Smoking a ton of ribs today for a fundraiser at my church on Saturday. Decided to get a head start on the smoking today. So far I have smoked 12 slabs of ribs...got 6 more slabs on the smoker right now. Today of all days it is super windy on my side of town grrrrrrr I hate when that happens. Drives me and my smoker nuts! Anyway, this afternoon just as I lifted up the lid to my firebox to tend to my fire, a big gust of wind came up and of course you know what happened next...............ash everywhere!
I can't get mad at the wind because, it was my fault because, I should have paid closer attention to the ash buildup in my firebox. I have one of those ash scooper-out-things. I normally scoop out the ash before it builds up. Today, I was busy in the kitchen working on side orders and baking goodies.........back to my rant.......... After several minutes of swearing (I will pray for forgiveness later!), I decided to do something about that annoying ash. I knew desperate measures had to be taken if I didn't want my "oh so divine swine" to be covered with ash every time I open my firebox lid. First I scooped out the ash buildup in my firebox then, I cleverly came up with my best idea ever............ Sometimes a girl has got to improvise lol.......here's what I came up with.
I took my grease splatter screen and covered it with aluminum
then I covered the smoking chamber hole..........ash problem solved!
I used my "ash blocker" when I tended to my ribs also. It worked like a charm. Don't know if my little invention is new on this site - but it sure is new to me. Now I can finish my smoke is perfect peace knowing I won't be serving ribs topped with ash lol.....
My ribs are finally done no thanks to the wind today! I guess I shouldn't complain too much because all that wind really cooled it off today. Anyway, I ended up wrapping my ribs at the 2 1/2 hour mark so they are literally falling-off-the-bone-tender. Oh well, they are still off the hook delish! Here's my Q-views......
I can't get mad at the wind because, it was my fault because, I should have paid closer attention to the ash buildup in my firebox. I have one of those ash scooper-out-things. I normally scoop out the ash before it builds up. Today, I was busy in the kitchen working on side orders and baking goodies.........back to my rant.......... After several minutes of swearing (I will pray for forgiveness later!), I decided to do something about that annoying ash. I knew desperate measures had to be taken if I didn't want my "oh so divine swine" to be covered with ash every time I open my firebox lid. First I scooped out the ash buildup in my firebox then, I cleverly came up with my best idea ever............ Sometimes a girl has got to improvise lol.......here's what I came up with.
I took my grease splatter screen and covered it with aluminum
then I covered the smoking chamber hole..........ash problem solved!
I used my "ash blocker" when I tended to my ribs also. It worked like a charm. Don't know if my little invention is new on this site - but it sure is new to me. Now I can finish my smoke is perfect peace knowing I won't be serving ribs topped with ash lol.....
My ribs are finally done no thanks to the wind today! I guess I shouldn't complain too much because all that wind really cooled it off today. Anyway, I ended up wrapping my ribs at the 2 1/2 hour mark so they are literally falling-off-the-bone-tender. Oh well, they are still off the hook delish! Here's my Q-views......
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