My first ribs

[Biscuit]

Last Sunday I prepped two racks of baby back ribs for my maiden voyage of smoking with a weber kettle. I have always used a gas smoker until this point and would say I was very pleased with how easy it was to maintain my temp using charcoal and hickory chunks. I also used the "smokenator", which is a neat gadget but not sure if it is entirely needed with some practice.
 
They went at 250 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. Wrapped 1 hour then out of the foil and back on the grill for another hour.
 
I tried the bend test to see when they were ready. After eating rack 1, we put the second in the oven for about 30 mins. The second rack was a little more tender. I was not looking for a "fall off the bone rib". Will keep trying to make them better in the future.

[G19]

Links are not working for us Biscuit after the foil you can do that last 1-hour back on the grill that's what I do with great results. 

[Biscuit]

Thanks for the reply G19. The pics show up on my computer?? Think I might have it fixed now

[pbe gummi bear]

Nice first go. Your ribs look like they could go for longer in your picture. The meat will start to pull back from the ribs when they are nearing done. When this happens, it's telling you that the meat is letting go of the bone. This is not quite fall off the bone yet though! The bend test is ok but varies alot due to the shape of the ribs and weight/thickness of the meat. I find that probing the meat for tenderness with a skewer or the backside of a disposable utensil (has about the same shape as a tooth- I learned this one from Harry Soo!) is more consistent. Keep at it!

Finally, what kind of thermometer are you using for your temp? If it's the dome temperature gauge on a OTG they are known to read high vs. the grate and be off. If your lid is reading 250, it's totally possible for your grate temp to be ~200. This causes a lot of beginners to wonder why their ribs arent cooking in 5 hours like the internet tells them so.

[Biscuit]

Gummi Bear- Thanks for the advice. I agree that they need longer next time. I bought a cheap oven thermometer from Wal-Mart and it didn't work at all. I had a cheap digital thermometer that I tried, but not sure how accurate it was. I have since ordered a Maverick 733. It should arrive tomorrow. Again thanks for the reply.

[Darko]

Cook your ribs to 195 IT. They'll be perfect.

[JDann24]

Get you a set of these: http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Et-732-Remote-Smoker-Thermometer/dp/B004IMA718?ie=UTF8&keywords=maverick%20thermometer&qid=1460341405&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

[Travis]

Good purchase with the Maverick. It's funny cause more times than not those built in gauges read way different than your new maverick sitting at the grate, but sometimes they're pretty close. @addicted-to-smoke had a nice explanation in another thread. I can't tell you how many "ok ribs" I've made over the years, but the best investment was the digi thermometer. Good job brother! Tfs

[G19]

Biscuit you cooked a 1-1/2 x 1 x 1 time schedule and many recipes call for 3 x 2 x 1.  You might like it cooked a little more.  3-2-1 is fall off the bone for me so we do a 3-1-1 or 2-1-2  Good eating I bet regardless, 

[MikeRocksTheRed]

I like to do a 2-2 5-10 method.  LOL.  2 hours smoked, 2 hours wrapped, then 5-10 minutes over high heat to sauce.  They have always come out really good.  I usually add a little beer when wrapping, so maybe I am getting enough steam to get them done in just over 4 hours total.  If I don't wrap then its a crap shoot as far as total time, but I think the end results is just as good.  I usually don't sauce when cooking unwrapped, so the end result is a good bark.  When wrapping I usually do sauce, so the bark doesn't matter as much since it gets covered with sauce then cooked over direct heat a few minutes a side.

[Big Dawg]

A great first cook ! ! !  Great advice has been given.

Will keep trying to make them better in the future.

That's the most fun part of it ! ! !





BD