Thoughs in my smoked ribs?

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finsfree

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jun 6, 2013
138
39
So I did my first 3-2-1 method on 3 racks of pork spare ribs.

I have an Oklahoma Joe Longhorn offset smoker. I seasoned the ribs with some rub and let sit in the refrigerater for 2 days. I used charcoal with oak. I made a charcoal box and it works a little TOO good. The grate temp was at around 250-275 degrees the whole time.

Your thoughts?

 
They look mighty tasty from where I'm at 
drool.gif
   How were they?
 
those ribs look great !

when i do spare ribs i smoke them a little hotter because of the fat on them , i dont trim much fat because of the taste i think it adds to the rib , but when i do baby backs i do them at a lower temp.
 
The ribs look delicious!  Those temps are ok for smoking ribs if you adjust cook times accordingly.  And you'll get your temp control dialed in with more cooks under your belt.  Control of air flow and the size of the coal bed you build are the most likely variables for temp control in that Okie Joe.

Red
 
uummmm... we are kind of thinking what your thoughts are on the finished product... they look good from here...

They were really good...very smoky this time! I think I'm going to use less coals next time to maintain a lower temp 225 at the grate instead of 250-275.

I'm not sure what or how else to improve on these. Maybe start playing with seasonings.

These were tender, but I'm wanting them to be "pulled pork" tender.
 
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ok then... I went back and re-read the thread.. you didn't mention how you did your fire... was it the minion method, if so how many lit briquettes did you put in on the unlit...and how far along did you let them light before dumping on the unlit ? ... Or did you light a whole chimney full of briquettes until they were red hot and then dumped them in ?.... a little more info on that part will help us help you dial the fire in... I don't think you need to use less coals... well, maybe less lit coals to dump on the unlit ones.... Myself, I like to only light about a dozen briquettes (and then only light about half way, not screaming hot) and dump them into a little hole I make in the unlit (minion method)... open all vents and let it climb up to temp slowly... when it gets about 200` I will start closing down the intake.... it's a lot easier to bring UP to temp instead of trying to bring it DOWN.. hope all this makes sense...
 
ok then... I went back and re-read the thread.. you didn't mention how you did your fire... was it the minion method, if so how many lit briquettes did you put in on the unlit...and how far along did you let them light before dumping on the unlit ? ... Or did you light a whole chimney full of briquettes until they were red hot and then dumped them in ?.... a little more info on that part will help us help you dial the fire in... I don't think you need to use less coals... well, maybe less lit coals to dump on the unlit ones.... Myself, I like to only light about a dozen briquettes (and then only light about half way, not screaming hot) and dump them into a little hole I make in the unlit (minion method)... open all vents and let it climb up to temp slowly... when it gets about 200` I will start closing down the intake.... it's a lot easier to bring UP to temp instead of trying to bring it DOWN.. hope all this makes sense...

This what I did. I'll wait until it hits 210 then close intake down completely. The temp will still keep climbing even though the intake is now closed. The hottest the grate will get is 275...too hot IMO.

Yes minion method. This charcoal basket is 14"x14"x7". Air flow is good.
 
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If temps still climb with vents closed.. then you have a air leak issues... it will be really hard to control temps with air leaks....
 
It will be pretty hard to get this thing air tight. Maybe less coals? I mean it's a grill...it's not going to be completely air tight.

What would I use to patch up air leaks?
 
If you want them to be "pulled pork tender", foil longer and decrease the last hour to 20 min. Also, 2 days with rub on in the refrig. - you're curing the meat I would think and drawing too much moisture out. Overnight at a max.- few hours seems better (4-6 hours).
 
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