Hello From Hackney

[hackneybbq]

Hi everyone,

i got the bbq bug over the summer and managed to smoke some brisket on my webber kettle. I ordered a 22in WSM and gave it its first trial run in the snow yesterday.

beer can chicken turned out great, the ribs were ok, but had a bit of a bacony taste + texture to the outside of them. I used meathead's memphis dust rub, and only had it on for around 30 mins before the ribs went on the smoker. What is the view of the guys here on having salt in pork rubs - would this cause the bacon like flavour?

i was pleased with how well the wsm kept a stable temperature of 220-230, but a full water pan was almost empty after 2,5 hours. am i doing anything wrong to have got through so much water?

all advice is greatly received.

Tom

[Toby]

Hi Tom,

Welcome to the forum. A bacon flavor would normally be caused by the rub being added too early and curing the meat, obviously this wasnt the case in this instance, you didnt mention how much wood you put in there, you may have over done it which would give an almost acrid taste. Not having tried that rub it may also be a characteristic of it.

You should only put about 1 1/2" of boiling water in the pan, anymore than that will absorb all of the heat. What type of charcoal did you use? and was it fully lit when you added it? ie via chimney starter.

Ribs would normally take between 4 to 6 hours if you are looking to slow cook them and your temps would suggest this is what you were trying to do.

If you can give us a little more info we should be able to point to a couple of areas that can be improved on.

Cheers

[keith157]

Welcome to the forum, the wife & in-laws are from Hackney as well. If you have a good butcher let me know and on the odd occasion we are ther we can stock up. Sorry I can't help with your problem but fret ye not there are others who will. Toby seems, as usual, to have a handle on it.

[Eddie]

Welcome to the world of low and slow fella. It's nice to here that your not just a summer griller.

Ask away with aything your stuck on.

Regards

Eddie

[hackneybbq]

thanks for your replies.

toby - i used big k restaurant grade lumpwood charcoal. I lit it using the the minion method, and used some apple chippings for the first couple of hours of cooking and tried a 3-2-1 cooking method. the charcoal does smoke a fair amount when its first lit - does the minion method cause oversmoking?

keith - there is a very good (but expensive) butchers in victoria park called the ginger pig http://www.thegingerpig.co.uk/london/hackney/. With notice, they can buter any cut you want. You can even do butchery classes there, although ive not done myself as they are quite expensive. There is another butcher i use called W Wells, they don't butcher much themselves, a lot comes in part butchered from the meat packers, but the quality of the meat is generally very good, and pretty cheap. The spare ribs there are a bit on the skinny side though. Can anyone recommend somewhere to buy decent ribs at a reasonable price?

[JEC]

Bookers and Costco often have ribs available if you can handle buying in bulk. Welcome to the forum

[keith157]

Waitrose have baby backs on a regular basis but they cut them in half diagonally, imagine Pan-Pipes and you've got the idea. The meat quality is good and tasty just awkward to get an even cook. They arrive in store like this according to the butcher at my local branch.
I'll find out where Well's is, I'm aware of the Ginger Pig franchise and have bough quality meat from them in the past.

[esselle]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Ah the quest for ribs........I'm still on it 2 years down the line....good luck.

[keith157]

I can get "King Ribs" aka Spare Ribs, but have come to the conclusion the only way to get meaty baby backs is to buy the whole loins and cut them yourself, which is ever so slightly out of our price range considering the way we slurp our way through them