Official CCS Grillmasters thread

[Ares]

Sunday 10-6pm cook:

2 ribs, 1 pork butt

Raw cuts:

Rubbed:

Cooked:

Served:

 

[brett05]

Outstanding job Ares!!!

Did you have to crutch the shoulder?

 

[Ares]

Outstanding job Ares!!!

Did you have to crutch the shoulder?

I always do, it is part of my standard cook... once it hits 169-170 and holds, I wrap it up

 

[brett05]

I always do, it is part of my standard cook... once it hits 169-170 and holds, I wrap it up

What time did you crutch it,or do you have a nice digital that alerts you to the stall?

 

[brett05]

nvm, I thought it was 10 pm to 6 am. My bad.

 

[Ares]

What time did you crutch it,or do you have a nice digital that alerts you to the stall?

I always have two probes in the pork butt measuring internal temp, so I know when it reaches that 169-170 point.

TBH it usually winds up hitting that point right around when I'm wrapping the ribs anyways....

I start the pork butt at 10am, it goes for 3 hours, and ribs go in at 1pm, and then around 3:30-4pm I'm wrapping the ribs and the pork butt is hitting the stall so I wrap it up as well.

 

[brett05]

So when I do my ribs, I do not wrap. What do you feel you gain on the ribs by wrapping?

 

[hebs]

So when I do my ribs, I do not wrap. What do you feel you gain on the ribs by wrapping?

After the first 3hrs, I like to wrap the ribs to have them cook in their own juices along with some brown sugar rubbed on top (which breaks down into a glaze) then I unwrap them and lightly mop them with a bbq sauce and cook them foil free for the last hour.
The classic 3-2-1 method.
Instead of just brown sugar, I’ve done a mix of brown sugar, apple cider and butter. I’ve also done cinnamon applesauce. All are very delicious, but the brown sugar by itself really gave me a good bark this last cook, (was out of cider) and I think it’s one of my new favorite ways to do it.

 

[Ares]

So when I do my ribs, I do not wrap. What do you feel you gain on the ribs by wrapping?

They steam and get more tender.

I prefer getting in the middle ground where it is tender, but not mush obviously.

No wrap on the ribs and you are at the mercy of the texture of the meat you bought.... often they will be a bit tough.

Some people like that though, when it has more bite/chew to it... I prefer it more tender.

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

They steam and get more tender.

I prefer getting in the middle ground where it is tender, but not mush obviously.

No wrap on the ribs and you are at the mercy of the texture of the meat you bought.... often they will be a bit tough.

Some people like that though, when it has more bite/chew to it... I prefer it more tender.

Does steaming make them so the meat falls right off the bone, like boiled ribs? Or is there still a bit of pull?

 

[Ares]

Does steaming make them so the meat falls right off the bone, like boiled ribs? Or is there still a bit of pull?

Depends on how long you let them cook in the foil.

If you leave them in too long, they fall off the bone and turn to mush.

if you don't leave them in long enough, they remain tough.

If you hit the middle just right, they will be tender and pull off the bone, but still have a satisfying bite.

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

Depends on how long you let them cook in the foil.

If you leave them in too long, they fall off the bone and turn to mush.

if you don't leave them in long enough, they remain tough.

If you hit the middle just right, they will be tender and pull off the bone, but still have a satisfying bite.

I wish I had the room again to grill and smoke.

 

[hebs]

If you do it right, the meat should hold it all together, but the bone should pull out clean. It’s hard to mess up ribs if you stick to the 3-2-1 method. There are several other ways too, some more advanced and some with less predictable results, but the 3-2-1 method is practically foolproof.

 

[brett05]

They steam and get more tender.

I prefer getting in the middle ground where it is tender, but not mush obviously.

No wrap on the ribs and you are at the mercy of the texture of the meat you bought.... often they will be a bit tough.

Some people like that though, when it has more bite/chew to it... I prefer it more tender.

Yeah, I like mine where they are tender, but you get a bite mark and the meat stays on the bone.

I'll have to try the 3-2-1 just to see how soft they get. I've been very fortunate it sounds to get what I do without a wrap.

one thing I really like is my rib rack. I can stand the ribs up and fit twice as many ribs on my grill

 

[Ares]

If you do it right, the meat should hold it all together, but the bone should pull out clean. It’s hard to mess up ribs if you stick to the 3-2-1 method. There are several other ways too, some more advanced and some with less predictable results, but the 3-2-1 method is practically foolproof.

I would caution though, you do need to be vigilant about temperature.

If you wrap your ribs up and let your cooking chamber temperature get too high for those 2 hours, the ribs can and will turn to mush lol I've had it happen.

I'll be honest, I just do 3 hours naked, 1.5-2 wrapped, bend test, then paint with sauce and serve.

I know people like the 1 hour or direct heat to caramelize the sauce, but I get caramelized bark and call it good.

 

[Burque]

Doing some country pork ribs today. About to go on the smoker, I haven't done them on the smoker but I imagine 4/5 hours will be enough, and if not I will sear at the end to get to temp.

 

[hebs]

I would caution though, you do need to be vigilant about temperature.

If you wrap your ribs up and let your cooking chamber temperature get too high for those 2 hours, the ribs can and will turn to mush lol I've had it happen.

I'll be honest, I just do 3 hours naked, 1.5-2 wrapped, bend test, then paint with sauce and serve.

I know people like the 1 hour or direct heat to caramelize the sauce, but I get caramelized bark and call it good.

None of my cook is direct heat. Even the last hr. Tbh, this last cook the BGE got up to 275-300 cuz it was so hot outside and I wasn’t paying enough attention. It stayed that way for probably most of the time I had them wrapped and it didn’t make a difference surprisingly.

 

[Burque]

None of my cook is direct heat. Even the last hr. Tbh, this last cook the BGE got up to 275-300 cuz it was so hot outside and I wasn’t paying enough attention. It stayed that way for probably most of the time I had them wrapped and it didn’t make a difference surprisingly.

How do you control temp on the BGE?

I've never spent any time with someone that has one.

 

[hebs]

How do you control temp on the BGE?

I've never spent any time with someone that has one.

There's a pinwheel at the top and an intake vent at the bottom. It operates the same as most modern grills. When I'm doing long smokes however, I use a Cyber-q WiFi to regulate the temperature. This device works by covering the lower intake with a restrictor plate and cpu fan setup. A temperature probe is then placed on the cooking grid and the device controls the fan and provides air flow to maintain whatever temperature you set. You then damper down the pinwheel at the top. This setup allows you to monitor the temp of the grill, along with the temps of the meat. It also gives you the ability to adjust the temperature remotely. You can also utilize an app to graph and track the cook. I can set it all up and leave the house and still keep an eye on it. It even has a setting called "ramping" which will automatically bring down the temp of the grill to whatever threshold you set for the meat. (example: If I want my pork shoulder to finish at 201 degrees, but am unable to take it off the grill exactly when it hits, I enable ramping and it will slowly drop the temp of the grill down to 201 when the meat approaches that temp. That way I don't overcook it.)

The reason it got close to 300 the other day was I had the intake and pinwheel open a little too much for too long and they retain their heat for so long, it can take a while for the temp to come back down. (wasn't using the cyberq wifi)

 

[Ares]

There's a pinwheel at the top and an intake vent at the bottom. It operates the same as most modern grills. When I'm doing long smokes however, I use a Cyber-q WiFi to regulate the temperature. This device works by covering the lower intake with a restrictor plate and cpu fan setup. A temperature probe is then placed on the cooking grid and the device controls the fan and provides air flow to maintain whatever temperature you set. You then damper down the pinwheel at the top. This setup allows you to monitor the temp of the grill, along with the temps of the meat. It also gives you the ability to adjust the temperature remotely. You can also utilize an app to graph and track the cook. I can set it all up and leave the house and still keep an eye on it. It even has a setting called "ramping" which will automatically bring down the temp of the grill to whatever threshold you set for the meat. (example: If I want my pork shoulder to finish at 201 degrees, but am unable to take it off the grill exactly when it hits, I enable ramping and it will slowly drop the temp of the grill down to 201 when the meat approaches that temp. That way I don't overcook it.)

The reason it got close to 300 the other day was I had the intake and pinwheel open a little too much for too long and they retain their heat for so long, it can take a while for the temp to come back down. (wasn't using the cyberq wifi)

Smoking meat with indirect heat coming from a firebox reminds me a bit of driving a boat.... you have to get used to there being a lag between you doing something to change course and the course actually changing, and as such you have to be more precise about the adjustments you make.

If your temp drops and you add coal and/or wood and the cooking chamber temp spikes, it might stay up there for 20-30 minutes unless you go open the cooking chamber up.

Other side is if your temp drops and you add coal/wood it sometimes takes 5-10 mins for it to begin burning and give you a true read on how much consistent heat your current amount of fuel is going to give you.

I've gotten alot better at managing it in my offset smoker with firebox, but it is a challenge.