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Hi Pete,
Nice photo. I'm curious if the meat at the bottom closest to the woodbox gets done quicker and if so do you flip them half way through cooking? Also are those cookshack rib hooks? Thanks.

John

Hi, John. The ribs cook evenly. I have the thick end up, as the temps appear a bit higher near the top. The ribs are a couple of inches off the bottom, so they dont get too hot. I flipped them at 3 hours: left to right(so the edges that were exposed to the wall were now in the inside) and front/back to middle (same idea, for the sides). Also, I leave the hooks in, so I don't flip upside-down. It took about 5 minutes to do all this and I lost a ton of heat, but I think it was worth it.

And the hooks were from Cookshack. Hey, nothing but stuff from Cookshack and my butcher gets in my smoker!

Pete

Pete: Beautiful photo... I'm curious why you don't go for a rub first, then the finishing sauce? I really like to let the rub work the night before... then add sauce at the end.

Hey, WB. I pass on the rub because I haven't tasted a huge difference with it. Once I over rubbed and it was incredibly salty, but the other times I couldn't taste the rub at all.
Also, I like to have the ribs in the fridge at just the minimum time. When they go from the freezer to the fridge they need about 12-24 hours to thaw enough to get the membranes soft enough to peal, and soon after that I like to start cooking them. So letting them sit for another 12 hours or so is something I am trying to avoid. In fact, I think I might try putting some in party frozen, just to see if it can be done.

What I'm trying to say is that I really love putting cold ribs into the smoker!

Thanks for the reply and compliment!

Pete

Nice Picture !!

Isn't it possible to raise the side racks up a notch so that you can hang the slabs up even higher? I thought that you could. That way, the slabs are higher away from the wood box.

Good eye! I could have put the hooks below one more rib. During the cook, they shrunk and moved up a bit, so actually, my thought was to keep them away from the ceiling.

Pete

Pete,

Great Post. Thanks for the photos (you should enter that in the photo contest!) We're trying to get everyone to use photos more.

I agree, get them into the smoker cold, gives them more time to absorb the smoke (theory: if the meat absorbs the smoke until it reaches 140, start with colder meat and it will absorb smoke longer).

Couple of questions:

1. What kind of finishing sauce?

2. Have you ever done a temp test? I've done one in mine and the area right next to the box (lowest rack) is the hottest.

3. You indicated you couldn't taste a difference with a rub? Come by my house, I'll show you different. Could be the quantity your using. Theres' a photo in my Ribs 101 post that show mine covered with rub (how does that compare to yours?

4. Have you thought about drilling new holes in the side mounts? The side mounts come out for cleaning and you could put some new holes in to raise the racks if you really needed.

5. Didn't see the bottom of the smoker lined with foil, nor the top of the firebox. Don't use it?

Great Post!

Just Smokin'

Hi again, Smokin!

Have you tried putting ribs in that were still partly frozen (just barely flexable)?

1. I like Lloyds bbq sauce for ribs and pulled pork. I really love the tomato based sauces. I tried the vinegar sauce on pulled pork, but that is really not my style. Have you tried Lloyd's before? And if so, is there a recipie that will give a similar taste? I wouldn't mind trying some homemade sauces!

2. Temp test showed higher temps at 1/2 foot from the top than at 1/2 foot above the defector. I also noticed the lower temps vary a great amount. Maybe 'wafts' of cold air are coming up from the bottom and swirl around a bit before heating up.

3. I've seen your photos, and used your advice. But it didn't seem to do the trick for me. (Perhaps this has something to do with all the habanero peppers I've eaten). I notice you have a vacuum sealer too, so if you send me some of your's I'll send you some of mine!

4. New holes sounds like a good idea, especially for the longer racks. Actually, I haven't taken mine out to clean yet!

5. Hey, when you do 12 ribs at a time, it is easy to forget a step. But I did get the foil on the deflector and in the pan. I don't line the very bottom with foil except when doing pork butts. Without rubbing or misting ribs, they cook pretty clean.

Chow,

Pete

Hey Pete!

I don't like to do "frozen ribs" because I do put rub on mine. Why again are you wanting to do that? Save time? If I take my ribs one one day to defrost; day two clean put a rub on and day three cook, not a problem.

Never heard of Lloyd's sauce (there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many good ones out there. Guess we can ask around for a similar sauce to Lloyds'.

The vinegar on pulled pork is the "traditional" South method...but by all means not the only one. I've used lots of different sauces of the years; vinegar, mustard, ketchup based. Variety is good.

If you don't have it, get Paul Kirk's championship Sauce, there is a lot of good info in there about flavors, spices and how to make your own.

Appreciate any feedback on my advice. You tried it and it didn't work for you...what didn't? If you're into Habernero, nope those recipes are pretty tame. Most of the 101s are basic info and don't go into options and other things. Believe me, most of the recipes I've posted are just "basic" rubs, etc. I've kicked them WAY up with other variations. Where there specific techniques that didn't work? I'm always adding to the instructions.

We'd have to figure out a way to "send them". I've been known to send out samples of rubs and I've received a few requests to "send ribs".

All great comments Pete. Like everyone, I'm here to learn and I always do.

Just Smokin'

Hey, Smokin.

As for the 'cold' ribs, I like to cook the ribs on the second day, not just to save time, but also since I don't get much from the rub.

Thanks for the tip on Paul Kirk's championship Sauce. I'll look for it.

Feedback on your advice: I think I did things right, it all was easy to follow. But I didn't notice much of a flavor/tenderness difference that could be directly related to the rub. Since I'm new to smoking, I've pulled ribs out at different levels of doneness, and this seemed to make the biggest difference in quality. Perhaps when I get good at pulling them out at the optimal time, then I can get back to trying the rubs. While I love the habanero, my friends don't, so I just sprinkle some on at the dinner table.

As for shipping food, I've sent some to my brother in Illinois and they arrived perfectly cold. Try Plastilite (plastilite.com) for styrofoam boxes, use one of their icepacks (or dry ice), and ship USPS priority (2-3 days). You can send a 12lbs. package for about $10, and the boxe+icepack is about $3. That's not a bad price when sending $40 worth of ribs.

Okay, I need a break from all this email stuff. Back to cooking!

Thanks, Smokin!

Pete