BARDSLJR

Well, I think you're right about the 3/2/1/for St Louis style ribs but for babybacks I always understood it was 2/1/1. Be that as it may, I think we agree that these formulaic recipes are not based on any real experimentation or culinary science. Yesterday I found that 2 hours open, 1 1/2 hours wrapped, and about 30-45 minutes unwrapped to finish worked great for me. BTW, I have heard a lot about how good the KKs are at retaining moisture, and that may be, but we are up here in Denver where the humidity level is usually somewhere in the 20's, so a pan or two of water in the KK lower level works well for me here.

Okay, second try with a different browser....

I made perhaps the best version of babyback ribs, ever, yesterday, partially by accident, partly on purpose. Okay, so most of use the 2/1/1 method for babybacks, right? I have been experimenting with lengthening the amount of time the ribs spend moist-cooking in foil and decreasing the amount of time in the smoker after unwrapping-, so, instead of 2-1-1, more like 2- 1.5- .75. Yesterday I intended to leave the ribs extra long in the foil for cooking, and then I got stuck talking to Directv technical assistance (problems getting the remote to pair with my Bose soundbar) and probably moist-cooked the ribs for more like an hour; then I shortened the final unwrapped part of the cook to maybe 30 minutes. These were THE BEST ribs I have ever made, honestly. It brings up another broader issue: why do we believe that all these recipes are exactly designed for the dish they are cooking? Why is almost anything you bake at 350*? Why not 361, or 342, or 373? Why do we measure all our timing in very even increments? Why not 22 minutes instead of 30? Where is it written that everything must be in even hourly increments? Anyone else have any ideas or thoughts about this? For some reason the forum will not let me attach a photo this morning, so please take my word for it that the ribs were beautiful and delicious.

I got a 7lb lamb roast from Costco this afternoon and planned to cook it on my 32" KK this weekend. I've cooked a lot of roasts on the KK, but never a lamb roast. So, I imagine there are some of my KK peeps out there who have experience with this: recommendations, tips, instructions, recipes?

I think the freezing is an interesting idea. As for the smoke concern, perhaps one of the reasons this worked for me this time is that I used a 2/3rd-1/3rd mix of apple and cherry wood, and neither of those has a very strong flavor; if I had used oak or hickory the results might have been very different, e.g. , perhaps that creosote-like aftertaste.

Well, I am very pleased to report that it turned out GREAT. Maybe the best I've done yet. Good smoke and delicious, crunchy bark. Moist and tender. Everything I could want in pulled pork. We made sandwiches for dinner on big Hawaiian buns- mine with a coleslaw base and some good Johnny Harris's barbecue sauce. It was make-your-eyes-roll-to-the-back-of-your-head-and-see-god good. Haven't had that experience since the last time I wen to LA Barbecue in Austin and had the brisket sandwich. I think this is the recipe for me from now on. Interesting that there was such a variation in cooking time required for each of the four shoulders. I suppose variations in size and weight and maybe moisture content are the explanation, but one was at 203* at exactly 10 hours, as planned, and the last one took 11 1/2 hours to reach that temp. Interesting..... Since we had the smoker going, threw a chicken- halved- and a few breasts on there for good measure. Haven't tasted any of them yet.

I should also mention that I prepared the pork shoulders the night before, with a heavy dusting of Dizzy Pig's Crossroads southern rub mix, then rewrapped and back in the fridge overnight. It will be interesting to see how the bark comes out on these shoulders.

Perhaps of interest, and from one of my favorite periodicals (I subscribe only to Texas Monthly, Esquire, and the NY Times)..... https://www.texasmonthly.com/recipe/mimsys-crunk-coleslaw/ Daniel Vaughan is a gem, BTW.

Thanks, Tony, how are things in Iowa? We have a beautiful day in the 70s here n Denver today. It has been a long time....I just posted a note about today's cook effort.

Well, it has been a long time since I have visited the Forum, and even longer since I have posted, but yes, guys and gals, I am still alive and cooking. So, my best friend is coming in from Baton Rouge tomorrow for the week, and although Lee and Debbie love barbecue, he doesn't have a smoker and doesn't want to do it himself, so I am going to send him home with probably at least a whole pork shoulder, cut into serving sizes, vaccum-sealed and frozen. Happily, it reheats rather nicely, and especially since it is in a vacuum package already, sous vide is the preferred method. I got the smoker all prepared last night so I could start this morning around 8 for a 9 or 10 hour cook and got things going around that time. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I put my meat in the cold smoker first and then start it up- as Meathead Goldwyn tells us in his great book, "Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", meat only absorbs smoke up to the point the surface temperature reaches 135* (F), so why not put your meat in the cold, in the cold smoker, and then start things up so you get the benefit of all that start-up time? Why wait until the smoker is at cooking temp goal (in this case, 270*)? Why not let the meat warm up gradually? So here we are at 8 AM (ish), the smoker just getting going, with four pork shoulders (thank you, Costco!): we are going to eat well, and and so will several of my neighbors, my two daughters and their families, and my friend Lee is going to go home with several pounds of, I hope, excellent smoked pork shoulder for pulled pork. It is now 10:45 and according to my Fireboard software, the shoulders are now somewhere around 120*, on their slow journey to 203* by late afternoon sometime. It's nice to be back, y'all.

Nice job! I am very impressed!

Good tip, Dono, thanks!

I'll be there. Anyone else going?

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.

Well, if you recall, in our last episode, my Fireboard 2 had a failure, and was showing the battery totally depleted. The unit would turn on, but then itself off again in less than a minute. After about 20 tries, I got the unit to re-set and was able to charge the battery up fully. So I put it away until this last weekend, three weeks later, when I intended to do some babyback ribs. But guess what? No battery and it wouldn't charge at all this time. So I would have ride bareback, so to speak, go commando (where did that phrase originate from, anyway?)....go old school. Wing it. I had to control the temps myself, manually. AND I would need a new temperature gauge, since the Fireboard sensor had been providing that function for the last two years. So a trip to Home Depot.....and I was in business. Happily, I can report that although there were a few ups and downs, overall I managed to keep the temps within a decent cooking range, and got really good results: see photo. So the unit went back to Fireboard Labs in Kansas, and I am really happy to report that their service is just GREAT! Scott Myers at Fireboard stayed in touch with me by email throughout the process, acknowledging the receipt of the unit, informing me about progress, and finally when it was done. Best, the problem was just a bad battery, and the whole fix only cost $20, and it should be on its way back right now. Can't say enough good things about Fireboard Labs. Looking forward to doing some pork shoulder next.

Dennis, so sorry to hear about the shoulder (I am a tennis player and am around a lot of rotator cuff patients). That particular injury usually has, I'm afraid, a pretty extended recovery and rehab period. The only wisdom I can pass along from my friends is hit the rehab hard and really work it in the early stages, do everything they tell you to do, and don't get behind in your pain medications.

I don’t know what I did, but after about 10 tries trying to hold the button down for 15 seconds to do a reset on the system, the reset FINALLY took, and after that I was able to recharge the battery and it all appears to be working normally now. I don’t know what I did- it seemed like I tried the same thing about 10 times, and finally, it just took. Of course, it is a piece of electronic equipment and doesn’t have a personality, so that can’t be right. But there you have it. It is working now, and I didn’t have to send it back to Fireboard in Kansas, and that is all I care about. I had a prompt email back from Fireboard yesterday and they were happy to repair it, and there was fee is it was out of warranty (it was) and he said cost would be between $30-60, depending. I am just glad I didn't have to send it back and the problem appears for now to be resolved. Thanks for all the helpful tips!

Well, I tried the reset routine, but no change. It still turns off in 5 seconds (yes, it is plugged in). It's been plugged in since Saturday morning and is still showing an empty battery, so I am guessing it will go back to the factory today for a new one.

This is really helpful, thanks. Fingers crossed.

Also, this might be problematic given that the unit will only stay on 3-5 seconds before it turns itself off again.....

GREAT idea! Does anyone out there know how to do a factory reset on the Fireboard 2? It's not obvious to me.

yes, and I checked all the connections. It is getting power, but the battery does not appear to be charging.

Thanks, will do

I would second Tony B on the DIzzy Pig Dizzy Dust. I lay my ribs out after unpacking them, pat them dry with a paper towel, and season evenly and generously with Dizzy Dust. I used to give the Dizzy Dust about an hour before cooking to really sink into the meat, and this is probably preferred, but you can also spritz the ribs with a spray of liquid over the dry rub and achieve the same effect.

Very strange. My Fireboard 2 is plugged in and getting power, but the battery icon shoes "empty" and it keeps turning itself off after a few seconds (BTW, I am in the middle of cooking babybacks.....URK!....am going to have finish this one bareback. Anyone else have any experience like this? Any suggestions? I hate to spend $250 to replace it unless it is really necessary.