Smoking st louis ribs without water bowl

[toolhead]

First time on 18.5" wsm smoked st louis ribs without the water bowl at 225-250. On the top rack

Ribs came out great...maybe better when compared tobusing bowl.

Continual smoke coming out of the top vent due to fat hitting the coals which i think added extra flavour...

Anybody else try this before

[pbe gummi bear]

Without the water bowl your radiant heat from the charcoal is much higher even at the same temperatures so they will cook differently. On top of that the dripping fat incinerates directly on the charcoal so the flavor will be slightly different. The UDS guys run a similar setup with great results.  Were your ribs cut, on a rack, or crowned on the grate?

In general I've found that spare ribs cook better at higher temp with the added bonus of taking less time. I prefer to run the wsm at 275 with a foiled, empty waterbowl for spares.

[WNC]

I've done it before with BB, but it was a while ago. If I recall I liked 'em, but never tried them that way again. Can't remember why? Maybe I should give it another shot.

Lately I've been running them like pbe gummie bear, folied empty water pan, and my wsm likes to sit at 275 so I let it.

But when I'm doing just one rack I find I get even better results using my kettle

[toolhead]

I had em on a rib rack.

The ribs were more "crisp" than the usual dull color...which was a good thing
Only had to kettle sear em for a few minutes.

The table consensus was ..they were the best ribs tobdate

[toolhead]

Afterwards ive read that quite a few other folks smoke without any bowl.
I can say i will probably go without a water bowl for future rib smokes.

Also less mess to clean up...no foil used.