I modified the smoker as per the recommendations on the original thread - used a piece of flashing to lower the chimny stack to the level of the grill inside and placed a piece of perforated steel up against the opening that leads from the fire box to the cooking chamber to act as a heat baffle.
I decided to cook 3 spare ribs racks. They were trimmed pretty well like St. Louis style and weighed about 8# total. I pulled the rib membrane and rubbed them down with some spices that included brown sugar and then drizzled a little cider vinegar over them. I covered them with plastic wrap and let em sit overnight in the fridge.
I used one full chimny full of lump mesquite charcoal and 2 dry hickory chunks. Once the coal was good and hot I poured it out into the fire box and place the wood chunks on top. Closed the lid and waited for the temp to go up. It took about 30 minutes and the temp grew to 300* and I put the ribs in. I monitored the progress for the first hour and the temp kept at about 280 - 300*
My thoughts were that it was too hot. At this point the damper on the chimny stack was open (as it was the entire time) and the fire box vent was wide open. I closed the vent to about 1/2 way and the temp dropped to 250* and it stayed there for about 45 minutes. The chunks were on fire so I swapped them out for some ones that I had soaking in water. The new chunks provided a good smoke....a lot of smoke...like alot more than I'm used to with my lovely little smokette. I really didn't want the ribs to be too smoky but I thought what the hey and left it to smoke away - I left it alone for an hour and checked on it
Found the temp had gone down to 200* the chunks were smoking a little and there was a nice clean heat. Total cooking time now was 2 1/2 hours, my intention was to go for 4 - 4 1/2. I was concerned about the lowering temp so I opened the vent and fanned the coals a little to get some heat going and it worked for a little while. I added some 'cold' lump to it and once the coals lit up, the temp rose to about 240*. Came back an hour later and the temp lowered again. I think at this point the original coal I was using was dying. I added another couple of small pieces to the fire and left it alone for another 1/2 hour.
The temp remained at 200* for the next hour or so. Total cooking time at this point = 4 hours. I looked at the ribs and they looked great. I little dry on the out side but a nice 'crisp" meaty skin. The temp was now at 180 and was falling so I decided it was time to finish them. I had gotten all I was gonna get from the fire and it was late enough to not have to build another fire so I grilled them over my gas grill to mark them up a bit for just a minute or two, misted them with water and flipped them a few times. I like ribs "dry" with the sauce on the side. I covered them with plastic wrap and let them sit under my stove warming lights for about 20 minutes. I cut into them and the meat was a wonderful pink and the flavor was great although not as smoky as I like or what I was expecting from the amout of smoke I saw comming out of the bbq chimny stack. The meat was also a bit chewy as well, not bothersome but chewy. All in all the results were great for my first time - nothing that would win my any competion with, but a good dinner with lots of leftovers none the less.
Now that I have written the next Harry Potter book.......
Ok jury....what did I do wrong? or perhaps what should I have done differently? The meat was chewy....maybe not cooked long enough?? Heat too low for the length of time?? I didn't mop or mist during cooking...bad thing?? I had put the lit coals in a little pile in the fire box...should I have spread them out? Do I always want to have the chunks soaked in water?
I will try to make my future emails a bit shorter....
lynnae
