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First attempt at pork ribs here tonight, with a final rack of beef ribs that I didn't cook last time. Made my own simple rub for the pork ribs, cooked for 3hrs at 285F, then wrapped and had them off a couple of hours after. Beef ribs went on earlier and cooked 6.5hrs. Both were smoky and delicious. Now I've finally ticked off all of the major KK cooking styles I wanted to try (most of them only once so far): Brisket, pulled pork, beef ribs, pork ribs, spatchcock chicken, roti chicken, roti porchetta, leg of lamb, simple grilled steaks/ sausages, paella, pizza, reverse seared thick cut steaks (tomahawk, fiorentina). Now I get to do them all again...

Well, I don't know if there are any brisket "secrets" anymore. I just follow Aaron Franklin's directions but it seems like EVERY DAMN TIME something happens to screw up whatever I had carefully planned: last time I had brisket going and unknowingly tripped a circuit breaker, turning off my BBQ Guru for 90 minutes. The time before that I had not fully closed the air vent semi-circle in the 32" Kamado and the tiny little additional draft jumped the temperature up about 15* (F) higher than I'd planned, so I just had to wrap it that much sooner. No big deal, and they both turned out fine, and I am edging up on Franklin-quality brisket, but not there yet. However here are my two latest projects: first, pork shoulder for pulled pork to vacuum-pack, freeze, and take down to my friends in Louisiana in trade for GREAT seafood and even better company (oh, and Lee has a fabulous wine cellar.....)

Also big thnx for the info and pics, my lid won't stay up noticed today and am out to remedy the problem. Had to move it from its spot, had it on pavers which eventually subsided due to its heft. New slab and some talavera tiles (on their way). Been 3+ yrs and the 32 still brings a smile to my face every time i walk out into the backyard

Oh, I know! There are a couple of rabbit holes that I've avoided so far - this one and the bougie clay pots (La Chambra) is another. I don't do those high-end knife sharpeners either, but do love a good knife and will pay $$ for one. Plus, these folks get go off the deep end when it comes to coffee gadgets - grinders and various espresso machines!!

And again. And again. And again!!!

And, BTW, here are a couple of recent cooks from later this summer: beef ribs and a pretty decent brisket. With the brisket, it is always something, even using the BBQ Guru: this time I accidently left one of KK's air vents slightly open, and while I was off at the gym, the temperature crept up to 300 or more by the time I got back. The briisket's temperature was rising a lot faster than I had anticipated. Oh well....The fix? I just wrapped it a little early and thoroughly spritzed it in the butcher paper wrap. It turned out very well, thank you.

And then there's the rib issue. Typically, I have been smoking some babyback ribs- always from Costco, which has the best quality ribs for the best price- about every three or four weeks. The ribs come in packs of three, so I always do six or nine, save two for our household (one for later in the week) and give the rest away- to my daughter's household, four doors down, to the neighbors (I am VERY popular with some of them as a result). Early on, I got a recipe from an on-line barbecue forum and I was cooking them on the 3/2/1 method- 3 hours in at 225, two hours wrapped, 1 hour unwrapped to finish. They were coming out like mush....toothpaste grade. After the second attempt turned out the same way, I went back to my friends on the forum and asked "What am I doing wrong?" "Aw, man!", came the reply: "That's the recipe for St.Louis-style ribs: for babyback ribs, it's 2-1-1." So that's what I've been doing ever since, with subtle variations and improvements in rub, spritzing, and technique: I recently started turning them over meat-side down during the wrapped period, and they've been more moist as a result. Presto, innovation! So my babybacks have been pretty damn near perfect, consistently, whatever "perfect" is. However, there is a new wrinkle and all is not well in ribs paradise: HUGE price hikes over the summer. I had been paying about $2.79-$2.99/lb for babybacks for the last several years- so a 3-pack would be $26-$29, usually. Now, ladies and gentlemen, babyback ribs have gone up to about $5.50/lb.....nearly doubled! Holy Hell! Now a pack of ribs was $55 or so. That makes it a little more difficult to cook so many for give-away.....but wait. For some strange reason, St Louis-style spareribs have not gone up that much....they're still in the high $2 range. So I switched last time and did the spareribs, and guess what, they're excellent, and meatier than the babybacks, and quite good! Oh yes, and I am using the 3/2/1 method......

Yup, those nice $12 racks of ribs cost $20 now and it didn’t take long for it to happen either. I started buying chicken in bulk to save a few bucks

Preach on, Brother!!

It's not the moisture but the temp of the meat that helps with condensation.. After about 145º it's not getting anymore smoke. Another problem can be if you are seasoning heavily and very little of the surface is exposed.. For some reason the best smoke rings happen if you don't open the grill during the first 4-5 hours.

I had to have it shipped in from the US. It was not sold in Canada at the time.

Did you forget what forum you're on?

And to top it off, our Costco doesn't have Angus Prime anymore. They have Prime Choice. It makes a big difference in the briskets. The big meaty Angus beef ribs (Dino bones) they used to sell have been replaced by choice ribs that have less meat than lizard ribs. But they still have those rotisserie chickens for $4.99 that get you in to store so you can buy $200 worth of other stuff.

Tony and his lovely bride came to Louisiana for a visit. First thing Tony's wife tells me is that Tony is getting very forgetful lately. Tony: I tell you what Poochie, I sure love this Louisiana food. I ate the best seafood platter I've ever had last night. Poochie: Don't keep it a secret, where did ya'll eat? Tony: Right! It was...ummmm uhhh ummmm. Wait! What's that red flower that's real pretty but has thorns? Poochie: A rose? Tony: That's it! Hey Rose, what's the name of that place we ate at last night?

An easy dinner and more squash. After all it is squash season. This time a very small butternut squash that I wasn't sure was going to even ripen before the killer frost hit but there it is. Served with chicken burger and roasted potatoes.

Turned out perfect

Remembered see the lamb with rosemary and anchovies so thought I'd give it a shot will update when done

I dropped in a paraffin cube and dropped in a few chunks that were relativity long and narrow; I thought those had less chance of twisting and getting hung up in the cold smoker. Lit the parrafin via the side hole, waited until I was sure it was burning good, then topped off with more chunks and capped the cold smoker. I put the rest of the refrigerated pulled pork in the wire basket I used for the previous test with chips, spritzed with apple juice, stirred, re-spritzed, and put in the KK with another dish of sauce. The cold smoker was pumping out smoke but at least volume than what I was getting with chips, so I inserted it into the guru port. I left it going for an hour, checking every 15 minutes and spritzing twice more. While I got less smoke from the chunks than I did chips, the KK was full of smoke each time I checked. There was only a small change in the level of chunks in the cold smoker. The smoke was clean but it didn't really smell like hickory to me; the chunks do look like hickory. I've had a cold with sinus congestion so maybe my smeller is off... The butt did pick up some more smoke flavor but still not up to the level I'm looking for; the smoked sauce was affected similarly to my previous test. Maybe my taster is off along with my smeller. It looked like very little of the hickory chunks were consumed; several pieces were charred and there was very little ash in the bottom of the cold smoker. I wish I had weighed the chunks before and after but I didn't think of it until after. Based on this, I'd say a full load of chunks would last for an overnight session as long as they don't get jammed up and the smoldering fire keeps catching subsequent chunks. As mentioned above, I didn't get the volume of smoke from the chunks as I did the chips but as long as the KK is full of smoke, I don't see that it matters. My conclusions from these tests: Chips work in the cold smoker and put out lots of smoke Small chunks work in the cold smoker and put out plenty of smoke Combining chips and chunks didn't work well due to the chips binding up the chunks Twice-smoked pork can be a thing Cold smoking does good things to my Lexington-style sauce I still haven't found the solution to my butts not picking up as much smoke flavor as I'd like To twist the knife on that last point, the foil that I wrapped the butt in for resting ended up with more smoke smell than the butt did -- I emptied the trash can that held the used foil this morning and it still smelled very strongly of smoke. I've smelled it every time i passed by the trash can (so my smeller is working!). That being said, I'm happy with the cold smoker and, as shown in my other postings, I'm excited with finding additional uses for it. Anyway, I have another butt in the freezer. I'll wait a few weeks (of more) and try again; unless something changes my mind, my plan for it is to do a relatively hot and fast smoke with it (350*-ish), use the cold smoker for smoke with just lump in the charcoal basket, and spritz the butt. I'll probably go with a heavier rub with more ingredients as well. I'll try to remember to weigh the chunks or chips or pellets before and after the cook as well.