Smoking ribs

Psychoclown said:

My brother just bought himself a new grill that has an automated smoking process. Set the temp you want it to maintain, feed in a bunch of wood pellets and the grill does the rest of the work. He's been bragging about how great it is. I told him it sounds convenient and certainly should give him a solid meal, but no way it can top a true smoke artisan (like me!). Naturally, that led to a challenge and we're about to have a rib-off.

So this Saturday I will be preparing 3 racks of ribs on my traditional barrel style grill with smoking side compartment and he'll use his new fangled automatic grill. I've been very happy with my results in the past. In fact just last month we brought some ribs I smoked over to my in-laws and they raved about them. But I figured I wouldn't hurt to see if the collective wisdom of DP had any tips or tidbits that might give me an extra edge.

Originally we were going to do everything the same and have the only variable be the cooking technique, but we couldn't agree on rib type (he's St. Louis style, while I prefer the fat/meat ratio found in baby backs), rubs, sauces, or just about anything. So now its a totally a each do your own thing and we'll let the chips fall where they may.

I will say when we sampled each other's rubs, I did like one that he brought to the table. It was sweet and savory. Tasted like it had something like cinnamon or cloves in it (maybe nutmeg) and something else for sweetness, but then some garlic salt and pepper to add savory flavors and just a touch of heat. Mostly though its like salty/sweet profile. If anyone has something similar to that profile, I might be willing to give it try on one of my racks. I'd love to see the look on my bro's face if I cracked his store bought rub.

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Psychoclown said:

Precision is nice, but I can't believe his little compressed wood pellets will beat real hardwood and charcoal.

And I will say I enjoy tending the grill, checking it, adjusting the vents accordingly, adding wood and charcoal as needed. I enjoy the work required to maintain the proper temp and smoke flow. So I could never go for an automated, set it and forget it style grill like that. Just takes the fun out of grilling/smoking for me.

Click to expand...

Psychoclown said:

My brother just bought himself a new grill that has an automated smoking process. Set the temp you want it to maintain, feed in a bunch of wood pellets and the grill does the rest of the work. He's been bragging about how great it is. I told him it sounds convenient and certainly should give him a solid meal, but no way it can top a true smoke artisan (like me!). Naturally, that led to a challenge and we're about to have a rib-off.

So this Saturday I will be preparing 3 racks of ribs on my traditional barrel style grill with smoking side compartment and he'll use his new fangled automatic grill. I've been very happy with my results in the past. In fact just last month we brought some ribs I smoked over to my in-laws and they raved about them. But I figured I wouldn't hurt to see if the collective wisdom of DP had any tips or tidbits that might give me an extra edge.

Originally we were going to do everything the same and have the only variable be the cooking technique, but we couldn't agree on rib type (he's St. Louis style, while I prefer the fat/meat ratio found in baby backs), rubs, sauces, or just about anything. So now its a totally a each do your own thing and we'll let the chips fall where they may.

I will say when we sampled each other's rubs, I did like one that he brought to the table. It was sweet and savory. Tasted like it had something like cinnamon or cloves in it (maybe nutmeg) and something else for sweetness, but then some garlic salt and pepper to add savory flavors and just a touch of heat. Mostly though its like salty/sweet profile. If anyone has something similar to that profile, I might be willing to give it try on one of my racks. I'd love to see the look on my bro's face if I cracked his store bought rub.

Click to expand...