I just used my cs50 for the first time over the weekend. (Now that I've seen the 50 in person, I think I am glad I did not get the 08/09.) Anyway, I smoked three racks of baby back ribs using the CS rub that came with the smoker. I had some questions and briefly scanned the forum topics for answers but didn't really see anything. Hope I am not asking the same questions again, but here they are:
1. I know it was my first time, but the finished ribs,though tender and moist, did not taste as good as expected. I probably did not put enough rub on them, but I also smoked them lying flat with the bone side up. When the ribs were done, they shrank and trapped some grease on top like a dish. Did this affect the taste? Should I have put the bone side down or used the hooks?
2. Secondly, I set my temp knob at 250, but the oven operated between 194 and 234 over the entire 5 hour smoke. The outside temp here this past weekend was 72 degrees, and the smoker was plugged directly into the 20-amp wall outlet. Any suggestions as to why I can't get the temp higher?
3. And finally, Stuart said that in the home models , you could typically see temperature swings of about plus or minus 25 degrees, depending on how much food is in the smoker -- the more food, the less temperature variation. I am not sure I understand that. But if it is true, we can minimize the swings by adding some oven bricks to a lightly-loaded smoker, can't we? Has anyone suggested or tried this?
Any feedback on these questions would be appreciated.
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