Summer Solstice Ribs

[Lightning]

A while ago a friend of mine sent me a text message asking how my smoker was doing.  We've been having a seriously wet spring and summer here and given the weather, I sent back a one word reply: neglected.  He was raving about pecan wood for smoking ribs a couple of months ago so I bought some chunks to try for myself.



I put a fourth piece of wood on top of the lit charcoal when I poured it in. It probably could have done with one or two more pieces of wood and packed in tighter together. Next time. Possibly as soon as tomorrow when a friend's visiting from out of town.  There definitely was something to the pecan chunks. They had a really, really nice sweet smoke.



Two racks of rubbed back ribs plus the iGrill 2's ambient temperature probe.



IGrill 2 mounted on the Kettle Pizza Kettle nearby. The temperature was still rising. My WSM typically settles in and runs at 250 F and this was no exception. Trying to get it down to 225 and be stable there is a fight that's caused more problems than it's solved so I let it roll at 250 instead and the results have been fine.





Before and after being sauced.



And moments before being devoured.


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[mhiszem]

Looks delicious! I have a bag of pecan chunks I have been meaning to try. Will have to get some ribs to try them out.


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[kettlebb]

I have a pecan tree. I just need a ladder or a pole saw.


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[BBQPacific]

Great looking ribs! I love using pecan, it's equivalent to hickory. I'll be using my wsm for a brisket in Sunday if everything goes as planned.


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[Madpap]

Good looking ribs. I use pecan most of the time. It's not nearly as strong as some of the others and has a great taste.


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[HoosierKettle]

22.5 wsm I assume?  My 18 isn't big enough to make much of a snake unless I remove the ring which I haven't done yet.


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[HoosierKettle]

Ribs look incredible.


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[Lightning]

Yes, it's a 22.5 inch WSM.  I wanted the surface area to lay ribs flat and be able to interchange the grates and rotisserie with the grill if necessary.

The pecan wood's got to be a well kept secret.  I've been using mesquite and hickory for years and never tried the pecan until after the friend raved about it.  It was great.  I've got a friend coming in from out of town late tonight and side ribs were on sale yesterday so I'll be using the WSM with pecan again later today.  My arm didn't have to be twisted much on that.

I think I forgot to mention, the charcoal briquettes were Maple Leaf.  I topped the chimney off with a little bit of Royal Oak since I finished off the currently open bag of Maple Leaf briquettes and needed just a few more briquettes in the chimney, and didn't want to crack open a new bag for just a few briquettes.

[HoosierKettle]

Experimenting with different smoke wood is a lot of fun. Each kind gives a different smelling smoke and imparts a little different flavor. I've been stuck on cherry, mulberry, and pecan lately. My 18 is too small to run a snake but since I replaced the door with a Cajun bandit, I haven't needed the snake. I can fill the ring with lump and start with a few briquettes and it will cook at 245 for 9 hours straight. I usually make vent adjustments an hour in and don't have to mess with it after that.


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[WNC]

Looks great!
My 22 WSM likes to run around 250 too


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[1buckie]

Good Lookin' Cookup.....

I've got pecan in the yard also.....I just climb w/a bow saw (it's a "runs with scissors" kinda thing)...

[Lightning]

I have been enjoying the different smoke woods that I've been trying out. The chunks have been great in that they let off a nice thin smoke and get set up with the charcoal at the beginning vs. wood chips that have to be fed in constantly for the first hour or so and require a lot more manual intervention.

Looks great!
My 22 WSM likes to run around 250 too

This is good to know. Perhaps it's just the nature of these large beasts?  I've heard the 26" kettles have different running characteristics than the 22" ones too so there probably is something to the idea that the different sized kettles, WSMs etc perform differently even if it's only a 4" difference in diameter.

Here are some side ribs that I did last night for a friend who arrived late:




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