Both turned out great.  Good lessons learned here.

10/2/2016 – Bought the 7.28 lb.of ribs at Kroger for $1.29/lb. Very meaty and only trimmed off the tip.

Preface – This turned out good and builds on developing our rib recipe. See tweaked sequence below.

7:30 AM – Pulled membrane, slathered with yellow mustard, rubbed with Stubb’s then plastic wrapped and into ice chest with ice below.

Noon – Put the ribs on in a half-sheet shallow alum pan with legs and thighs (pre-seasoned from HEB) in small shallow pans one each on the top and second down grate. Prepared CookinPellets’ Perfect Mix Smoking Pellets (first time to use them) by heating in the microwave to dry them out for 4 minutes. They lite easily.

12:45 – After temp stabilized based on the box probe, and it reheated at normal intervals, the air probe on the underside of the second grate had not gotten over 160. Raised set to 135. Good thin blue smoke.

1:15 pm – Air probe is now up to 180 but still too low so removed the half sheet from under the ribs.

2:00 – Air probe shows 200 so moved it to beside the ribs between them and the glass. Still thin blue smoke.

3:00 – Pulled legs and thighs with IT in the 160s. As they were on the wire rack inside the shallow pan the rack held them up and they were smoked evenly on both sides.  Mary had sprayed both with Pam so clean up was easy.

3:15 – Rib IT is 165-160. Made a baste of 1/4C ACV, 1/4C water, 1T Stubbs and 2T butter. Heated in Microwave 1 min and butter was melted. Wrapped ribs and poured on baste. Returned to MES.

4:00 – ChefAlarm in thick area was at 196 but moved to thin end and–based on feel of penetration of the probe so clearly in the meat (even though wrapped and cannot see it)– the temp was 168.

4:30 – IT in thin end is 201 and in thick end is in the mid 180s.

5:00 – IT in the thick end averaged in the 190s. Pulled it and set on counter in kitchen to rest while while we prepared the plates. There is a lot more liquid in the foil than what was added when it was wrapped.

5:30 – Ate dinner of ribs, potato salad and butter beans. The thin end of the ribs was perfect although the surface was a bit dry and stringy. Very moist internally. Some of the bones feel out and some were just right.

Conclusion – This turned out GREAT.

Reheated – The thick end of the ribs needed to cook longer to render some of the fat and make the meat more tender.  The chicken was moist and good but the skin was like leather.

NEXT TIME

1. Buy a rack that is not thicker on one end than the other.
2. Of Course do not put it into a half sheet pan in the MES.
3. Again put meat side down in the wrap as the bones then do not puncture the aluminum and drain out the juices.
4. Maybe needed more heat in the rub and/or the baste. Could use 2T of the rub in the baste and ground chipotle.
5. Process Next Time should be essentially the same, i.e.:
   1. Trim rack, slather with yellow mustard, rub in Stubb’s plus more heat, wrap to marinate for 4-6 hours.
   2. Smoke in MES set to 225 with ribs on the rack or maybe sliced into smaller pieces that could be on a wire grate in a small shallow alum pan.
   3. Smoke for 3 hours. While smoking prepare baste with: 1/4 C ACV; 1/4 C water; 1T Stubbs; and 2T butter. Heated in Microwave 1 min and butter was melted. Add ground chipotle to make it more flavorful. Let it sit for a couple of hours for the flavors to meld.
   4. Wrap in foil meat side down and pour on baste on both sides.
   5. Insert meat probe and smoke until in the mid 190s.