Spare Me Some Spare Ribs

Having the WSM is a little addicting. It had been more than a week since the last smoke-out and I was already getting the itch. So over the weekend while grocery shopping, I picked up a “family pack” of pork spare ribs at a local grocery store for a little under $7. It was perfect because I didn’t want to buy a Godzilla-sized pack at Costco that would probably feed a small hungry village in some 3rd world country.

I slapped on some homemade rub and put it in the fridge overnight. The rub I’ve been using has been working pretty well. It’s simple and gets the job done. I posted the recipe I used in the past, but this time around I added a pinch of cumin and a little brown sugar for some extra caramelization.

The next day, I threw it on the WSM and basted the ribs with apple juice on each side after a couple of hours. The grand total smoke time was 4.5 hours. This time around, I experimented by NOT adding any water into the water pan. As you know, the purpose of the water pan is to regulate the internal temperature and to keep it low and slow. With no water, you run the risk of higher temperature, so you have to adjust the vents and monitor very carefully. On the flip side, you can achieve better results on the bark — the outside crust of the meat. See for yourself at the jump.

What a beauty. I slathered on some BBQ sauce and my wife and I tore into it like ravaging vultures. While eating, I tried to judge the ribs as if it were a competition. I liked the fact that the meat wasn’t completely “fall-off-the-bone” tender but still had a good bite to it. It had a nice, pink color on the inside. I loved the outside bark. If I had to nitpick, I would say that it was slightly on the overcooked side. It wasn’t quite as juicy and tender as I had hoped. I can attribute this to the higher temperature (consistently around 250+, instead of the 225 range) from not having water in the pan. But overall, a good learning experience my first time smoking ribs.

The Smokin’ Aftermath: BBQ Coma

In my last post, I talked about the excruciatingly long wait while the chicken and brisket were “hibernating” in the WSM smoker. Well, I can tell you that for a couple days my entire house smelled like smoked meats. Even my clothes and skin pores smelled like smoked meats.

The chicken and brisket turned out great, considering it was my first time. I took notes — made a few mistakes, but nothing earth shattering — I now know what tweaks to make for the next smoke-out. I smoked the chicken breasts about 4 hours, which may seem long to most people, but it turned out to be the right move in my case. I smoked the brisket for about 8 hours, but I had to do something to it after removing it from the WSM. Read more >>

My biggest mistake was not using enough charcoal. I thought lighting up an almost-full chimney starter’s worth of coals was plenty, but it was not — not if I planned on smoking for a good 8 hours plus. I was basically using the owner’s manual method, which is adding more charcoals along the way during the smoking process. I found out the hard way, the temperature was inconsistent and would drop all the way to 150 degrees F. I wanted to keep a steady temperature of at least 200 – 225. Next time, I will use something closer to the Minion method, which puts hot charcoal on top of unlit charcoal — perfect for smoking over a long period of time, like overnight.

With a smaller amount of charcoal, the chicken breasts still came out moist and juicy with a nice smoky flavor. The smoked flavor wasn’t overpowering, and I definitely can taste the “fruity” smoke from the apple wood. I liked seeing that slight pink tone to the meat — not raw, just an effect from the smoking process. I thought using the bone-in chicken breasts helped in keeping the meat tender, as opposed to just using the boneless kind.

After about 8 hours and a deteriorating pile of charcoal ash, I decided to take out the brisket and see if it was ready. Going by the 1.5 hours/per pound rule, I figured the brisket should be ready. After waiting to let the brisket rest and let the juices redistribute, I cut a small slice against the grain for the taste test. The verdict? Nice smoke ring, loved the flavor… but, it wasn’t quite tender enough. So I wrapped it in foil and threw it in the oven for 225 degrees for another couple of hours.

The BBQ smoked smell permeated throughout the house. Those couple of hours in the oven did the trick, with just the right amount of tenderness and texture without being overcooked. On the exterior, it didn’t quite have that really dark charred, almost black, meteor look that I was going for. But perhaps I can achieve that with more charcoal and longer smoke time. For the interior, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that pink smoke ring.

I even threw some brisket slices on the griddle to give it that added grill flavor. Along with some BBQ sauce and a roasted garlic loaf, I managed to make my own brisket sandwich. I would say that my first BBQ smokin’ experience was a success. BBQ isn’t an exact science, so it’s learn-as-you-go. Every cooking experience, every smoking session, and every taste-testing is invaluable. Even mistakes taste good. ‘Til next time… ribs and pulled pork. Can’t wait.

My First Time Smokin’ Brisket

Shhh… BBQ R2D2 (my nickname for the WSM) is sleeping. Smoking away, undisturbed, at a steady 225 degrees F. My first attempt at smoking brisket is now underway. But it’s only been a couple of hours, and the anticipation is already killing me. How do all the seasoned BBQ veterans do it? Especially, when you’re hungry, and the smell of smoked meat permeates through the air?

Since I’m using this blog to document/log my BBQ smoking experiences, I’ll simply be posting my thoughts and pictures with every experience — even the mess-ups. For my first time using the WSM, I’m using 6-lb brisket and 3 large bone-in half chicken breasts. Read more >>

• 6-lb USDA choice brisket – about $21 at Costco. There was about 4 or 5 other ones, ranging from $18-26. I tried to pick one that wasn’t too big, even shaped with a little layer of fat, and just felt “right” squeezing it. It’s like picking fruit or vegetables… call it a hunch.
• 6 bone-in half chicken breasts – about $11 at Costco. I just picked the cheapest one.

I bought the meats the day before, so I had time to trim the fat from the brisket, put the dry rub seasonings, and put it in the fridge overnight. One thing’s for sure, trimming fat is a good test to see how sharp your knife is. Mine wasn’t quite as sharp, so I had a tougher time cutting away some of the fat. So you can see it wasn’t the cleanest butchering job.

BEFORE: Brisket right out of the packaging, pat dry

AFTER: trimming some of the fat off, albeit unevenly

Not much fat on the other side, leave as is

With dry-rub seasoning massaged in

The dry rub was nothing fancy, I just used whatever I had in my pantry:

• Seasoned salt
• Ground black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Mustard powder
• Onion powder
• Cayenne pepper
• Old Bay seasoning

I just sprinkled a little bit of each on the meat and gave it a good rub-down. It gave a nice, dark red coating and smelled pretty good already. I know Old Bay is more commonly used for seafood, but I thought, hey why not sprinkle a little for BBQ and see how it turns out.

The next day, I was ready to put the WSM to work. I fired up the chimney starter filled with briquets directly on the bottom grate of the charcoal bowl and waited about 15 minutes for the flames to start showing up on the top layer of the briquets with a little bit of white ash color. Then I dumped everything on the grate, and placed 5 small chunks of apple wood directly on the flaming charcoal.

Almost ready to be dumped out

I probably put in the wood a bit too early

From there, I quickly assembled the WSM by putting the middle section, then the water pan. I lagged just enough, that when I poured water into the water pan, it “flashed” and steamed water just a bit, but I managed to carefully pour all of the water without spilling it onto the charcoal below. I placed the first grate, slapped the brisket on it, then the second grate with the 3 chicken breasts.

Brisket on the grill, fat side up

Chicken breasts

I put the lid on, and voila, I was done. The only thing left to do is monitor the temperature. It quickly rose to about 300 degrees F, but has now settled to around 225 degrees F. I couldn’t help but fiddle around with the bottom vents. For now, I settled on this — bottom 3 vents are halfway closed, and the top vent is open. For about a 6-lb brisket, I plan on smoking it for about 8-9 hours (following the 1.5 hour per pound guideline), so we’ll see how it turns out. Obviously, I won’t be smoking the chicken that long. Stay tuned for the after pictures and taste tasting. For now, it’s just waiting…