more pork, in rib form.

another one of my favorite porky parts, baby back ribs.

For the first round of ribs just like the two pork shoulders I did some sampling. I tried a variety preparations to get an idea of what I liked and why.

one of the first things I learned about ribs, was that they are expensive! Just to give you an idea of how expensive ribs are, a bone-in pork shoulder averages around 9lb's and costs around $2.50/lb. And keep in mind that you can eat basically the entire thing. Ribs on the other hand average around $7.50/lb and you can eat roughly 50% of what your paying for... were talking 300% more expensive for half as much food... what the fuck.... but enough complaining lets take a look at $48 worth of ribs!

not very impressive is it? I really should have checked the price tag on these guys before I had them wrapped up, but I seem to like learning things the hard way.

Up first on the agenda is remove the membrane, to anyone that has ever cooked ribs at home or seen them properly prepared you already know how crucial this step is. For those that don't, just trust me on this one unless you particularly enjoy the texture of a well weathered rainbow sandal.

Before...

Started

After...

As you could imagine that thing doesn't make for very good eating.

Rubbed and ready to rest, I wrapped them in saran wrap and left them in the refrigerator over night.

3 hours in, at 225* Using Apple and Maple wood

My first fan!

other than this one of course...

Almost ready... Sauced the top two up for the last hour.

Falling off the bone

First rack done

2 and 3...

yum...

This time around temperature control was a breeze, I started out slow and basically had it holding 225* for all 6 hours of cooking.

Next time I will go lighter on the rub, its not that the rub tasted bad, but I would have like to taste the ribs more than the seasoning.

Mustard didn't seem to be as crucial to a good final product like on the pork shoulder. Honestly I couldn't even tell a difference between them. I will say however I wont baste with bbq sauce again I would rather have the option to add it later.

Last but not least I think I will take the ribs off about 30 minutes sooner next time and let them finish up resting in foil opposed to in the smoke.

Time for a nap...

leftovers, yum...

For those of you who do not eat leftovers let alone finish your meal I have 2 simple words for you, you suck.

That being said, in an attempt to utilize a fifth of the ten pounds of left over pulled pork we had, we decided to try and make some pulled pork chili.

Step one, chop up you ingredients. I kept it simple, very simple... Onion, garlic and tomatoes (worst fruit on the planet) strangely enough they are delicious when cooked, especially when pork is involved.

the rest of the ingredients were pretty standard chili fare, including: Chili powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, cinnamon, tomato paste... and im sure im forgetting something else.... Cumin seed, ground.

Next up saute your diced onion and a clove or two or three of freshly minced garlic in a large sauce pan with a bit of olive oil.

smells amazing, two of the best ingredients ever... onions and garlic.

  

Next up add the wet stuff along with the protein, tomatoes, water, tomato paste, and corn. I would have added beans if I had em but unfortunately I did not.

Let simmer for an hour or two and enjoy. I ate it straight up when it was first finished and it was surprisingly good for eyeballing the ingredients, I had it for lunch the next day on white rice.

Oh by the way don't eat the cinnamon stick, remove that before serving.

Pulled Pork!

Looking back at this first smoke I think it would have probably been better to start out with just one Boston Butt. But when you trying to get on the good side of your butcher coupled with the fact they are packed and sealed as pairs... I ended up with nearly 20lb's of pork for what was a essentially a party of two.

Step 1, Trim the fat cap.

I take that back, step 1 is actually make the rub

Once the rub has been made and the meat has been trimmed of excess fat, its time to massage your meat. For this first smoke I rubbed one with plain yellow mustard, and left the other plain before applying rub to both.

Wrap them up in saran wrap and throw them in the fridge over night. Be sure to remove these from the fridge at least an hour before you plan on putting them on the smoker.


8 hours later... its now 6 am... i'm tired... and time to light something on fire...

Do NOT use this many lit coals when starting this thing!!!! This was a big mistake and it ended up taking nearly 2 hours to get the temperature under control. You could get away with about 6 medium to large chunks of smoldering lump to get this thing slowly climbing to a rock solid 225*

This is why you foil the water pan, can you imagine scraping and scrubbing the baked on crispy bits from this thing?

After sleeping for 8 hours the Bone in Pork Shoulders are ready for some smoke.

3 hours in....

5 hours in, time for a spritz! apple juice.

7 hours in, time to foil.

9 hours, remove from Foil

11 Hours, time to finish on the smoker with no foil to firm up the bark

12 hours DONE! Foil one last time and rest the shoulder in a cooler for 2 hours!

Nom nom....

Bone slides right out

My first smoke ring, awww

Yum

enough munching time to pull

taste pretty damn good

One shoulder down, one to go

Time to eat, Kings Hawaiian Bread, Coleslaw just need some home made bbq sauce...

It was delicious to say the least...

What did I learn?

Use Less coals when starting the smoker, its much easier to raise the temperature than lower it.

Definitely use Mustard! it makes for a much better bark, and I will always use it on future butts.

Foiling... I have mixed feelings about foiling, I think it has its benefits and drawbacks like most things but ultimately I dont think I will do it again. Why? Well first of all it fucks up the bark and makes it all soggy, I like bark so that alone is enough to justify not doing it again. Secondly its a pain in the ass to do, you have to have help because the butts are smoking away in a 250* smoker trying to pick them up and foil them wearing nothing but latex gloves sucks, I cant even imagine doing it alone. third, its a pain in the ass.

The Rub was just mehh, nothing special it may have been the combination of woods I chose (apple and maple) next time I will try apple and hickory I think that will give it a more bbq'y flavor.

The bbq sauce ended up being AWESOME! the problem was it wasn't awesome until the second day. Fresh it was too ketchuppy for my liking but let me tell you after a day in the fridge for the flavors to more thoroughly saturate one another... it was awesome with a good kick too.

Important stuff!

Some of the essentials, the chimney starter and thermometer I read about before I even attempted to smoke anything. But the others I am recommending based off of my first few mistakes.

#1 Weber Chimney Starter, I have used one of these before and would strongly advise against attempting to light charcoal or any carbonized substance for that matter without one. Whether you like to shove some balled up news paper up its posterior end or stick it on your grills burner, nothing will get charcoal red hot and ready to use faster.

 #2 Blue Powerade, this is pretty self explanatory

#3 Maverick ET-73 wireless Dual probe thermometer (best thing I bought by far) Read about this one on the internets and was worth every penny. ($32 from amazon http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Remote-Smoker-Wireless-Thermometer)

This thing basically lets you sit on your ass watching tv, or playing video games while painlessly keeping a watchful eye on your cooker and food. Best of all its wireless so you can carry the receiver with you around the house and the handy built in alarm will even let you enjoy a nap knowing in the event of a temperature spike or fire you will be alerted.

#4 Aluminum Foil, Don't try and smoke without it. Not only will you need this to rest your food when its done but if you foil the bottom of your water pan you don't have to clean that either, awesome...

Minors things that are actually very important


Latex gloves! Why? because washing your hands every single time you need to touch something clean is a pain in the ass, especially if you are handling raw meat and the stuff you want to grab should NOT be contaminated by it.

potentially even more important than latex gloves? WELDING GLOVES! Still haven't bought these however before I do anything that requires the use of both grates again I will. I tried using my mechanics gloves to lift the top grate with 20lbs of meat on it and melted holes through 3 fingers in a hurry. wont do that again to say the least, will however use mechanics gloves in conjunction with a kitchen towel!

 Last but certainly not least is an extra set of hands, two people are always better than one. especially when fire is involved.