BBQ help (specifically, ribs)

I think G. Wiv is the guy I'm supposed to be looking for all the answers to this.

Anyhow, I'm kinda new to the whole smoking thing and it's as addictive as crack. I'm pretty happy with my pulled pork (that's nigh impossible to screw up), but I'm still hit and miss with the ribs.

Now, I usually start with pork spare ribs, and maybe put a very light rub on them. The first time I smoked them, they came out very good, but not quite smokey enough. Two days ago I smoked a nother batch and, well, let's just say I was coughing for all the copious amounts of smoke flavor in the meat. I used to be a cigarette smoker, and the feeling was not unlike having just finished a half pack. So, yeah, practicallly inedible. I ate a rib or two, threw my ribs in the trash (only $6 of waste) and forgave myself by going to Honey 1's yesterday.

Obviously, as with all cooking, there's a little bit of trial and error involved before you really learn the technique. So no big deal. The more mistakes I make, the more I learn.

The first time I smoked, it was over charcoal briquettes, with some soaked mesquite chips (I didn't have any hickory) added to coals after they ashed over and the meat went on. The second time, I used a mixture of charcoal and hickory wood (which says "use instead of charcoal" on the bag) and some soaked apple & cherry wood chips. Since the first batch wasn't smoky enough, I must have dumped about a good 4-6 cups of wood chips into the fire through the first two hours of cooking.

Also, was I supposed to wait for the hickory wood to burn down before using it "instead of charcoal"? Should I just use plain, ol' charcoal as my heat and only wood chips for the smokey flavor?

Help me out here, I want to get this right.

Oh, holy crap! I just clicked on your name, G Wiv, and discovered you have a whole web page dedicated to my question. Time to get the learning cap on.

You're right that Gary is your master in all things smoked. Start Here

Ann Fisher wrote:You're right that Gary is your master in all things smoked. Start Here

Wow! I just read through it, and this is the coolest and most informative beginner's BBQ guide out there. Great mix of technique, philosophy, and great photos. Nice job, Gary!

Binko,

Don't overlook the fact that there's a whole board over there were all things WSM are discussed.

Best,
Michael
Three steps down, two to go

eatchicago wrote:Binko,

Don't overlook the fact that there's a whole board over there were all things WSM are discussed.

Best,
Michael
Three steps down, two to go

!!!

Thanks for the heads up because, in fact, I did miss it.

Binko wrote:I think G. Wiv is the guy I'm supposed to be looking for all the answers to this.

Anyhow, I'm kinda new to the whole smoking thing and it's as addictive as crack. I'm pretty happy with my pulled pork (that's nigh impossible to screw up), but I'm still hit and miss with the ribs.

Now, I usually start with pork spare ribs, and maybe put a very light rub on them. The first time I smoked them, they came out very good, but not quite smokey enough. Two days ago I smoked a nother batch and, well, let's just say I was coughing for all the copious amounts of smoke flavor in the meat. I used to be a cigarette smoker, and the feeling was not unlike having just finished a half pack. So, yeah, practicallly inedible. I ate a rib or two, threw my ribs in the trash (only $6 of waste) and forgave myself by going to Honey 1's yesterday.

Obviously, as with all cooking, there's a little bit of trial and error involved before you really learn the technique. So no big deal. The more mistakes I make, the more I learn.

The first time I smoked, it was over charcoal briquettes, with some soaked mesquite chips (I didn't have any hickory) added to coals after they ashed over and the meat went on. The second time, I used a mixture of charcoal and hickory wood (which says "use instead of charcoal" on the bag) and some soaked apple & cherry wood chips. Since the first batch wasn't smoky enough, I must have dumped about a good 4-6 cups of wood chips into the fire through the first two hours of cooking.

Also, was I supposed to wait for the hickory wood to burn down before using it "instead of charcoal"? Should I just use plain, ol' charcoal as my heat and only wood chips for the smokey flavor?

Help me out here, I want to get this right.

Binko-what type smoker you cooking on? as far as wood toss those chips and use chunks and dont soak em unless you like steam and just use a couple fist size chunks to start..sounds like you might have oversmoked..but its hard to help unless I know what type cooker you are using but I do know unless you have a very large offset type you dont want to cook with all wood..briquettes for heat..a couple chunks of wood for smoke/flavor