My 2nd smoke, my first ribs

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jamesdaclark

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 6, 2014
5
10
Felton, CA
So today was my second time smoking after a moderate success yesterday. Today I did baby back ribs with a rub and sauce using the 2-2-1 method, lump mesquite coal and apple chunks.

I was having a hard time keeping a clean fire burning for the first two hours. Luckily my Maverick 733 came in the mail right then. I put the probes in the smoker and found the original thermometer to be reading 70*F  high. I had been cooking just under 200*f when I thought I was at 260*. I am also using a new fire basket that I made this morning that might have slightly too fine of a mesh to let air flow well once the coals start to burn down. I kept the ribs wrapped a bit longer to compensate for the low temps I started with. The results were excellent.


I'm using foil until the gasket material I ordered shows up.


Rubbed and ready.


Done, with some bacon greased and rubbed potatoes.


Really happy for a first attempt.
 
Ribs look good to me?

Fire basket looks good too?  Just grab it with some tongs and shake it every couple of hours.

I think you are well on your way to being a true addict!

Two smokes in two days?  You might be in some real trouble there?

Now just keep a real close eye on your wallet?

Good luck and good smoking
 
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After a second look?

Is your coal basket sitting on the bottom of the firebox?

If so?  You might want to cut it a little shorter in height.  Suspend it off the bottom of the firebox with a couple of rolled steel rods. Better air flow that way.  Something like this:


Dang?  Wasn't that a virginal looking smoker?

My first offset after using the old ECB upright.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
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I have a larger grate under the fire basket, so it sits higher off the bottom than it used to. The bag of lump charcoal I was using was broken up in to a lot of very small chips too, that may have been a part of the problem. I'm going to try a different brand. When I added new charcoal it would smother it a bit so I hit it with my weed burner to get it going more each time. That really helped. I may also light coals in my chimney and pour them in already burning.
 
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