Big smoke planned for Sunday (Pork ribs and beef ribs)

[Stuarty84]

I'm having my first smoke this Sunday on my new UDS. I fancied trying beef ribs so I went to the butchers today and got some beef ribs and some pork ribs. There's about 9lb in weight between the two sets of ribs! It's the pork ribs that are carrying the most weight and here is why...

The butcher trimmed most of that fat cap off but has left the belly on them and also there's alot of extra meat above the bones (see pics).

PORK RIBS 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5xk60x82z2xothf/DSC_6937.jpg

PORK RIBS 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ic5mz6x8p7mw9h/DSC_6939.jpg

PORK RIBS 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/841y80vjj1v9pzm/DSC_6938.jpg

Here's the beef ribs, they look great!
BEEF RIBS : https://www.dropbox.com/s/e3sxmutez2d0zkr/DSC_6936.jpg

I'm not quite sure how to go about cooking the pork ribs. I was thinking of cutting off that extra meat above the bones and smoking it separately? (It's a good chunk of meat, probably 2 to 3lb in weight!)

I'm interested in hearing what you all would do with the pork?

I am planning on doing the 3-2-1 method with both sets.

[YetiDave]

I'd be tempted to leave that belly on and cook monster ribs not sure about the timing for that though as the belly is very fatty

[keith157]

Those ribs would be ideal for the 3-2-1 method. Bear in mind there is a lot of meat there, so probably worthwhile checking them before unwrapping them. They are what most butchers would call King Ribs, although they are quite short but look to have loads of meat. Don't overly worry about trimming what's left of the fat off, it will keep them moist and unctuous.

[Stuarty84]

Cheers lads! Yeah I've decided to just cook it as one big slab of meat rather than cut bits off.

Will the beef ribs take the same amount of time? They're very thick. I'm really REALLY looking forward to trying those! I've never had a beef rib before. I was reading earlier that I need to be very patient with them.

I had a mini freak out there when I noticed I'd no briquettes left! Lol. But have found that homebase are doing 10kg bags for £12.99 so I'm going to collect one of those tomorrow. It's the bar-be-quick stuff. I hope it's decent enough quality.

I have just made my dry rub up, it's a Kansas City style rub that I found online consisting of the following...

· 1/2 cup brown sugar
· 1/4 cup paprika
· 1 tablespoon black pepper
· 1 tablespoon salt
· 2 tablespoon garlic powder
· 1 tablespoon onion powder
· 1 teaspoon cayenne
· 1 teaspoon chilli powder

I'm just going to use that rub on both bits of meat, although I hope it's not too overpowering for the beef.

[Stuarty84]

Ok so here's my report on how yesterday went!

I was up early to get the membrane off the ribs and get the rub on. I got the chimney lit about 11am hoping to cook for 6 hours (using the 3-2-1 method) from about 11.30am.

It was quite a mild day with a slight breeze and rain forecast. I filled my basket with the lit coal and no matter what I did I could not get the temperature above 200f. I played about with the vents, added more coal, nothing... Time was getting on so I put the meat on hoping that in time the temp would rise. It didn't, so I decided to get my digital thermometer probe and stick it in through the exhaust holes in the lid. Here is the outcome...

DIAL: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1843n234y458qp/DSC_6950.jpg

DIGITAL: https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7zm5tnoj3twpko/DSC_6949.jpg

I have tested the digital one in a kettle of boiling water and it came up at 100.5c, then 10 seconds after dropped down to 99.7c. So I'm happy that the digital one is accurate. Meaning that dial one I bought from Hong Kong is a load of shit!

Anyway, I smoked for 3 hours. Here's how they looked after that...

Bones starting to show: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c6h86alh02v6x64/DSC_6952.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t7zqjeww4xr91 ... 6953.jpg?m

I squirted them with a bit of apple cider and wrapped them up foil then put them back on for 2 hours. After the 2 hours I couldn't believe what I was looking at! The meat was so tender, I had never seen anything like it before! The kitchen bench was soaked in juices!

The bone in this pic just fell out: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6yun4bbjq7n2xnd/DSC_6954.jpg

Beef ribs: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rvqfu872g9hrbwr/DSC_6955.jpg

I wanted to start eating them there and then but I was following procedures, meaning they needed another hour above the coals. I put some honey & pineapple bbq sauce over the pork but left the beef ribs alone.

An hour later - I couldn't believe the juices that came out from both sets of meat! It was unbelieveable! The pork just pulled apart and was absolutely gorgeous. The beef ribs were so soft and juicy, but because they were so thick and had so much meat on them, there wasn't a great deal of flavour after you got through the dry rub and smoke ring.

Here is the finished products...

Beef: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tal9n4p75usgtix/DSC_6956.jpg

Both: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l6l0ev4clr6yxxm/DSC_6957.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dxkgeavh7tw8g3d/DSC_6959.jpg

JUICY! https://www.dropbox.com/s/ulnabxavdmjx1kv/DSC_6961.jpg

Clean bone: https://www.dropbox.com/s/87h4b2xz8ny57jz/DSC_6962.jpg

Pork: https://www.dropbox.com/s/s6jpsbrfm1ko4z5/DSC_6963.jpg

Clean beef bone: https://www.dropbox.com/s/188mqkliwlyimmd/DSC_6965.jpg

Here's a quick video of the juices flowing from the beef ribs lol - https://www.dropbox.com/s/4vjv5dutbc65r0i/MOV_6958.mp4

There's still a LOAD of meat left over. So I might have some nice sandwiches later with it!

[Tiny]

Stewarty
Cooking sounds top scrumptious, has been a dire day at work but your honest appraisal of your hong kong sourced thermometer has proper tickled me. It is like a piece of hyku poetry, minimal use of words but with such a poignancy and feeling I am truly moved.

Made my day you have, well done,
Tiny

[slatts]

Well done

I haven't had time to look at all the photos but you sound as happy as I was after my first cook
The best thing is, it only gets better

Although there is the odd disaster, temp dropping all night or running out of charcoal

I just loved watching everybody tucking in and loving the food

Now the wife has to stop me buying a pork shoulder every week I do have one in the fridge I sneakily brought the other day

[kendoll]

Oh yeah. They look fantastic! Great work, just about to go to bed here but would happily tuck in to them right now!

Well done on getting the 2 meats ready together too.

Ken

[kerrym]

Well done Stuarty! Food's lookin good!

I like your rub. I do a very similar one myself. I find a little goes a very long way, so I use it more to season than to flavour the meat prior to getting it in the pit.

In terms of your temp issues, I find a mix of good charcoal and wood creates a nice hot, clean burn, but then I'm smoking on an offset smoker so probably have a bit more room to get a bigger fire going. Temp is the biggest devil. I suggest trying out some different quantities and types of fuel. I prefer restaurant grade lumpwood. It burns real clean and consistent with hardly any dirty ash compared to briquettes. A little more expensive, but when you are creating a good product, these things count.

[Del A]

Blast hungry now