Ninja and the ring of fire *** for the first time

The long awaited trial run has finally happened. For those that don't remember my trying the ring of fire method (or better put my refusal to) was a long running gag around here. This has been put off as i dont use the kettle for smoking so much these days. Well today i was feeling just lazy enough to not want to bother with the stick burner so here we go.

I built a ring of briquettes 2x2x1 about half way around and laced it with some oak chips



Spare ribs was on the menu. I wanted to try this new rub i got. Its big on pepper with a hint of coffee



On the kettle we go shooting for my normal 275



Picked up some different sauces too. Today i tried the method used in the bbq with Franklin videos for the first time. It calls for bbq sauce in the foil wrap. As you can see i went with the bourbon sauce.



This is what i had leftover coal wise after 5 hours of burn.



Finished ribs.





They came out good. Nice use of sauce. The dizzy pig tasted great, i can see it working well with brisket.

The verdict: the ring held steady except for my bad habit of opening the lid. If i used more charcoal to build the ring i can see it holding steady for well over 8 hours. I likely won't be switching over from the stick burner for my standard rib cooks but this definitely gets the job done without as much attention. Not bad for my first try.

Diesel Dave said:

Dang fine job there Brother :thumb:

So how was the sauce, seen them at Meijers but not a big sauce fan as you know lol

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It was good. They aren't too thick and glopy. Never been a fan of a glopy sauce. It cooked into the meat so it was a background flavor. I like to keep several table sauces on hand as most of my guests like em

AussieTitch said:

nice looking cook, that's a lot of wood chips,was it too much?

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It wasn't too much, other than the right side it was a thin layer. The fire burned clean with no visible exhaust for most of the cook. Smoke shouldn't ever be too much if it a clean fire.

I will say im starting to move further away from charcoal as fuel for long cooks. Maybe im just a wood snob or i have a sensitive pallet but bbq from clean wood fires or pre lit fuel just tastes cleaner than charcoal with fuse/minion.

Diesel Dave said:

You're not a snob Brother, I can taste the difference in the meats cooked as well.
Actually I can taste KBB when there's something cooked with it.
Wood burned clean or lump don't impart the coal flavor you get with most briquettes

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Yup im gonna try some lump and other bricks but my minds made up. Id rather burn sticks for four or five hours then wrap in a low oven than a do a 10 hour straight charcoal cook.

aawa said:

Would you say it was much eaiser to use the snake method, than just banking the coals to 1 side?

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Yes, most definitely. Well, thats based on one cook. The only major deviations were due to my chronic, insatiable need to open the lid. Adjustments with the intake handle responded well.

With the coals banked temps tend to drift up after time. Requiring some attention.

Coals banked is just my goto weber setup. I can effortlessly cook a wide arrange of food with my choice or combination of heat types (convection, conduction, rad...):bolt: