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Good Eats - 1st Attempt at Smoked Ribs
A look into at early test-cooks on my homemade barrel-smoker.
I suppose I should start this post by announcing that I'M BACK! After a month or two away from the old intra-web, I decided to return in true Base-taste...talking about food!
So this weekend, I dove head first into my early test cooks on a homemade steel-barrel smoker. You may remember a post or reply or something a while back that showed my intent for a "double-barrel" smoker. Well, I realized a few things as this summer went on: 1) I'm not a pro, and 2) I'm not a southerner. The combination of those two startling realizations led me to believe I should begin with something a bit more...how should I put it...elementary I suppose. Therefore, I created the single-barrel, upright smoker. It's essentially just a modified 55-gallon oil drum outfitted with piping & exhaust vents, and lined inside with a charcoal/wood basket and a grill grate. Pretty simple stuff actually. I'm going for a "steampunk" look to it and once the finishing touches are applied this weekend, I'll post pics of the finished product. Anyway, on to the grub:
Here is what they looked like at 4 hours on the smoker. Temps were at 150 and dropping and we wanted to eat before midnight, so I pulled them off right after I took this pic:
I then took them over to my preheated gas grill wrapped with foil so that I could continue to grab some flavor from them while finishing the cook. I sprayed and poured my raspberry vinegar/dr. pepper mix on to them and let them sit on low heat for a while. When they seemed done, this is what I got:
The internal temps read 160, so I took them off the heat and let them sit in the foil (covered) for another 30 min or so.
They were quite tasty and incredibly juicy. I just wish I had been able to complete the cook on the smoker (preferably without any foiling either). Next weekend I'm going to do the same exact cook (along with a pork butt or maybe some beef ribs) and try adjusting the air intake and charcoal basket positioning. Look for more pics and an account of my next smoking soon!
First, let me say it's great to have the Alton Brown of ALOFU back in action. Congrats on completing construction of a fully functional smoker. You can work your way up to the double-barrel after you master this one. As my Korean coworker says about learning to golf on a seven iron instead of a driver - you shouldn't learn to drive with a Ferrari, start with a Civic (or something to that effect). And that raspberry vinegar/dr. pepper concoction sounds great! Keep us updated and we'll have a BBQ at your place once you've perfected your technique. Until then, happy grilling, my friend.