-
they look pretty good, you have asked for some advice...
i'd generally start with just a dry rub
smoke is produced at lower temperatures - its a product of incomplete oxidisation so start with a lower temperature, and the smoke ring occurs early in the cooking process. after a couple of hours at low temperature you can then start to raise it a bit. my pit is only allowed up to 120C when cooking ribs.
when the core temperature hits the stall you can consider wrapping in foil (texas crutch). i tend to apply any sauce just at the end of cooking and caramelise gently.
dancing james-
@dancing james Thanks for the advice. Any reason for not using a slather? The recipes that I looked at suggested that it was useful for helping the dry rub to stick.
I may not wrap them in foil for the middle section of the cook next time, but rather baste them at least hourly and go a bit cooler for a bit longer. I had an errand to run this time, which meant that I had to leave it for a while. Measuring the temperature was a bit of a pain, I had to use a jam thermometer stuck through the vent in the lid, which meant I was actually getting a reading of the highest temperature throughout the whole volume. Any suggestion for a thermometer that can measure the temperature specifically at grill level?
ffm
...RIB REPORT!...
I smoked a few beef short ribs on my Weber Smokey Joe. It's about 35 cm, so only enough room for enough ribs for 2 or 3 people. I slathered the ribs in a mustard & oil mixture before applying a rub of salt, pepper, garlic granules, paprika and brown sugar. Once the briquettes were up to speed I threw on a couple of handfuls of soaked cherrywood chips and put a tray under the cool side of the grill with about 1cm of water in it. I put the ribs on the grill for about 90 minutes, then wrapped them in foil with a splash of rapeseed oil, white wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, after another 90 minutes I unwrapped them and gave them a final 45 minutes (so 3 hours 45 minutes total).
They were very tasty with a lovely bark and plenty of smoke flavour. Quite rich though so they definitely need something quite sharp to offset that (we had a nice potato salad). The larger ones could have done with another 30 minutes (or more) to really render everything down, but they were still quite tender. I didn't get much of a smoke ring, I think I started them off a bit too hot (probably just over 150C) and didn't baste them in the early stages. Still very much worth the effort though. Any further advice much welcomed. The next ribs are waiting in the fridge!
Pictures below of the setup, then one hour in and the final product.