All recipes (except perhaps for baking) are not set in stone. Yesterday I applied the 2-2-1 method for smoking two racks of baby backs and in my opinion, although the ribs turned out moist and very juicy, 2-2.5 would have nailed the "tug" I was after. The meat was falling off the bone which is what most people want but for me that was the ribs being slightly overdone. Just learned today that baby backs are on sale at my favorite store this week so I'll get my chance to try it again soon.
I own a MES 30 Gen 1. I placed the ribs on racks 1 & 2 with my Maverick ET-733 probes near the rear of each rack. One probe faced towards the left, the other to the right. During the heat up cycles there was a difference of around 10°between the two which later settled down on about 2-3° which is meaningless. The temp displayed on the MES was about 20° higher than that shown on the ET-733.My set point was at first 250° but the smoker overshot to 288° during the heat up cycle. It had started to dip back down when I decided to lower the set point to 235°. I saw the temp undershoot to about 228° (according to the ET-733) but the temp wound up remaining between 232-240° which was great.
For the dry rub, I used a base of yellow mustard and then sprinkled on a dry rub from a recipe I got from a Steven Raichlen book. The dry rub is called Jake's Boss BBQ Rub and is based on a rub from a chef in Boston who won a James Beard Award. It was different from what I've used before and was really good. For the foil juice I used apple cider and some of the dry rub. For the finishing sauce I used a BBQ sauce my daughter bought me called Borbon Q Gold Reserve Roasted Garlic & Chipotle Kentucky Bourbon Barbecue Sauce. It's good stuff with a slightly hot finish.
I used hickory wood pellets in my AMNPS. Using gelled alcohol to light it, the AMNPS lit right away and stayed lit throughout the smoke. I had it going for about 30 minutes before I put the ribs in which means I got between 5-6 hours of smoke from two rows of hickory pellets. And, as always, the meat wasn't oversmoked. The AMNPS has the incredible ability to produce enough smoke to enhance what is smoked and not to overpower it. When I first got into smoking I was into getting as much smoky flavor as I could. What I wound up getting was harsh, bitter aftertastes which I and no one else liked. That has never happened with the AMNPS, which is another reason why I'm a huge proponent of it.
In the top photo you might see some meals written on a white board. That's part of our nightly dinner menu for the week.
I own a MES 30 Gen 1. I placed the ribs on racks 1 & 2 with my Maverick ET-733 probes near the rear of each rack. One probe faced towards the left, the other to the right. During the heat up cycles there was a difference of around 10°between the two which later settled down on about 2-3° which is meaningless. The temp displayed on the MES was about 20° higher than that shown on the ET-733.My set point was at first 250° but the smoker overshot to 288° during the heat up cycle. It had started to dip back down when I decided to lower the set point to 235°. I saw the temp undershoot to about 228° (according to the ET-733) but the temp wound up remaining between 232-240° which was great.
For the dry rub, I used a base of yellow mustard and then sprinkled on a dry rub from a recipe I got from a Steven Raichlen book. The dry rub is called Jake's Boss BBQ Rub and is based on a rub from a chef in Boston who won a James Beard Award. It was different from what I've used before and was really good. For the foil juice I used apple cider and some of the dry rub. For the finishing sauce I used a BBQ sauce my daughter bought me called Borbon Q Gold Reserve Roasted Garlic & Chipotle Kentucky Bourbon Barbecue Sauce. It's good stuff with a slightly hot finish.
I used hickory wood pellets in my AMNPS. Using gelled alcohol to light it, the AMNPS lit right away and stayed lit throughout the smoke. I had it going for about 30 minutes before I put the ribs in which means I got between 5-6 hours of smoke from two rows of hickory pellets. And, as always, the meat wasn't oversmoked. The AMNPS has the incredible ability to produce enough smoke to enhance what is smoked and not to overpower it. When I first got into smoking I was into getting as much smoky flavor as I could. What I wound up getting was harsh, bitter aftertastes which I and no one else liked. That has never happened with the AMNPS, which is another reason why I'm a huge proponent of it.
In the top photo you might see some meals written on a white board. That's part of our nightly dinner menu for the week.