Slow cooked baby backs on a Weber Smokey Joe

I first post here, hello to everyone.

Have been using the WSJ for about three years to grill steaks, burgers, fish, vegetables and the like but never tried to slow cook anything on it as I always thought it was too small to try to keep the temperature low but for long time. From what I read in other threads slow cooking was rather hard on the smokey joe but I decided to give it a try nevertheless.

I got some baby backs (spare ribs is hard to find in Athens, GR, believe it or not) and used mustard and some american style BBQ spice to rub the ribs. Prior to this I boiled them for 30 mins as for my 1st attempt I wanted to be sure I would end up eating rather than run out of heat.

So I put some briquettes at the side of the WSJ and in the middle a small pan with water for moisture.




The ribs are on.



I kept the bottom vents wide open and the top vents half open at first and then full open as the temperature seemed to be dropping a bit. I didnt have a proper thermometer (ordered an ET732) but it must have been around 80-85oC (175-185F). After almost 1.5 hours I put the glaze on.



It stayed there for 1 more hour during which time I used a hair dryer to heat up the briquettes:wink:.

The ribs (to my surprise) turned out perfectly delicious.



Total cook time: 30 mins boiling, 2.30 on the grill = 3hours

So, to anyone who wonders, the Smokey Joe CAN slow cook. It could easily cook for another hour after I removed the ribs, I think I should have put more briquettes to begin with. I am looking forward to the next time, where I will try to slow cook without boiling. will keep you informed how it turns out.

THoey1963 said:

Howdy!

I would look into the "snake" or "fuse" method of setting up your charcoal. This would allow you to have a low and slow constant heat for a period of time. Below is a picture of it that I grabbed off the web.

Oh, and don't boil your ribs. You are just washing away flavor and juiciness.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments.

The snake method was what I was going for (there is some extra briquettes there) but the small size of the WSJ doesn't help with that, the bottom is tiny. Next time I will somehow manage better I hope, and also no boiling.