an informal critique of my ribs?

The ribs look great Dave, all your photos and stories are much appreciated, keep em coming. Thanks.

Dave if you and the wife loved them, then you did everything correctly. BBQ is not a science, one of the joys experimenting. Next time you might want to cook a little longer( I usually cook spare for 5 - 5 1/2 hours) or with more wood just to see if you might like it better. Like Smokin says, keep good notes so you can repeat what you like and not repeat the others. Although I have not made anything I did not like, just liked some more than others.

Enjoy

Dave - A job well done once again! And "yes!" if you and the Mrs are happy you've succeed.

Now, just curious - I see a lot of "yellow" on those finished ribs. Do you use mustard to help your rub stick?

Regards,

Hi Dave,
I noticed the Splenda in your rub recipe. Staying away from sugar/carbs? I use it too. I thought that there was supposed to be some brown splenda coming out for brown sugar substitute.
Take care!
Preston D

Thanks for the comments.

To answer a few questions. No, I didn't use mustard. The color is just from the rub.

After thinking about the product a bit, next time I'll probably rotate the rack rotation on the ribs at about 3 hours. Some of the bones were visible far more than the others. Or perhaps placing the larger rib pieces on the lower rack. I believe there is a slight difference in temperature inside the Cookshack from the bottom to the top racks???

Preston, I am on a low-carb diet (I've lost 40 pounds since 12/28/03) and substitute Splenda. I haven't seen the brown splenda yet. Apparently, there is some product from Whey-Low that can be used, but I'm not sure if it is heat-sensitive or not. From what I've read on some of the low-carb forums, you're better off sacrificing a few extra carbs and using molasses.