Need meat smoking help FAST!

[JONNYROTTEN]

We used a rub that I'm not so sure about last night.Its got herbs in it which I thought was odd.This morning I open the tray and it doesn't smell like ribs should.They smell like seasoned pork chops.Not what I was going for showing of my smoker a my party later today.Should I rinse off as much rub as I can and make up my own rub? Am I screwed? Has anyone used this rub before? Anyone have a good rub I can make.I should have all the basic ingredients including brown sugar.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...WQXZYNNrsLWNbr0ZlT8AWw&bvm=bv.126130881,d.dmo

 

[Oldskewl]

It doesn't appear to have any brown sugar in it. If it were me, I would put some brown sugar on the meat and go with it. I'm sure it will turn out fine.

 

[brewbama]

I've never used that rub. Here's a classic from Peace, Love and Barbeque by Mike Mills

Magic Dust

Ingredients:

½ cup paprika
¼ cup kosher salt, finely ground
¼ cup sugar
2 tbs mustard powder
¼ cup chili powder
¼ cup ground cumin
2 tbs ground black pepper
¼ cup granulated garlic
2 tbs cayenne pepper

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and store in a tightly covered container.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I put the rub in Tupperware and added brown sugar.Gave a shake and poured it on the ribs.If I had to guess I'd say it was 1/4 to 1/5 brown sugar

 

[tdiowa]

That rub is very similar to what I use. I agree with putting brown sugar on it. You might also try sprinkling some coffe grounds on it also. Another suggestion would be to spray it with apple juice during the cook.

Are you going to wrap them? If so pour apple juice on them to sweeten them a little bit.

Dont worry they will turn out fine!!

 

[Dcpcooks]

It is what it is at this point. Don't bother with the rinse it's too late at this point. Mix a cup of apple juice, 1/4 cup of cider vinegar, 1/4 cup brown sugar and black pepper to taste and use it as a mop as you smoke them. Baste it every half hour and your be happy happy happy. You could also use a spay bottle of juice and vinegar to mist them... Smoke them at a slightly lower temp and add a little extra time your get a little more some flavor to help balance everything out.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

It is what it is at this point. Don't bother with the rinse it's too late at this point. Mix a cup of apple juice, 1/4 cup of cider vinegar, 1/4 cup brown sugar and black pepper to taste and use it as a mop as you smoke them. Baste it every half hour and your be happy happy happy. You could also use a spay bottle of juice and vinegar to mist them... Smoke them at a slightly lower temp and add a little extra time your get a little more some flavor to help balance everything out.

Sounds good.New at smoking.I thought I read if you open the smoker add and hour to cook time.If I open it every half hour how long should I figure total cook time so I know when to start.The two other times I did ribs I cooked for 4 hours from time I lit the coals (minion method) and never opened the smoker..How shouls I adjust time?

 

[Dcpcooks]

Back in the day when I was in culinary school the instructors always answered the question of "how long should it cook for" with the same answer. Until it's done. I'm not trying to be a smart ass. The reality is food is very similar to beer. Time and temp are the keys to obtaining the best finished product. Assuming you have a metal smoker that won't retain a ton of heat you should probably add 10-15 min per hour of cooking. Your smoker temp is the key here. Think low and slow.

I wouldn't get to worried about time per se. I like 5 hours on the smoker at 200. You can always wrap them in foil for the last hour or two to prevent them from drying out. Mop them and wrap them in the foil at the end if needed. You can feel the resistance of the meat as you go. Once you feel the meat pull from the bone easily your done.

If your flame is directly below your ribs be careful you don't splash enough of the mop liquid to put out the fire. I usually put a pan of water between my flame and meats to add moisture to the smoker and prevent the mop from killing the flame.

 

[brewbama]

Sounds good.New at smoking.I thought I read if you open the smoker add and hour to cook time.If I open it every half hour how long should I figure total cook time so I know when to start.The two other times I did ribs I cooked for 4 hours from time I lit the coals (minion method) and never opened the smoker..How shouls I adjust time?

That's been debunked at Amazing Ribs. True you can't leave your smoker open (lookin ain't cookin) but opening it to mop and quickly closing it doesn't add an hour.

Besides, the recommended time is only when you start testing for doneness with a wooden skewer. If it goes in the meat like a hot knife thru butter it's done. If not, test again in 30-45 min.

 

[smakudwn]

Well let us know how it turns out. I just bought some of that rub for my pork butts I am doing tomorrow. I was going to add it to some brown sugar also.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Well let us know how it turns out. I just bought some of that rub for my pork butts I am doing tomorrow. I was going to add it to some brown sugar also.

Will do.Ill get back tomorrow morning with results

 

[Brickman]

Don't over think it. I cook ribs for 3 to 3.5 hours out in the smoke. I foil for about 1 to 1.25 hours. Then I will take them out and sauce. My total cook time is 5 to 5.5 hours at a average temp of 250 to 275. When you foil is when I add brown sugar, butter, and honey. You can tell when they are done as they will be floppy again like when they were raw but not quite as much. I don't mop. I will spray with apple juice at 1 hour and 2 hours in. Mopping just washes off all of the rub. Good luck. Even bad ribs at home are better than most restaurants.

Mark

 

[pointcity-homebrew]

I usually make my own rub for pork similar to the one that was listed for "Magic Dust". I rub my ribs down with dry mustard and the dry season.

I generally cook for around 4 hours @ ~260, I love my Akorn grill you can dial in temps once you get the hang of it, @ 2.5 hours I start to spritz with diluted apple juice. I also have a pan of water in the grill with aromatic herbs, helps keep moisture in the grill the herbs just smell good.

The biggest thing in my opinion is watching the temp and not letting them cook too fast or dry out.

 

[BrewinBromanite]

There's some real good meat smoking advice on here, but I also found amazingribs.com has some great advice for all types of meats for times, temps, techniques, and also recipes for rubs, sauces, etc.

For ribs, unfortunately, it's hard to have a lot of "rules" that are easily applied to different smokers and cooking techniques, mainly because it's difficult to get accurate temp readings with all the bones, without having very small and precise needle probe thermometers. Other than keeping oven/smoker temps in check, don't bother about using a thermometer for the meat with ribs. For pork shoulders and briskets, 225-250 smoker temp, until you reach ~200 internal meat temp is a good general rule of thumb, but you gotta just experiment with ribs on your smoker. I try to keep the smoker temp between 225-275 until tender for ribs, but you just have to figure out when they are at the tenderness you like. Also, I like the rub to have a good balance of herby, spicy & sweet. Some like it more savory, some more sweet. Very personal. Have fun experimenting!

 

[user 224599]

Too late for those, just smoke and see how it goes. For the future:
http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/best_BBQ_ribs_ever.html

/thread (trust me!)

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Well let us know how it turns out. I just bought some of that rub for my pork butts I am doing tomorrow. I was going to add it to some brown sugar also.

So everyone seemed to like the ribs.A couple people said "there good,there different".Everybody else just said they were different. They didn't taste at all what ribs normally taste like.They were more like herbed ribs.They also had a hot kick at the end.I personally didn't like them.to me they were edible but not great.The half a bottle I have left is going in the garbage and never being bought again.Probably to late for my review for you but if you used it Id like to here what you think.If its not to late Id use something else and try it out some other time than a holiday weekend.They didn't all get eaten either so maybe people we just being nice

EDIT:Im revisiting my review.I just nuked some of the leftover ribs and they weren't bad.Maybe I had to much going on yesterday,maybe I'm more in the mood for them today...I'm completely torn whether I'm liking the rub or not..still sticking to "different tasting"

 

[bfish]

I don't understand why you are adding brown sugar to the rub. For something that smokes as long as ribs, it tends to burn and give acrid taste. If you must have sweet ribs (which I find very cloying), save the sweet stuff till you foil or when you brush on a glaze with a finishing sauce near the very end.

…..They didn't taste at all what ribs normally taste like.…..

Was it the cooking method? Did the membrane get pulled? Were the ribs enhanced/injected? It could be many things, including the rub.

 

[Dfitz]

I cook my ribs @ 250F until I get a nice arc when I pick up the rack. Some times I have to foil, sometimes not. Usually foil for 30-40 minutes then put em back on the rack to dry em out a bit, sauce now if that's your thing. A lot depends on where you get your ribs. I stear clear of the cryo-packs and buy day fresh from a packing house.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I don't understand why you are adding brown sugar to the rub. For something that smokes as long as ribs, it tends to burn and give acrid taste. If you must have sweet ribs (which I find very cloying), save the sweet stuff till you foil or when you brush on a glaze with a finishing sauce near the very end.



Was it the cooking method? Did the membrane get pulled? Were the ribs enhanced/injected? It could be many things, including the rub.

The different flavor was definitely from the rub.Cooked them on my WSM the same as the other times Ive done ribs.Low and slow for 4 hours or so.No injections.Ive never pulled the membrane before[enter joke here]I watched a youtube video and it came off real easy.I tried for 10 minutes to get what I thought was the membrane off.I was just beating up the ribs so I stopped.I can only assume it was already off in the package.They weren't chewy like what I would think the membrane would be like

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the quick responses and help...really appreciate it

 

[GrogNerd]

dry rubbed the night before with McCormick's Grill Mates pork seasoning

then cooked 3-2-1

3 hours in the smoker. I use a 2:2:1 mix of cherry:apple:hickory.

2 hours in the oven, wrapped in foil with 4oz of apple juice

1 hour in the oven unwrapped, at a little higher temp, with BBQ sauce

in fact, just tossed a pair of baby back racks in the smoker about 15 minutes ago

 

[CamG]

Ahhh BBQ I love it as much as making beer...
I wish I had read this earlier so I could have offered some help, but it looks like it turned out pretty good.
Lots of good advice from everyone here. Nice to see so many other BBQ'ers on this site offering help.

You should try slathering the ribs with mustard some time.. I know it sounds crazy, I thought I was going to ruin a good rack the first time I tried it. It's a really great way to add a bit of bark (smoke crust) to the ribs and because the mustard has no sugar it will not burn. Just rub them with a good rub like you would normaly do and then slather on the mustard. Cook them with the 3-2-1 method and then apply your favorite sauce at the end. You would never know they had mustard on them. The mustard flavor completely disappears. However they will have an amazing smoke ring and a bit of a crust for the sauce to stick to. Personly I think it keeps the meat moist inside like wrapping in foil.

I should add, If you ever make pulled pork this works great. The mustard really keeps the meat moist and the bark holds the smoke because of the extra long time it spends in the smoker. The flavor pops when you shred the meat. Trust me people will be looking for the little black pieces of meat in the bowl.

 

[Dixon9717]

CamG I use the mustard method with briskets as well. Rub mustard 2-3 days before smoking. Adds a great bark to the meat and use a coffee rub on top o the mustard. Damn now I'm hungry for smoked meat.

 

[GrogNerd]

Hmm.. mustard on ribs & butts. Interesting

Yellow? Brown? Dijon ? Was just shopping and saw 47 different kinds of mustard

Reminds me of the BigHair's recipe for turkey. She smothers it in cream cheese. Yep. regular Philadelphia brand cream cheese. Doesn't dry out the white meat and the skin turns out brown and crispy and tasty and good

 

[bfish]

Hmm.. mustard on ribs & butts. Interesting

Yellow? Brown? Dijon ? Was just shopping and saw 47 different kinds of mustard …...

Cheap yellow mustard (or French's), it doesn't add any flavor, just holds more spice for a thicker bark. Making a paste with rub and oil will do the same thing.

 

[krackin]

No sweat. Rub with a decent mustard then re-rub with what you want. Apply smoke for a couple hours then finish with your choice. Keep it simple, it's pretty hard to go wrong.