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i dunno how people run bbq restaurants and still be profitable. it's too time consuming (labour), and the ingredients too expensive (meat). the pricing does not reflect the effort put into making it. but you can't charge people any more..

Hey, guys (and gals), I am back, for better or worse, after a misadventure relating to my change of email addresses. The University finally took away my old email that I had used for nearly 20 years and now my new and permanent email, should you need it, is "[email protected]." But on to ribs: one is always trying to make sure they are tender and juicy, and done but not dry. One wants to have a good ratio of smokiness without being overpowering. So my latest adjustments: 1) It take my 32" KK, using the Fireboard controller, pretty much an hour to ramp up from cold to my target temperature, 225*. In the meanwhile, there is all that nice smoke....why not use it? We know that the meat absorbs the smoke better when the surface is cold, and virtually stops absorbing smoke when the surface temperature reaches 135 or so. Why wait till the smoker is at final cooking temperature (225) to put the meat in? I use apple wood for ribs, anyway,it is a good match for pork ribs, though apple and is sweeter and LIGHTER than some other wood choices. Why not put the meat in early and give it a longer extended time for exposure to the smoke? (Also more air turbulence passing through during the ramp-up period than when the KK has settled at 225 and the Fireboard is just giving it a little push from the fan now and then.) I am using the 2/1/1 method (of course), and I start the clock for the first segment when I hit 225*. 2) Moist cooking during the second segment is to my thinking, maybe the most important stage for getting the meat cooked through AND keeping it moist. I had started some time ago cooking during this hour with the meat side down. Now I also include a liberal sprinkling of dark brown sugar in the foil where the meat side will be placed, a couple of large pats of unsalted butter, and , and very liberal spritzing of water up and down the foil. I also turn the temp up to 235* for this hour. 3) I turn the temp back down to 225* for the last hour, when the ribs come out of the foil for finishing (though admittedly, it takes some time for the temp to fall.) Yesterdays ribs were a success, and I would have taken photos but it was snowing quite a bit off and on. Yes, in beautiful, "300 sunny days a year" Denver we are having a weather s**tshow" of a weekend, 4 to 8" of snow around town, high of maybe 30 today......The sun comes out and it disappears fast , by Wednesday it will be mid 50's again (48* for Halloween Tuesday), and we will be back to beautiful fall weather. This is MOST unusual. It's nice to be back.Thank you, Dennis, for all the help.

I find that the first smoke coming out of the KK or any other smoker, isn't the best. It's usually cloudy/white smoke that is slightly bitter. If you wait an hour or so, you'll have more of a nice blue smoke. I baste ribs once during the first 2 hours and then 30 minutes before I take them off, I'll put a thin coat of sauce on them if that's the plan. If no sauce, then I'll baste them again with an hour to go instead of 30 minutes. I stopped wrapping but that's a personal choice (like everything else). If your method works for you, then it's a perfect recipe! Oh yeah, I cook them, Boston butts and briskets at 240 and I use a Fireboard too.

Best demonstration of how well a KK is insulated..

I do the same except I use that "Harry Soo" charcoal method and put the wood at the bottom of the charcoal basket (always chunks). No complaints. I won't lie, every now and then I use the cold smoker attachment if I'm worried. But especially for huge chunks of meat like Pork Butts and Brisket, the wood is in the fire. The 2 things I use in the cold smoker are wood chips from my own yard when I got a hickory tree cut down (tree company gave me a huge bag of chips that seems to last forever), or I use some high quality pellets - got several different ones. I don't use it often, but usually when I do it is for that cusseta chicken or al pastor or shwarma or something smaller than a massive piece of pork or beef. I find that big stuff still tastes great with wood in the fire. Smaller or more delicate dishes, I control it more finely using the cold smoker (or with no wood at all) - charcoal tends to have all the flavor I need. I think my aversion to smoke pot is only the extra effort. One day I might give it a try. I won't deny that the idea is good. And I'm sure the results are good - "it's a KK after all". Now I have the disney song "it's a small world" stuck in my head. It's a KK after all It's a KK after all It's a KK after all your barbecueeee roooooocks!

I have a good friend who runs a BBQ business here. He says that it's a struggle and you have to have the passion for it to keep going. His margins are razor thin and any bump in his costs hurts. Like you said, folks have it in their heads what they should pay for a pulled pork sandwich, notwithstanding what the true costs really are. COVID almost did him in, as he does a lot of catering of weddings, graduations, and corporate-sponsored events. That practically dried up during the quarantine and he barely made it on the carryout/delivery from the restaurant.