Bruce wrote:Burns the gunk right off a grid in about 3 seconds, and doubles as a charcoal starter.

BellevueLonghorn wrote:I ended up buying a 3 lb. rack of St. Louis style (trimmed) spareribs at Whole Foods. I was there and they had them, so I got them, even though I was looking forward to going to Paulina.

I started my fire using two starter chimneys full of charcoal briquettes and then adding a couple of oak logs once the charcoal was burning well. The fire probably was too hot (275-300) for a good bit of the first hour the ribs were on, but probably averaged somewhere in the 240-260 range over the remaining three hours.

I used a dry rub on the ribs and periodically mopped them with a mop sauce I quickly concocted of beer, vinegar, melted butter and some spice rub. I mopped them no more than four times, in order to open the pit as infrequently as possible.

The ribs themselves were georgeous to look at and were pretty smoky in flavor. There was a modest red smoke ring in the meat as well. Those were the positives. On the negative side, I think my mop conconction was a bit too acidic and the ribs were not rubbed with enough salt. The flavor mix of the rub, mop, and smoke wasn't ideal. It wasn't unpleasant to my taste, but it just wasn't what I was shooting for. Unfortunately my wife, who doesn't like smokey food in general, found the ribs just way too smokey for her tastes. My daughter (2) ate a little of them and my son (4) thought they were great. The other negative was that while the meat was clearly cooked and wasn't dryed out at all, it hadn't become as tender as I like. I don't like ribs in the FOB category, but these required more chewing than I would have preferred. Probably a by-product of cooking them too quickly at the beginning when the fire was burning hot.

So, I would love to hear suggestions on what I could do better to get a nicely smoked and tender rib that isn't falling off the bone. I suspect a combination of a cooler fire and wrapping the ribs about 2/3 of the way through the cooking time will probably do the trick. I am also going to go heavier on the salt in the rub. I may skip the mop this time.

Clean up is another issue. I drained the water out of the bottom of my pit and rinsed it out, per the mfg instructions, which generated more nasty grease and smoke infused water. I now have a big bucket of the stuff in my back yard, with no disposal plan. Any suggestions?

On a brighter note, on Sunday I made a beer can chicken on my Weber that came out perfectly. In fact it was so good that I almost second guessed my purchase of the big pit. Almost.

Bill/SFNM wrote:

Bruce wrote:Burns the gunk right off a grid in about 3 seconds, and doubles as a charcoal starter.

Works a little too well. My grids are porcelain-coated. Cactus burner blistered the coating right off! And then there was time I had the brilliant idea to blast the gunk off a Le Crueset pan.

Bill/SFNM

deke rivers wrote:

Bill/SFNM wrote:

Bruce wrote:Burns the gunk right off a grid in about 3 seconds, and doubles as a charcoal starter.

Works a little too well. My grids are porcelain-coated. Cactus burner blistered the coating right off! And then there was time I had the brilliant idea to blast the gunk off a Le Crueset pan.

Bill/SFNM

I agree..we use those for starting coals only..
I like just using a wire brush on the grates while they are still warm..

BellevueLonghorn wrote:deke:

Thanks. I like that suggestion because it is actually easier than what I was doing. Five and a half hours is a long time though. My wife is really going to roll her eyes if I start cooking dinner before lunch.

Bruce wrote:

deke rivers wrote:

Bill/SFNM wrote:

Bruce wrote:Burns the gunk right off a grid in about 3 seconds, and doubles as a charcoal starter.

Works a little too well. My grids are porcelain-coated. Cactus burner blistered the coating right off! And then there was time I had the brilliant idea to blast the gunk off a Le Crueset pan.

Bill/SFNM

I agree..we use those for starting coals only..
I like just using a wire brush on the grates while they are still warm..

My grates are expanded metal, and there is no harm done. I use a pizza oven brush also to clean the grates. Small mess = brush. Big mess = burner.

deke rivers wrote:[...wait until you throw some pork butts on there..if done properly you are looking at 2+ hrs per pound..

G Wiv wrote:

deke rivers wrote:[...wait until you throw some pork butts on there..if done properly you are looking at 2+ hrs per pound..

Deke,

While I agree 5-hours for spare ribs is ballpark, quoting time/lb ratios is a sure way to get the neophyte in deep water.

Personally, I go in the 250°-275°(ish) range, never mop, glaze or futz, until the last half hour when I 'might' spay with a little cranberry juice/olive oil mixed with my rub for ribs.

I've had 12-14 lb briskets give it up to tender perfection in as little as 7.5-hours and as long as 14-hours, 6-lb pork butt in as little as 8--9 hours. I'm talking bone sliding out clean, on the pork butts, and no need for pulling as they fall apart with just a cross-look.

I'm sure your BBQ is very good, and I am not disagreeing with what works for you, simply suggesting BellevueLonghorn not get wedded to the idea of precise time/pound ratios.

Best advice I can give is learn to build a clean fire and practice, practice, practice.

Enjoy,
Gary
http://www.wiviott.com

deke rivers wrote: He balked at cooking for 5 hrs and I responded that when he gets into pork butts and such he is looking at way longer cook times than ribs afford .."2+" is not an exact time..its done when its done
I did not state any precise times as you say.

BellevueLonghorn wrote:I didn't balk. I love the whole BBQ experience and would happily spend all day tending the fire in the pit. I simply commented that 5.5 hours is a long time. I meant for spare ribs, specifically. I have read a lot of BBQ recipes, how-to's etc. and five and a half hours is definitely at the long end of the range of recommendations I have seen. That was all I was commenting on. Not saying it doesn't work great, mind you.

BellevueLonghorn wrote:I appreciate all of the input. While I consider myself a pretty skilled artisan with a charcoal grill, I am a total green horn with a BBQ pit. So I will defer to those of you with the hard earned wisdom.

While we are at it, do any of you have a ballpark estimate for how long it would take to do a full rack of pork (awesome cut of meat, btw) at 275-300 F? I am guessing in that 4-6 hour range somewhere.

Cathy2 wrote:I did not realize until I read this website that Alder and Birch are the same or at least I conjured this up from the statement, "Maine Golden Birch (the King of Alders)."

a. Deciduous trees and shrubs with alternate, simple, double serrate-margined, pinnately-veined leaves; stipules present (but often quickly deciduous as in Fagaceae)

b. Plants monoecious

c. Flowers very reduced, imperfect, both staminate and carpellate flowers in catkins (the flowers are in many small cymes which are spirally arranged along the axis of the catkin, and are associated with a series of bracts)

d. Staminate fls.: *-0-6-, 1-4, 0

Carpellate fls.: * -0-6-, 0, (2) , nut, samara

e. Perianth parts minute or missing

f. Ovary with 2 locules, 2 pendulous ovules/locule -- all but one abort; ovary inferior

g. A family 6 genera, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. Represented in North America are: Alnus (alder), Betula (birch), Carpinus (ironwood), Corylus (hazelnut), and Ostrya (hop-hornbeam)

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I realize this thread has long drifted from the original question, however I do have some additional information.

Today I was at a BBQ joint where they had a flyer on the counter, which is likely their source of wood.

"The Singing Firewood Man" aka The Jolly Wood Fellow

All Hardwood Blend (Oak, Hickory, Cherry, Ash): $75 for 1 face cord, $145 for 2 face cord, $215 for a full cord

2 years seasoned guaranteed to burn: Oak $85/face cord; White birch: $105/face cord and kindling: $5 per bundle

Free delivery AND stacking (Stacked, not dumped!)

Call anytime 6 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week, 800-344-3039

&&&

Hi,

When Gary and I went to the Fancy Food Show, we met the owner of Maine Cooking Woods who offers wood in chunks and planks not normally found in Chicago:

Maine Golden Birch Very delicate slightly sweet. Good with fish, pork, poultry, lamb, goat and light-meat game birds. Traditionally used to smoke Salmon.

Maine Wild Apple Slightly sweet and fruity smoke flavor. Beef, poultry, game birds, pork (particularly ham)

Maine Black Cherry Distinctively sweet and fruity. Beef, poultry & game birds

Maine Sugar Maple Mildly smoky, sweet flavor. Good with lamb, pork, goat poultry, cheese, vegetables and small game birds.

Maine White Cedar Fragrant and sweet, ideal for cooking fish & beef

I did not realize until I read this website that Alder and Birch are the same or at least I conjured this up from the statement, "Maine Golden Birch (the King of Alders)."

Regards,

jpreiser wrote:I did a reverse lookup of the phone number and came up with this information.

Singing Firewood Man
<street address not available>
Lake Geneva, WI 53147
(800) 344-3039


Joe