I recently got my first stick burner (which I love!!!) and the smoke flavor is absolutely wonderful compared to the other smokers that I have had over the years. But this is a whole new deal, fire management... I have done three cooks: one rack of spare ribs, one brisket, and a couple of racks of ST Louis cut ribs in that order. What I am concerned about is the top surface, especially on the ribs, was dry and chewy.
I think there are two possibilities. One, lower the temperature or reduce the cooking time. I read Franklin Barbeque's book where he says he likes to smoke at 270 degrees in all of his cookers. So I tried it.
On the first spare rib cook, I used 270 as my target heat and used the 3-2-1 method. The meat was well done, not dead but when we took a bite the meat pulled right off the bone and the top surface was dry and tough.
The brisket was better but it too was a little well done. I smoked it until I liked the look of the bark with the internal temp at 165 and wrapped it in butcher paper. I took it off at 206. It was a smallish one, 9 lbs after trimmed and it only took 8 hours to cook. Unusual to me! Too fast! I always liked my target cooking temps to be 235 in the past.
So on the last two St Louis rib cook, I lowered the target to 240 and did the 3-2-1 and I got pretty much the same result: a little overly cooked and the meat pulled right off the bones. BTW, I wrapped the ribs in foil, not butcher paper.
I was pleasantly pleased with how I was able to control the heat while maintaining good smoke. The temps were usually +/- 10 degrees, with the occasional run-over a little higher but not too much or too often. I also always had a foil pan of water on the bottom shelf nearest the left side where the smoke and heat enter the cook chamber (reverse flow), with the food on the middle shelf. I use a thermo-Q to monitor the pit temps.
Sorry about writing a book just to ask one question but I thought all of the detail would help. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Have a nice day!
I think there are two possibilities. One, lower the temperature or reduce the cooking time. I read Franklin Barbeque's book where he says he likes to smoke at 270 degrees in all of his cookers. So I tried it.
On the first spare rib cook, I used 270 as my target heat and used the 3-2-1 method. The meat was well done, not dead but when we took a bite the meat pulled right off the bone and the top surface was dry and tough.
The brisket was better but it too was a little well done. I smoked it until I liked the look of the bark with the internal temp at 165 and wrapped it in butcher paper. I took it off at 206. It was a smallish one, 9 lbs after trimmed and it only took 8 hours to cook. Unusual to me! Too fast! I always liked my target cooking temps to be 235 in the past.
So on the last two St Louis rib cook, I lowered the target to 240 and did the 3-2-1 and I got pretty much the same result: a little overly cooked and the meat pulled right off the bones. BTW, I wrapped the ribs in foil, not butcher paper.
I was pleasantly pleased with how I was able to control the heat while maintaining good smoke. The temps were usually +/- 10 degrees, with the occasional run-over a little higher but not too much or too often. I also always had a foil pan of water on the bottom shelf nearest the left side where the smoke and heat enter the cook chamber (reverse flow), with the food on the middle shelf. I use a thermo-Q to monitor the pit temps.
Sorry about writing a book just to ask one question but I thought all of the detail would help. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Have a nice day!
