Caveman Bob
MemberGot rid of the matchlight.
After a lifetime of loving to eat barbecue, last weekend I decided to build an ugly drum smoker and get to making it myself.
After a quick seasoning, I decided I'd begin with some spare ribs since they cook relatively quickly. I'd never properly smoked ribs before and would love to hear your feedback on the process I used.
Kept it simple with the rub: Salt, pepper, paprika, and (randomly) a bit of celery seed that was unopened in my spice cabinet.
Here's the rub on the meat:
Since this was my first time using the smoker (besides a quick initial seasoning), I pretty much guessed at how much fuel to use.
These are Kingsford charcoal briquettes with chunks of apple wood.
Took about 15 minutes to get to 225, then put the meat on.
After climbing from 225 to about 240 over the course of a half-hour, the temp suddenly rocketed up to 300+. I closed all my vents, but it didn't help.
I should have paid closer attention to making the drum air-tight. The three bottom vents are a bit loose. As a result, I couldn't get the temperature down with air control alone.
I decided to dump fuel until the temp dropped to a consistent 240.
Because the temp wouldn't stay stable for more than an hour at a time, I kept needing to take off some coals when it got too hot and replace them with fresh fuel. This got pretty annoying and I think contributed to a bit of a charcoal smoke flavor in the final product.
5 hours later, I took it off and wrapped it in tinfoil to rest for a half-hour.
You'll notice that I didn't trim them St. Louis-style. That was mostly because I was scared of screwing something up. The rib tips were amazingly delicious anyway and I'm not sure I'll bother to trim them on the next go-round.
Another shot. Disregard those pine needles that I didn't notice until taking the picture. Hazards of cooking outside, I suppose.
Here's the money shot. I'm trying to keep my diet low carb, so they were served without any sauce.
And yes, I know I should have removed the membrane before taking a pic.
One weird issue -- a couple of the bones cracked in half as I was eating them. What might cause the bones to become so brittle?
After a quick seasoning, I decided I'd begin with some spare ribs since they cook relatively quickly. I'd never properly smoked ribs before and would love to hear your feedback on the process I used.
Kept it simple with the rub: Salt, pepper, paprika, and (randomly) a bit of celery seed that was unopened in my spice cabinet.
Here's the rub on the meat:
Since this was my first time using the smoker (besides a quick initial seasoning), I pretty much guessed at how much fuel to use.
These are Kingsford charcoal briquettes with chunks of apple wood.
Took about 15 minutes to get to 225, then put the meat on.
After climbing from 225 to about 240 over the course of a half-hour, the temp suddenly rocketed up to 300+. I closed all my vents, but it didn't help.
I should have paid closer attention to making the drum air-tight. The three bottom vents are a bit loose. As a result, I couldn't get the temperature down with air control alone.
I decided to dump fuel until the temp dropped to a consistent 240.
Because the temp wouldn't stay stable for more than an hour at a time, I kept needing to take off some coals when it got too hot and replace them with fresh fuel. This got pretty annoying and I think contributed to a bit of a charcoal smoke flavor in the final product.
5 hours later, I took it off and wrapped it in tinfoil to rest for a half-hour.
You'll notice that I didn't trim them St. Louis-style. That was mostly because I was scared of screwing something up. The rib tips were amazingly delicious anyway and I'm not sure I'll bother to trim them on the next go-round.
Another shot. Disregard those pine needles that I didn't notice until taking the picture. Hazards of cooking outside, I suppose.
Here's the money shot. I'm trying to keep my diet low carb, so they were served without any sauce.
And yes, I know I should have removed the membrane before taking a pic.
One weird issue -- a couple of the bones cracked in half as I was eating them. What might cause the bones to become so brittle?