 with first puck in 10 minutes after turn-on and meat in when I have the 250 for a bit is my throught.

I'm planning 4 hours of smoke at 210 degrees using hickory. Part-way through I'll swap tray 1 and 2. Tray 3 I'll play by ear.

No mopping planned. Assuming I have "done" temp by then I'll FTC for a couple of hours. Somewhat less if I misjudged cooking/smoking time.

The actual cooking "recipe/technique" I'm still devising/researching :-)

Hopefully I'm "close". All comments/suggestions welcomed.

Heinz

Oh yeah, almost forgot. My grandson does not like ribs so I plan to add a couple of smokies or wieners into the mix for perhaps the last hour. (Some day his tastebuds will wake up I hope :-)

[acords]

1) Can rub be overapplied, or rather if applied generously, should some be 'removed' before they go into the Bradley?

It is up to your taste as to whether or not you remove excess rub.  My thought is leave it on.  Rubs are only going to flavor the outside of the meat for the most part, so you may as well get as much flavor as you can.

Bone side down or meat side down to the fire/smoke?

I always use a rib rack, but if laying flat I would "bone side down"

Should they be turned part-way through smoke/cook time?

No need to turn, but you are on the mark with rack rotation

Good luck and Happy Holiday

[heinz]

Forgot an important (for me) question.... at the end of the smoke, wrap in foil with a bit of apple juice?

Yes? No?

TIA - Heinz

[BigSmoker]

If the ribs aren't falling off the bone I would foil them with a little apple juice and honey.  If they are falling off the bone I would skip this step.  30 minutes to 1 hour in the foil should be good 8).

[heinz]

The results: Absolute yum.

Only the ends I cut and smoked on tray 3 were a little dry. Will be taking them out early next time.

Here's what I did: (Costco Baby Backs)
membrane removed and rubbed with Kansas City style rub the night before.
I had 4 slabs and 4 ends. Put all in a plastic bag and into fridge overnight. Turned the bag a few times and massaged it some in the process.

Removed from fridge early AM to bring up to room temp.

9:00: Started smoker. Added smoke about 9:40
10:00: Ribs went in
4 hours of hickory smoke. Temp set to 230 (my smoker). I think that calculates to 210.

I'm a little confused with temp probe as all showed much lower. At 3:00 hours the Bradley probe showed 194. I had it laying on tray 1 but not touching any meat. Perhaps the proximity of the meat kept the probe temp down.
At the end the probe did go up close to 210. Next time I'm going to arrange for the probe to be hung under tray 1. Bradley temp showed 220/230 during the whole process.

At 4 hours I wrapped them in foil, after splasing/basting with a mixture of apple juice and a teaspoon of honey mixed in. I heated the mixture in the microwave before applying.

I cooked for another 1:30 and then FTC'd until 5PM. Ribs were still nice and hot and scrumdeli-echious.

Bradley temp stayed set to 230 for the whole time. The slabs were moist, the ends a little dry but certainly not beyond eating.

Company loved it :-)
Pork Butt next.

Thank you all for your help.

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm not a rib person, but I'm glad your ribs turned out great.

As for the temperature probe. If the sensor you are using is too close to the meat, it will register a lower temperature then the rest of the cabinet. This is due to moisture evaporating from the meat, which will cool the air near the meat.

[heinz]

Thanks Habanero.

I thought (was hoping) that there would turn out be logical explanation.

[Twinkle]

I tried some baby backs yesterday. Turned out good but was not crazy about the rub I used(eldest son gobbled them up).

I kept reading about taking the membrane off the back of the ribs, but I bought mine from our local meat store(they have about 5-6 around my area). Already had the membrane taken off and were trimmed beautifully. All for the same price that the chain stores sell those pack of sealed packs.

[Dougsts]

Glad to here your ribs came out great!  One of the first things is did in my Bradley when i got it a couple of months ago was Ribs.  I do the same thing you did, the costco three pack of baby backs.  I normally try different rubs to one of the racks, and the ole standard, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to the other two. The folks who munch on them always seem to prefer the ole standard to any of the rubs ive tried.  I guess they have honed in on the holy trinity of seasoning, at least on my grill, smoker and kitchen.

[asa]

Twinkle -
If you are into making your own rub, here's one I've had excellent success with:  http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=3409.msg31111#msg31111

Good luck and let me know what you think if you try it.

[Twinkle]

Thanks! That looks good, I think I'll try that one next time. I tried a Memphis rub(from the BBQ Bible) it wasn't bad but I wouldn't use it again.