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Hi everyone just wanted to introduce myself to the forum and give a little bit of info on my first Cookshack project.  I live in Newfoundland, Canada which is basically an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for those of you not familiar with it. 

I've been looking around for a smoker for a while now hoping to pick up something high quality and gently used.  To be honest I never heard of the Cookshack brand until I saw a used SM008 pop up on our local Kijiji for sale ads two days ago.  Right away I started doing some research and found all the glowing reviews about Cookshack and the high quality of the products.  This one was selling for $300 so I went to check it out and it was in great condition even though it was 10 years old.  It has never seen the outside and was very well maintained.  Since new models are $700US plus shipping and tax I jumped on this one for $300, which equates to about $225US.  

Cook Shack Set Up

Now that I had to smoker I had to figure out my first project and there was only one answer that came to me.... RIBS.  I've cooked a lot of ribs and normally use the 2.5-3 hour at 300 foil wrap in oven method and sauce them for the final hour unwrapped.  They always turn out good but I was hoping for something even better.  After a lot of google work I decided to try the 3-2-1 method but shorten it a bit since I am using baby back ribs.  

 Ribs With Rub

I applied rub the night before, using a basic brown sugar, salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika blend.  I'm not sure if the night before helps at all but I figure it can't really hurt as long as I don't use too much salt and turn the ribs hammy.   I used a small chunk of apple wood in the smoke box, set the smoker at 225 and set the ribs in for 2.5 hours initially.  My plan was 2 hours but it took about 30 minutes or so for the smoker to get up to temp so I left them for an extra half hour.  I had a digital thermometer inside the smoker and saw an interesting temp swing happening.  The temp would reach 225, then drop to just over 200 in 20 minutes or so then back up to 225 after another 20 minutes.  So there is about a 40 minute cycle of reaching the set temp, 25 degree drop then back to set temp again.

Ribs after smoking

The ribs looked great after 2.5 hours, then I did a double foil wrap and back in again for 2 more hours.  After the foil stage they were looking great and still not so tender they were falling apart, I could easily lift them with my tongs but they had good bend.  For the final stage I sauced them up and put them back in for 45 minutes.  In retrospect I should have applied more sauce and put sauce on the bottom side but I never.

So the end result.... they were really good ribs but maybe I should have dropped them Ribs Finished

onto the grill for 10 minutes just to get some char, I was missing that a bit.  I was also thinking maybe I should have left them in the smoke a little longer or added more wood, I was wanting a bit more smoke flavor.  Again they were very good ribs but like most rib cooks I always think they can be a bit better.

That's my first smoker story, I already after getting a lot of great tips here such as not cleaning the interior but using foil for the bottom and smoke box.  Here's a few pictures of my first smoke project!

Attachments

Images (7)
  • Cook Shack Set Up
  • Ribs With Rub
  • Ribs after smoking
  • Ribs in Foil
  • Ribs After Foiling
  • Ribs with sauce
  • Ribs Finished
Last edited by Hammy
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Looks great! Welcome to the forum! I think you'll find as may opinions about ribs as members here (maybe more opinions), so I'll give you mine. I have a SM066 Amerique, not so different from your smoker, just bigger and a more complicated controller. For baby backs (loin backs) I make sure I take off the back silver skin (membrane) with a paper towel, then spice them up. I never worry about overnight, just rub them about 30 minutes before I put them on. I use about 2.5 oz of fruit wood, and put the ribs in the smoker cold, and set to temp. Lately I've been using 250F since that gives me the combination of doneness and "bark" I like in a good cook time. I do 1 - 4 racks at a time and it takes around 5 - 6 hours. At 5 hours I use the toothpick test (look it up here) - if a toothpick goes in like butter between ribs, they're done. I never foil them since I like the bit of bark when done. I also never use sauce except at the table. Most of my family and guests don't need/like it. To me, my result is smoky, spicy, porky, and delicious. I hope you have fun experimenting - it's what it's all about!

Last edited by jay1924

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