Kettle Beef Ribs

[Todman]

Have been browsing as a guest for a while now so I finally decide to register and put up my first post.
I have done a few smokes on a 22 kettle using the snake method and have wondered if I could replicate more so the design and set up of a bullet style smoker (i.e WSM or ProQ).



I removed the side piece from a pair of charcoal baskets and used them as my base.
I used a 4kg packet of Heat Beads branded Charcoal Briquettes.



9 briquettes were lit and put in the centre (minion method), although I will probably light up 5 or 6 next time.
Hickory wood chunks and chips were used as my smoke.



Once the minion method was up and running I put a 40cm terracotta saucer (foiled) on top of the side pieces in the first photo.
My rubbed* rack of beef ribs was put on the grill with bottom and top vents wide open.



After half an hour temps climbed to 250 so I closed the bottom vent to a slight opening.




3 hours on and it was time to wrap.
The briquettes were chugging away nicely, maybe too nice so I closed bottom vent completely.
No sauce or liquid was used for the wrap.









2 hours wrapped and it was time for the final hour unwrapped.
I opened the bottom vents slightly and applied some 333 Rib Sauce and some more rub.
Temp had dropped below 250 and briquettes were going along nicely.









After 6 hours and about 15 mins it was time to take the Ribs off the grill and wrap it in some foil and let it rest.
I checked the charcoal and it was still going along nicely, temps had climbed up to 250f.
The ribs were sliced into and there was a nice smoke ring, may be not the best looking but my son and I loved it.
It was tender and juicy.









I came back to the Kettle after 8 hours and checked the charcoal and temps.
Still going on strongly, probably another 2-3 hours cook time would have been possible.





All in all the cook was a success.
The terracotta saucer broke mid cook and I replaced it with a foiled pizza stone (which also cracked) but made it to the end .
Next time I will be using a 45cm pizza pan as a heat deflector.

With this method most of the real estate of the 22 can be utilized so next time I will add more goodies on the grill.
Thank you for looking and appreciate any suggestions and comments.

KC.

*Recipe for rib rub

Salt meat first. After 5-10 mins put rub on.

KCs

3 parts Brown sugar
1 part Garlic powder
1 part Onion powder
1 part Paprika
1 part Dried Oregano
1 part Ground White pepper
1 part Sumak
1 part Ancho powder
Half part Mustard powder
Half part Ground Cinnamon
Half part Ginger powder
Half part Ground Cumin
Half part Hot pepper powder (optional)

[kettlebb]

Wow. Welcome and what a great first post.


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[1buckie]

Wow. Welcome and what a great first post.


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Agreed!!!

Great 1st post & great cookup....like your sequence of photos / description!!!


If you want to test something different, leave off the asterisk items:


**3 parts Brown sugar
1 part Garlic powder
1 part Onion powder
1 part Paprika
1 part Dried Oregano
1 part Ground White pepper
1 part Sumak
**1 part Ancho powder
**Half part Mustard powder
Half part Ground Cinnamon
**Half part Ginger powder
Half part Ground Cumin
**Half part Hot pepper powder (optional)


.....and add a similar amount to ( or a little more) the brown sugar, of UN-sweetened cocoa powder...........



Produces an indescribable good flavor, very unlikely to burn & smoothes out the other items real well....

Just a thought for beef ribs.....anyways, ingenious setup & dang fine cook....well done !!!

[Todman]

Thanks for the welcoming comments.

Definitely will try that Rub suggestion 1buckie.
Always like trying different rubs and sauces.

I ordered the 45cm pizza pan so I will try another cook probably on the weekend.
Might even try a brisket this time if I gather up the courage .

[Snowbeast]

Brilliant first post! I have never heard of the minion method you have used. I've got some reading to do.

Thank you for sharing!

[jdefran]

Great job on the set up, seems simply and effective!

For your heat deflector you could use a baking steel (or other thick metal), Cordierite stone, or a plate setter from BGE, or even a cast iron plate setter, or simply a large cast iron pan.

[mshred]

Thats a neat idea opposed to offsetting the charcoal from the food as long as one can find something that won't crack or warp in the heat

[greenweb]

Hello and welcome! Great first post and even better cookout. Those beef ribs look great.

I like the idea with the deflector but if you can lift it off so as not to be almost on top of charcoal for less heat on it and better air circulation will be nice. The problem is not having much distance between charcoal grate and meat on the cooking grate to put a deflector in the middle.





It's funny how I had the similar idea to suspend a defector between 2 grates but just not enough distance I thought. So, here is a simple solution that I have come up with. I have not shown this and maybe not the first to do this, but I have not seen this before. So, here it is for anyone interested.



You can figure out where the deflector would sit.

I already tested out the seal between 2 bowls on a heavy and all day rain storm yesterday .... not a single drop of water inside.

[Todman]

I like your idea greenweb.
I'm assuming on the top kettle, you've removed the ash sweeper assembly and rested the deflector where the charcoal grate would be. Might experiment with that set-up.

Since my first post I have done another trial smoke.
Same set-up as I have used before except this time I used a round 39cm cast iron pan and 6 lit coals.

Using the cast iron as a deflector created two major hurdles:

1. The cast iron wasn't preheated so the kettle took an eternity to get up to temperature. In my first attempt after half an hour the temp was already at 250, after an hour with the cast iron, the temp was struggling at 150. I was using less lit coals to start with but the temp was rising to slow for my liking. The only difference other than the less amount of lit coals, was the cast iron plate which seemed to be absorbing the heat instead of deflecting most of it away.

2. The cast iron eventually warmed up and the kettle reached 200 at the 80 minute mark. From there the temps climbed rapidly to 300 and the cast iron deflector became a radiator. I closed the bottom vent at this stage but the temps dialed in at around 320. The cast iron started cooking the ribs from the bottom and there was a strange sizzle coming from the kettle but the smell was amazing. The fat was being rendered at a quicker rate than a normal low and slow, and when the drippings were hitting the hot cast iron it was reminding me of a steak sizzle. The ribs were crisping up quickly around the edges and I wrapped them after 2 hours and 20 minutes.

I wrapped for two hours and unwrapped for 45 minutes. Sauced the meat twice during the last half hour. Temps had dropped to just below 300. End result was a more crispier surface, obvious bite with pull but sadly drier than I'm used to. I like ribs more on the tender and juicy side with a slight bite. The rapid cooking midway was too much.

I stripped the meat off the bone and chopped it up to a coarse texture. Melted some vintage cheddar cheese on a preheated roll, slapped a handful of raw chopped red onion with some gherkins, put the meat on and dressed it with lines of mustard. Hurdles..what hurdles...

From this trial it is safe to assume that for this set-up I have, cast iron is a no go (although it did not crack  . It is too hard to control temps; having said that if I did preheat the cast iron in the oven at 200 and used a modified snake method then it may work. This way the temps will come up way quicker and with the vents slightly open right from the start it may be very fuel efficient.

Next time I am going to try an aluminum pizza tray. I will report back once I have the results.

Any suggestions are always welcome.

[greenweb]

I'm assuming on the top kettle, you've removed the ash sweeper assembly and rested the deflector where the charcoal grate would be. Might experiment with that set-up.

correct!  using my spare 22" bowl on top of my 18".


For your current experiment, how about bolting few stand offs on the bot. side of the cooking grate to rest or bolting a deflector closer to it rather than closer to the hot burning charcoal.