A barbecue adventure, the saga unfolds.

Sac Arrow said:
Don’t over do them. They were the subject of my original post. I was disappointed with the lack of meat on them.
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How long did you smoke them and at what temp to not over do them? I just bought them again since charcoal was on sale at Costco :) Last time I grilled them. They were okay. This time they are going in the UDS. There's not much meat in which to sink a temperature probe.
 
Mahneuvers said:
How long did you smoke them and at what temp to not over do them? I just bought them again since charcoal was on sale at Costco :) Last time I grilled them. They were okay. This time they are going in the UDS. There's not much meat in which to sink a temperature probe.
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Ribs? Generally done based on looks and time rather than a cooking probe. Check the temps with a probe when you start getting close. Setting an internal probe “just right” is hard to do.

edit: I’m talking pork ribs here.
 
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Matthew said:
Ribs? Generally done based on looks and time rather than a cooking probe. Check the temps with a probe when you start getting close. Setting an internal probe “just right” is hard to do.
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Plate ribs like these easily take a probe.
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Mahneuvers said:
How long did you smoke them and at what temp to not over do them? I just bought them again since charcoal was on sale at Costco :) Last time I grilled them. They were okay. This time they are going in the UDS. There's not much meat in which to sink a temperature probe.
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I guess we're talking beef ribs, right? I did them for eight hours, at 250 degrees (or thereabouts.) The problem was that there wasn't nearly enough meat on them, so they dried out and charred quickly. So, for me at least, beef ribs are a "never again" kind of thing unless I get some seriously meaty ones, but I suspect eight hours is still too much. If I had it to do over again, I would have just grilled them. Okay if I do them again, I'll just grill them.
 
Restarting this thread really makes me want to start up the smoker right now, but we’re under wind advisories and fire watches for the next day or so.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I guess we're talking beef ribs, right? I did them for eight hours, at 250 degrees (or thereabouts.) The problem was that there wasn't nearly enough meat on them, so they dried out and charred quickly. So, for me at least, beef ribs are a "never again" kind of thing unless I get some seriously meaty ones, but I suspect eight hours is still too much. If I had it to do over again, I would have just grilled them. Okay if I do them again, I'll just grill them.
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Yep. The Costco beef ribs don't have much meat on them (7 ribs is 5 lbs total). 8 hours would be waaaaaay too much. I think I'm going to smoke for 2 hours then braise until done.
 
Mahneuvers said:
Yep. The Costco beef ribs don't have much meat on them (7 ribs is 5 lbs total). 8 hours would be waaaaaay too much. I think I'm going to smoke for 2 hours then braise until done.
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Yeah if you go back to posts #23 and #33, you can see how mine turned to crispy critters. @TCBM beef ribs was what I was shooting for but his had far more meat on them than mine did.
 
I think I've only seen the meaty beef plate ribs at Costco once; they're not what they typically carry. I don't have access to a good local butcher, so the only place I've been able to reliably find the big plate ribs is Restaurant Depot. Their 4-rib plates weigh about 4 lbs. Having also had a few bad experiences with less meaty beef ribs from the local grocery or Costco, I'll now only smoke the big rib plates.
 
Bill said:
View attachment 116212 View attachment 116206 View attachment 116207 View attachment 116208 View attachment 116209 View attachment 116210 Tried a brisket flat for the first time a few weeks back, it came out great!
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Bill, looks like you got the skills to pay the bills.....chill, take a swill, maybe pop a pill, man the grill....................hey wait a minute....man the grill.....that could really come in handy someday. maybe even someday soon, in the near future in 3 weeks. wouldn't that be a thrill!
 
GaryM said:
I think I've only seen the meaty beef plate ribs at Costco once; they're not what they typically carry. I don't have access to a good local butcher, so the only place I've been able to reliably find the big plate ribs is Restaurant Depot. Their 4-rib plates weigh about 4 lbs. Having also had a few bad experiences with less meaty beef ribs from the local grocery or Costco, I'll now only smoke the big rib plates.
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Pork back ribs are attached to the pork loin. Everybody loves pork back ribs but pork loin isn't that popular, so it makes economic sense to pad the ribs with a bit of loin meat. Beef back ribs are attached to the ribeye, which are a premium cut. You want to pad ribs with cheap meat, not expensive meat.
 
asicer said:
Pork back ribs are attached to the pork loin. Everybody loves pork back ribs but pork loin isn't that popular, so it makes economic sense to pad the ribs with a bit of loin meat. Beef back ribs are attached to the ribeye, which are a premium cut. You want to pad ribs with cheap meat, not expensive meat.
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Pork loin is awesome on the smoker. Plus you can cut it into whatever thickness want for pork loin chops. It’s relatively cheap, and so lean that you lose very little weight to trimming and cooking.
 
eman1200 said:
Bill, looks like you got the skills to pay the bills.....chill, take a swill, maybe pop a pill, man the grill....................hey wait a minute....man the grill.....that could really come in handy someday. maybe even someday soon, in the near future in 3 weeks. wouldn't that be a thrill!
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Your Jedi mind tricks don't work on me.
 
Matthew said:
Pork loin is awesome on the smoker. Plus you can cut it into whatever thickness want for pork loin chops. It’s relatively cheap, and so lean that you lose very little weight to trimming and cooking.
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Yup, for sure. I like to butterfly a section of the pork loin and make a roulade. Super tasty.

But the decision to pad back ribs with loin meat is an economic decision and not a culinary one.
 
Speaking of pork loins: I just picked up a beef tenderloin. I’ll cut it into filets either today or tomorrow.
 
And check the grocery stores: like I did, you might find a leftover St Pat’s corned beef for the smoker.
 
eman1200 said:
Bill, looks like you got the skills to pay the bills.....chill, take a swill, maybe pop a pill, man the grill....................hey wait a minute....man the grill.....that could really come in handy someday. maybe even someday soon, in the near future in 3 weeks. wouldn't that be a thrill!
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But still, you have to eat your fill
 
Maybe off topic, but maybe not, I don’t know the nuances that delineate the difference between bbq and smoking..but any body here “smoke”carp? Back when I was growing up it was a yearly thing to put a stock tank in the back of the pickup during the carp spawning run and net hundreds of them a day while it lasted and haul them 40 mile miles north to an uncles farm where he had a HUGE smoker (from what I can remember I think it probably started life as a semi tanker trailer). I remember the water in the tank had to be iced, and being chewed out if I didn’t immediately get them in the iced water as fast as I could once they were caught “ice them or they won’t be fit to eat”. The last year we did it before he passed I helped clean them, he’d pul them out of the water and immediately hammer their head, then they’d be gutted, scaled and split, but their was a big vein like thing that that had to be pulled out the length of their body. Anyway, after he did his smoking magic on them they were phenomenal, the texture was like a deli meat. There were lots of bones, but it was a “finger food” /appetizer/snack food. I really mis it and want to try figuring out the lost part of the smoking process.
 
Flatiowa said:
Maybe off topic, but maybe not, I don’t know the nuances that delineate the difference between bbq and smoking..but any body here “smoke”carp? Back when I was growing up it was a yearly thing to put a stock tank in the back of the pickup during the carp spawning run and net hundreds of them a day while it lasted and haul them 40 mile miles north to an uncles farm where he had a HUGE smoker (from what I can remember I think it probably started life as a semi tanker trailer). I remember the water in the tank had to be iced, and being chewed out if I didn’t immediately get them in the iced water as fast as I could once they were caught “ice them or they won’t be fit to eat”. The last year we did it before he passed I helped clean them, he’d pul them out of the water and immediately hammer their head, then they’d be gutted, scaled and split, but their was a big vein like thing that that had to be pulled out the length of their body. Anyway, after he did his smoking magic on them they were phenomenal, the texture was like a deli meat. There were lots of bones, but it was a “finger food” /appetizer/snack food. I really mis it and want to try figuring out the lost part of the smoking process.
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I’ve never heard of that, so maybe it’s a regional thing.

A quick search on the Google seems to indicate that smoking carp is done at relatively low temperatures, for a long time. Almost like a cold smoke curing process.

One site I found did say this:

>>>
The carp must be cooked to at 180 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 minutes within the first six hours of smoking for safe consumption.
<<<

Looks like several other sites say the internal temp has to reach 160 for 30 minutes. They all say no more than 8 hrs. Those times are to ensure bacteria don’t get a chance to multiply during that transition from the ice bath to done.

All the recipes I saw recommended brining for 24 hrs to help reduce “fishy” taste.
 
There is a “mud vein” thingy that MUST be removed or they will taste like crap not carp that I know, they were after all brought to the americas on purpose as a food source, they taste good when done proper.
I just wish I knew what proper was.
 
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I had to get the thought of carp out of my head:

The local store has beef tenderloins on sale. Not a great selection, but good enough. I just finished cutting the one I got yesterday. Ended up with 2 gnarly end steaks (I bacon wrapped them for the grill tonight), 6 nice steaks, a nice sized roast, and trimmed pieces.

So I’ll grill those two steaks tonight and try a new-to-me steak rub.

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Lone Elm Texas Bourbon while on the smoker, Saddleback Chloe’s Blend at the table.


Marvelous.
 
Those beef tenderloin filets I grilled came out great. Bacon wrapped, smoke flavored with a competition blend of pellets, and seasoned with a pretty good steak rub.

May not look the prettiest because they were end pieces pretty much held together with a toothpick, but almost 2” thick and a perfect med rare.

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So basically what I did here is a lazy man's smoker. Indirect heat with some hickory chips for smoke flavor. The taste was pretty good, but I did overcook them.
 
asicer said:
Cooking white/dark meat poultry together is always tricky. Any particular reason not to split them up?
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Yeah, I'm not building two fires. I normally cook them together without a problem. Both were overcooked.
 
Flatiowa said:
Maybe off topic, but maybe not, I don’t know the nuances that delineate the difference between bbq and smoking..but any body here “smoke”carp? Back when I was growing up it was a yearly thing to put a stock tank in the back of the pickup during the carp spawning run and net hundreds of them a day while it lasted and haul them 40 mile miles north to an uncles farm where he had a HUGE smoker (from what I can remember I think it probably started life as a semi tanker trailer). I remember the water in the tank had to be iced, and being chewed out if I didn’t immediately get them in the iced water as fast as I could once they were caught “ice them or they won’t be fit to eat”. The last year we did it before he passed I helped clean them, he’d pul them out of the water and immediately hammer their head, then they’d be gutted, scaled and split, but their was a big vein like thing that that had to be pulled out the length of their body. Anyway, after he did his smoking magic on them they were phenomenal, the texture was like a deli meat. There were lots of bones, but it was a “finger food” /appetizer/snack food. I really mis it and want to try figuring out the lost part of the smoking process.
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You need to try Cedar Plank Carp.

1. Soak cedar plank in water for 30 minutes
2. Place carp on cedar plank, season with salt & pepper
3. Smoke for 4 to 5 hours
4. Discard carp, eat cedar plank.
 
Mahneuvers said:
...I think I'm going to smoke for 2 hours then braise until done.
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I was already running out of time in the day, then my safety pilot was late, so I asked the wife to just braise. The ribs were pretty mediocre. I've scratched beef back ribs (w/ such little meat) off my list.
 
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