2:40 @ 300F was what I did. I had a slab of really meaty back ribs and they finished just right. Were yours backs or spares?
I always get big thick St Louis cut monsters, are those spares?
Spareribs = fat flat bones. Baby back ribs = skinny curved-like-an-arc bones.
Yes. They’ve been trimmed to be rectangular.
I think it takes me longer to pull off the paper/silver than it does for me to trim off the flaps/tips.
I've used lineman's pliers.
It should, it was totally bomb.
Watch the stores soon, just a guess, but the range land fires in texas are going to be causing a short soon glut on the live cattle market as herds are reduce to make ends meet with trucked in fodder, then a prolonged reduction in the marketed cattle as the herds are built back up. When the price drops fill the deep freeze. (Regionally dependent on how much of a swing the consumer sale price will be, and that’s also directly related to the fuel/trucking cost of trans regional shipping cost).
One of my cooking team buddies manages the front of a restaurant, and deals with their suppliers. His meat guy usually gives him a 60-90 day price and supply prediction. I’ll need to see what their guesses are. Pork prices are never really too bad but beef can be really high at times.
But as long? I know that when I do crock pot corned beef, more than 4-5 hours on low is overdone and it's dry and crumbly.
It probably won't take as long, since it's going to be smaller (usually) than a trimmed brisket flat or point. So go by temp. Smoking a brisket normally goes: smoke until 160-165 internal, add whatever extras you like (brown sugar, honey, additional rub), wrap in foil, continue to cook until 200 internal, pull it and rest. Since corned beef is already seasoned by the brine, start with a good black pepper-based rub and then you really only want to add a little more rub to replace what's run off with the juices while cooking before you wrap. The corned beef that I normally see in the vac-bags is approx 1/4 of a flat or point, so about 2-3 pounds vs maybe 15-20 for a whole. It might shoot right past 165 and reach 190 or more really quickly. I'd figure 4-ish hours total for about a 3 pounder. If you don't have a temp probe you can leave in while cooking, then I'd check the temps after about 2 hrs and every 30 minutes or so after that. You'll get a good idea of progress after a few pokes.
I'm thinking a bold wood is required for meshing in with the brine, something like Hickory or Mesquite. Is that about right? I could see the fruit woods getting lost in the noise.
I agree. I typically use the apple, cherry, and pecan wood/chips/pellets on pork and chicken, with hickory. We don’t use much mesquite in KC, oak is used a lot in combination with the hickory.
That looks good.
