Weber-holic in Indianapolis

[kentb53]

Hi all. Been a Weber-holic in Indianapolis area most of my life. Have had Kettles since 1978, bought my first gas (Spirit II) in 2020, and just got a Searwood 600 a couple of days ago.
Made Inaugural Baby Backs on it yesterday. 5.5 hrs. at 225 were not enough, but my wife has a "clock" for when it's time to eat. Will try 250 next time. Looking forward to your input

 

[abmet]

Welcome!

 

[primeone]

Welcome to the forum @kentb53 and congrats on the new Searwood!


Did you use the 3-2-1 method? (3 hours of smoking, 2 hours of wrapping, and 1 hour of cooking)

 

[folder]

I usually put mine on at 250F, meat side up. Couple hours later, check. If I like the color, I wrap, otherwise I leave them on for another half hour, but I rarely have to do that. When I wrap them, it’s meat side down on top of some butter and brown sugar, and them back on for about another hour. Unwrap slightly and check. If they have that tell-take meat pulling away bone sign, then I unwrap rest of way, flip to meat side up, and put on any sauce I want on them (or none depending on my mood,) and then put them back on, unwrapped, for about 10-15 more minutes(, just until any sauce starts to caramelize, to finish them.

That’s what works for me and my boy and we both like how they turn out every time. The real trick is to find out what works best for you and your family/friends.

I’ve tried the 3-2-1 method, but I found that it almost falls apart trying to plate them. So, I’m not a huge fan of that method.

 

[GRT1959]

Never ever cook to time, always to temp. If your wife HAS to eat at a certain time start earlier, get the ribs to temp, take them off the smoker, wrap in foil and then in towels and place in a cooler until her clock says it's time to eat. Doesn't matter what method you use or what your wife's clock says, the meat's done when the temp is right.

 

[Mark]

Like everyone, I too have developed my own method for how I like it. First, I trim and apply the rub the night before. On the day of cooking, I will put the smoker on "smoke boost" at 180° and place the ribs, meat side up on the top rack. On the bottom, I will have a pan with a little water and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (about an inch deep of water in the disposable pan). I'll leave the ribs there for 3 hours and spritz with water and apple cider vinegar every hour. After 3 hours on smoke boost, I'll raise the temp to 275° and cook for another 3 hours spritzing every hour. Then, I will pull the ribs, season again with more of the original seasoning from the night before, wrap in foil (I don't have paper and always forget to buy any but I always have heavy duty foil) and spritz one last time. I will leave them wrapped up for about another 2-3 hours and not mess with them.
I do this with pork spare ribs. They tend to be cheaper here than baby back and have more meat. The bark is there but moist and it's easy to bite. The smoke ring will penetrate deeply through the meat and leave a great flavor and yes, the meat will fall off the bone (better yet, the bones will slide out of the meat). I prefer that texture with pork ribs and usually use my tongs to pull the bones out.
As for the type or brand of pellets and rub/seasoning, that is again a very debatable topic. I have been using oak pellets lately and thought they produced the best flavor but I have a bag of mesquite that I'm trying next.