# BABYBACKS! My first big post.



## bobbobbbq (Jun 22, 2014)

This is my first proper post so I thought id do it on something I know.













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I start by coating the BB's in Dijon mustard on both sides.













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I then coat them liberally in my own BOBBOB's BBQ rub on both sides.













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These little puppys are then wrapped up in clingfilm and put to bed in the refrigerator over night.












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The next morning I get my smoker ready for work. I like to soak the wood in a water/ vinegar mix. The wood I used this time was damson which I smoke over charcoal briquettes.













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getting the coals nice and hot before loading them into my little minion.













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I use water as a heat shield but am considering changing to sand/stones to try and achieve a nice dark bark.













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Now the BB's are out of the reefer and are ready to meet the smoke.













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As you can I have a tiny little smoker so I am limited to the amount of racks I can smoke at a time.













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Now the lids on I keep checking on her every 20 mins adding coals and wood as and when its needed. I try to keep the temp at around 165C with a good amount of smoke going for the duration of the cooking time.













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While I was waiting I got bored so I got some pork belly out and gave it a basic rub of brown and white sugar, paprika, cayenne 













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Just a quick pic of the smoke box. I like to start off with 15 briquettes and a fist sized piece of wood.













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this is after the first hour and things are looking good so far.













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A couple of hours later and the sun has come out at last. I like to baste the meat every 20 mins with my home made BOBBOB's BBQ sauce. ( don't worry the paint brush is new )

 













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After 5 hours the pork belly gets wrapped in tin foil as by now it plenty smoky enough.













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At 6.5 hours the BB's are also wrapped and left for another hour to rest above the cooling coals.













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Heres the BB's sliced and ready for serving.( I think they look great but that's just my opinion) 













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And finally here is the end result which I served up with some home made spicy potato wedges.

I hope Y'all like my post and I welcome any feedback.

Thanks BOBBOBBBQ 

.


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## baz senior (Jun 22, 2014)

That looks superb. You really can't beat a nice summers day, the woft of smoke, and a beer. Proper job! Thumbs Up

Thanks for sharing.


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 22, 2014)

Thanks Baz I appreciate it buddy.


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## darwin101 (Jun 22, 2014)

Good looking meat, very nice.  Well done sir    :)


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## kc5tpy (Jun 22, 2014)

WOW!!  What a GREAT "how to"!!  Great looking food and a very nice tutorial with picts.  WELL done.  Keep Smokin!

Danny


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 22, 2014)

thanks Danny.

I was a bit nervous about doing my first post. I'm glad you like it.

Rob.


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 22, 2014)

Thankyou Sir.


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## markuk (Jun 22, 2014)

wow wow

Great info too


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## wade (Jun 23, 2014)

Very nice Bob. Your smoker looks as if it gets a lot of use and your food looks great. Thanks for sharing with us.

Now that you have got over your initial stage fright we will expect regular updates


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 23, 2014)

Thanks Wade. That little smoker gets fired up whenever I get a day to myself. I'm still only really smoking ribs at the moment but want to move on to something else. Any suggestions?I will post up my results as soon as I can. Thanks again buddy.


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## foamheart (Jun 23, 2014)

Truly impressive, you have most definitively mastered your pit.

Excellent smoke! Excellent Q-View! And that bacon adder, just a notch over the top there.

Congrats on a great smoke! Color me impressed!

Oh and I laughed I thought at first that was a small flag pole with a flag. The smoking lamp was lit topside!

Thank you for sharing.


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 23, 2014)

Thanks Foamy. 
I'm firing her up again today to smoke some shellfish. 
The pole you can see is a large umbrella to shelter the smoker from the fine british weather. 
Quick question, what's a Q-view?
Thanks again.


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## smokin monkey (Jun 23, 2014)

Hi Bob, your food looks amazing, I did some whole Belly Pork this weekend, the taste was great but still had a lot of fat that could of been rendered out.  How was your crackling? crisp or a bit soggy?

Smokin Monkey


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## foamheart (Jun 23, 2014)

BOBBOBBBQ said:


> Thanks Foamy.
> I'm firing her up again today to smoke some shellfish.
> The pole you can see is a large umbrella to shelter the smoker from the fine british weather.
> Quick question, what's a Q-view?
> Thanks again.


Grilled seafood, always is a winner. I spent some time topside on a boat in Holy Loch, Scotland. Coldest I have ever been, <clears throat> Loveliest weather up there. Q-View is the boards name for your published pictures.

One more time, great smoke.


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 23, 2014)

Smokin Monkey said:


> Hi Bob, your food looks amazing, I did some whole Belly Pork this weekend, the taste was great but still had a lot of fat that could of been rendered out.  How was your crackling? crisp or a bit soggy?
> 
> Smokin Monkey


Thanks buddy. I didn't really get any crackling as the temp was quite low. I will go for crackling when I do a slab of pork belly in a couple of weeks.


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## smokin monkey (Jun 23, 2014)

Tried to turn the temperature up on my home made electric smoker, but found it will not get above 120'C.  I have ordered a GMG Jim Bowie, but not arriving until late July.

This will possibly get good crackling, but putting on BBQ cracking down, will help.

Smokin Monkey


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 23, 2014)

Iv 





Smokin Monkey said:


> Tried to turn the temperature up on my home made electric smoker, but found it will not get above 120'C.  I have ordered a GMG Jim Bowie, but not arriving until late July.
> 
> This will possibly get good crackling, but putting on BBQ cracking down, will help.
> 
> Smokin Monkey


Iv not got anything as fancy as an electric smoker lol. 
I use good old coals and wood. I'm looking at building a triple oil drum smoker aka THE BEAST.


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## smokin monkey (Jun 23, 2014)

Hi Bob, the electric smoker was just a plate warming cabinet that i fitted a Smokai unit to, did a little bit of electrical work fitting two PID'S.

Like you I have a project to build a smoker.













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Found this at one of my customers, looking at collecting next week. Not sure which way to go with it. First idea is a fire box to smoke wood, but main heat generator is propane!  

Thinking this way, as we do some events, and propane is easier, and more acceptable than purely wood burning.

Smokin Monkey


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 23, 2014)

Blimey monkey that looks like a big lump. Is that an old calor garden tank? If it is it will need a good scrub out and clean as you don't want it going bang when you cut it :-0


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## smokin monkey (Jun 23, 2014)

No, it's a liquid receiver from a refrigeration system.  Looking at two doors as it's 94 inches long x 24 inches in diameter.

Smokin Monkey


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## wade (Jun 24, 2014)

That is a good size


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## smokin monkey (Jun 24, 2014)

Hi Wade, yes it's 94 inches long x 24 inches in diameter.

I know you are more or a purist smoker, but what do you think of the idea running it on propane? Looking to build a RF Smoker, but with two burners running 3/4 of the RF Plate.  

A smoke box at one end. Now this is where ideas different. I was thinking of a burner under a Steel plate that wood chip/pellets/wood chunks could be loaded onto and this would generate the smoke. Been told that this would not be suitable for smoking as the temperature would be to high? Can not see this as the burner would not be that big, something like a burner from a small BBQ.

Also be told that the smoke passing over the RF Burners would some how destroy the smoke?  This would not be a problem as I can fit a steel box section running from the wood box under the RF Plate, then 90' bend at the end so it's just above RF plate! then the heat convection from the burners would take the smoke across the grilling area to the Chimney Stack? 

Would be great flu for any feed back

Smokin Monkey


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## some bloke (Jun 24, 2014)

Looking good there, looks like you've got the hang of it. For increased capacity, here's something I tried last weekend when I needed to smoke 3 racks of ribs at the weekend as I had a few people coming over. I usually do 2 racks cut in half to try different rubs and I've used a toast rack or similar to keep them vertical. 6 x 1/2 racks was too much for that so I got the rack out of an ikea roasting tray and did two flat layers. It worked pretty well, I swapped them top to bottom half way through but it gave me more space in my 22" kettle.

This is the type of rack; it has good stable feet:













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After I got the hang of ribs I tried pork shoulder. I don't have a lot of good butchers nearby so I was using Lidl boneless shoulder roasts, last weekend I used some Sainsbury's ones that were fine. I take the elastic net off, remove the skin, add rub, and put the net back on as they are a ragged lump. I've used 3-4lb chunks but next I'll try one of the 6-7lb ones I think. There's plenty of info on here about pork shoulders, just cook to an internal temp, not time. Another good thing to try is chicken, either spatchcocked or vertical - it stays really moist either way.


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## bobbobbbq (Jun 24, 2014)

some bloke said:


> Looking good there, looks like you've got the hang of it. For increased capacity, here's something I tried last weekend when I needed to smoke 3 racks of ribs at the weekend as I had a few people coming over. I usually do 2 racks cut in half to try different rubs and I've used a toast rack or similar to keep them vertical. 6 x 1/2 racks was too much for that so I got the rack out of an ikea roasting tray and did two flat layers. It worked pretty well, I swapped them top to bottom half way through but it gave me more space in my 22" kettle.
> 
> This is the type of rack; it has good stable feet:
> 
> ...


Thankyou very much buddy. That's a great help. I was thinking if using a toast rack but I will give that tray a go as Iv got an ikea near my work yard. 
I'm going to pluck up the courage and smoke a pork shoulder this Sunday. How long would you say a 4/5 lb shoulder would take to smoke mate? 
Thanks again rob.


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## some bloke (Jun 24, 2014)

I think you allow about 1.5hrs/lb, so probably 6-7hrs for a 4-5lb chunk. I got a probe thermometer to check internal temps, to pull apart you have to be over 96c/205f internal, I think. I like my pork sliced so as long as I'm over 190 I am happy. Pork shoulder is fairly forgiving of smoker temp fluctuations from what I gather, I find my kettle will vary between 120-150c but the meat is still great, your smoker should sit at a more constant temp. Last weekend i put 3 x 3-4lb pieces on for about 4 hrs, then put them in the oven at 110c for about 4 hrs while the ribs cooked. One reason I did this was for space for the ribs, another was to avoid blackening the meat. It had a nice colour and good bark so I was happy with that. HAd some good feedback as well.

Pic:













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No pic of the ribs, I was busy and everybody swooped on them.

If you don't want to try a long smoke (but really, you should...) I have cut shoulders into fist sized chunks and had them done in about 4 hours.


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## wade (Jun 24, 2014)

Another way to maximise the cooking area for ribs is to stack them as you cook them. Weber actually show this method on their "Thrill of the Grill" course and it works quite well. There is a link here to show you the principle using whole racks however the Weber method involves cutting the racks in half and making more shorter stacks.



This method works better if you are cooking the ribs a little hotter than 225F/110C but the end results are very acceptable.


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## some bloke (Jun 24, 2014)

I've seen that way in a weber cook book, I think. Maybe I just need a bigger smoker...


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## kc5tpy (Jun 24, 2014)

Hello Folks.  Loads of great ideas and techniques.  Some really good lookin food.  Keep Smokin!

Danny


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