Round 2!

I am guessing that at that 4-hour mark the meat should be drawn up about 1/2-3/4 inch on the bone. If so, they be done . If not, don't be afraid to let them go a bit more, shouldn't take long at that point.

Let us know how they turn out!

Smoked a couple of 6# butts yesterday myself and used BRITU rub. Turned out fantastic! Going to serve it today for a graduation lunch today with our visiting friends from Honduras and El Salvador. Hope they like good Q (hope they like Q period!), with good slaw, BBQ baked beans and fresh, homemade strawberry cheesecake . Gotta stop, I'm getting hungry and it's 7 hours til our 2:00 pm lunch!

Thanks for the input Wheelz. Aside from the buuts, your menu is identical to the one I have planned for this evening.

I am located in Boston, so we will be having New England baked beans of course. After I've familiarized myself a bit more with my Cookshack, I will try laying some smoke on my baked beans recipe.

Also have slaw on the menu, and will be enjoying strawberry shortcake.

I guess good food is truly universal!

I put my babbybacks on Cookshacks rib hooks in my 008 and they are consistantly done at 4 hours every time.

Dave,

I just got an 009 about 2 weeks ago. I thought the Cookshack rib hooks state they don't work in a Smokette. Is that correct? I see you said you use them in your 008. So, will they work in a Smokette without any modifications?

Thanks

I've read elsewhere in the forum that other folks have used the rib hooks in the Smokette successfully despite the literature recommending against their use.

I was considering trying stainless steel S-hooks hung from the top rack. . . don't know how feasible that would be.

On my 008, I remove middle & lower rack. Hang rib hooks from top rack. Depending on the length of the hoks and the ribs, you may have to cut the racks in half.

I don't have the CS hooks so I'm unsure of their length. I use some hooks that I think are probably a little shorter than the CS hooks that I found in a BBQ store awhile back. Before that, as DTBLACK mentions, I used S-Hooks with one end ground to a point.

Well, 4 hours are up so I took a peek at my ribs. They have not yet begun to recede from the bone much at all. They are certainly cooking nicely though and there is a divine aroma emanating from the cooker.

My average oven temperature over the last three hours (taken at 15 minute intervals) is only 187 degrees. I have the thermostat set at 225 so I may try bumping that up a bit my next smoking session.

I'm thinking that within another hour or two there will be some pretty delectable BBQ!

At 7 hours 45 minutes on the ribs. . . 2 hours back I pushed the thermostat to 250 degrees. Am averaging 210 degrees for an internal oven temp. Haven't hit 225 once.

Fat is starting to render now, I can see an increased flow into the drip pan. Opened the door and cut a small piece off from the ribs to taste test. Delicious, moist, good smoke flavor!

Still very little meat recession from bone. Ribs seem to be excellent however. Will pull within an hour even if recession doesn't occur.

Wondering why I haven't seen an oven temp above 210 degrees though. Slow and low it is. . .

I am hoping this offset guy is converted! Appreciating the lack of fire tending so far this morning, that's for sure. It's a good break, and I am learning about a new cooker in the process.

are you by chance using an extension cord? on my first smoke with my 009, i didn't feel that it was getting hot enough. i went to from the 25' medium to a 10' heavy duty and had much better results. maybe that will help...

Here is how I use rib hooks in my 008. Place the left & right rack holders in the bottom hole. Place 1 rack as high as possable. Cut ribs in half. Insert the larger rib hook so the top of the hook is almost even to the top of the rib (shorter hook to the rack). Be sure the rib does not touch the rib box. I have had as many as 10 hooks in my 008 at one time.
For whatever reason, I find the ribs to be more tender when I use the hooks.

I think that with the hooks you get better air flow through the smoker. It seems that my cooking time is about the same though, between 4 and 4.5 hours for babybacks at 225 degrees. I've considered dropping the cooking temp to 200 degrees next time though.

opening the door a lot isnt helping either from your posts...

david
tampa

I opened the door at 4 hours (a reasonable time time expect the ribs were done), and then once again at almost 8 hours. Is that too frequent?

Anyway, the ribs were done at an astonishing 9 hours. They were absolutely perfect though and well worth the wait.

quote:

Originally posted by fishguy_40:
[qb] are you by chance using an extension cord? on my first smoke with my 009, i didn't feel that it was getting hot enough. i went to from the 25' medium to a 10' heavy duty and had much better results. maybe that will help... [/qb]

That's way long for ribs. Did you by chance use an extension cord? Personally, I've never use one as my unit backs up directly yo the outlet - but I understand that using a lengthy cord or inadequate gauge can add to extended cook times.

No, I did not use an extension cord. Just plugged the unit directly into the wall outlet.

When I had the unit set to 225 and monitored the internal oven temperature for the first four hours I did not see one temperature reading over 190.

After 7 hours or so I bumped the unit up to 250 degrees and for the next two hours I did not see one temperature reading over 210 degrees

DT,

IF you're not hitting the target temp on the dial, just call CS customer service. Stuart, the President is on CS duty this week and can talk you through it.

Hi SmokinOkie. I did just as you suggested and called CS Customer Service. Stuart spoke with me and indicated he thought it sounded like a thermostat issue.

Stuart was quick to take my address and shipped a new thermostat out to me which should arrive in a few days.

I was truly impressed with the fast response and great customer service. I have also spoke to Tony as CS Customer Support and he was also friendly and eager to help me out.

Thanks for the advice!