First off, being very new to the bbq’ing works, thanks to everyone who has helped me get going- whether it be bent settings, temps, accessory recommendations, etc.
Did my first baby back ribs cook this past weekend on my 22” kettle premium and was hoping to get some feedback on a few things. I will say all my research up here and on YouTube must have really helped shorten my learning curve because these came out miles better than I thought they would. Anyway, here’s the final product, then we’ll get into details:
- filled one charcoal basket 90% full of unlit coals
- added 10 lit coals to one corner of the basket
- 3 small chunks of apple wood across the top of coals
- foil covering 1/2 the charcoal grate (side opposite the coals)
- water pan also on side opposite coals (underneath ribs)
- ThermoPro an inch above the grate on indirect side next to ribs to monitor temp
- Vents: started off with top wide open and bottom 1/2 open. Had to move bottom to 1/4 open as it was hovering around 270 at the beginning.
- Temp maintained 260-270 most of the cook.
- 3 hrs smoked, 1 hr wrapped, 30 minutes after saucing.
- A really heavy rain shower came the last 20 minutes so that dropped my temp to like 200. Nothing I could do about that.
- bend test : ribs bent downwards to almost straight down with just a couple cracks here and there
- flavor was AMAZING, weren’t “fall off the bone” but had a little bite to them, which is how I love my ribs. However I know some of my family members prefer fall off the bone so I want to be able to do that as well.
Now, for my questions/observations:
- what should I have done to get my
Temps closer to 225, max of 250 instead of 260-270? Less lit charcoal to start?
- Is there a better charcoal setup than what I used? My full basket seemed to start dropping temp just shy of the 3 hrs in mark, which is when I lit about 6 more coals and added to the basket to bring temps back up and get me through the rest of the cook. This might be where a slow-n-sear shines
- how would I adjust that cook to achieve more tenderness/ closer to fall off the bone? Just cook it longer?
Thanks in advance for any insight!
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