Saunka

No no no... he's Academy Award Winning director, Peter Jackson. The man who directed Lord of the Rings.

28 lbs of spareribs and tips

1 batch Chef Juke's Raspberry-Chipotle sauce

Ample quantities of liquor (single-malt and tequila so far)

man, wes. sure didn't want to sound ungrateful... hope it didn't come across that way. yeah, the unused briquettes were black. you know how lump does; part of a corner or something burns, but the rest is fine. i IMAGINE using it for low and slow, you don't really get the expansion factor, but when you try for higher temps, they do. dunno...

so, sorry if i came across as a butthead...

Not at all, I just wanted to share what I'd discovered too. I absolutely hate the stuff for trying to cook a steak in the 750 degree range. But I've put half a box in the K and had it roll for 20 hours without touching it too. It's important that you get a lot of it lit when you do that though.

Re: My 2 cents...

y'know, thanks to wes (saunka), i got to try a box. i have to say, i wasn't that impressed... my observations:

1) HARD to light. it was a serious pain in the be-hind

2) no smoke; personally, i like my lump to add some smokiness and flavor

3) hard to get up to high temps (no idea why)

4) unused briquettes "fell apart" when i went into the cooker for a second cook, it seemed like the unused portions of the briquettes were very fragile. probably due to the fact there are no "binders". since it's a pressure-extruded charcoal, i bet the briquettes that didn't burn expanded a bit during the cook, and this loosened the pressure bond (or whatever, not a scientist)

5) seemed like a lot of ash

so, as much as i've heard about this stuff, i really don't think it's for me. i'll stick to my royal oak lump. got a big bag of patio chef from peoria that i'm saving for a overnighter; i really like that stuff!

anyway, fwiw...

1.) I light mine with 2-3 sheets of news paper and a chimney. Also works with wax starter cubes

2.) This is a plus if you want to cook things like breads and cakes in your K without smokey flavor. When I use it for over night cooks, I add some hickory chunks.

3.) This is true. No idea why, but I only use it for overnights or low and slows.

4.) Never seen this before. Were these unused ones still black?

5.) I find I have way less ash with these than with regular lump.

Different strokes for different folks, but keeping it going for 20 hours unassisted is a snap with the CEL. I find I have more hassles when using Royal Oak for BBQing. Grilling, I use Royal Oak exclusively.

Maybe that has been my problem I have actually taken them off too early and not let the connective tissue break down and that is why they were tough. I will try this again and see what happens. It may be my first cook on my new OTB. Thanks for the insight.

Tony

I've made this mistake too. Heck I almost made it on the ribs I won with 2 weeks ago. Porkchop's cooler head prevailed and he advised I leave them on. I was worried cause I was cooking on a BGE (not as familiar with it) and I couldn't get the temp below 275 for much of the cooking time. Alas they turned out great in 4.5 hours. They might have gone for 5 or a little longer if I'd cooked 'em at 225. The best rule is to go by appearance rather than time. If they aren't really tender yet, don't pull them out. I've had ribs I've taken off the grill and they've "broken" in the middle on the way to the plate. They were some mighty fine ribs, let me tell ya.

as we speak of ribs, i am (guiltily) devouring rib tips in rasp/chip sauce. sorry wes.

how's the ramen?

No ramen today, mon frere. Baloney sandwich and soup.

I cook at around 250 and usually it is babybacks. How do you tell the difference between done and tender.

Lift the full rack from the grill with a pair of tongs. Both ends should be limp and the meat should be "cracking and spitting" from the weight of the ribs. They will look done and maybe even dry on the outside after 3 hours, but they'll be pretty tough. Once that connective tissue breaks down in the last 2 hours, they should be very tender. The bones will almost fall out.

That is PERFECT. Can you make an aftermarket one for a Mexi-K #7?

Re: Warning for newbies

Just a warning to non professionals. I have tried doing ribs for 6 hours and I know many people do it on a regular basis with great results' date=' however I can't seem to keep them going that long. 2 - 3 hours is the max I can cook ribs before they get overcooked so any non-professionals should check them after a few hours to be sure.[/quote']

Two questions.

1.) What temp did you cook at?

2.) What type of ribs did you cook (spare or babyback)?

My observations:

Ribs can appear to be overcooked after 3 hours, but in fact be nowhere near done. If you're not using foil to steam them or anything, let them keep rolling at 225-275 until the meat has pulled back from the bone quite a bit. Eventually the bones will darn near fall out of them. They'll be fully "cooked" after 3 hours, but they won't be tender yet.

I got lucky on some ribs a few weeks ago at the competition, but basically I had 3 racks of spares rubbed overnight and left in the fridge. Didn't bother to pull the membrane as it was taking too much meat off with it. Cooked indirect for 4.5 hours at 250-300, no spraying or mopping. The last 30 minutes or so I basted with Chef Juke's Raspberry Chipotle sauce. This sauce has been known to convert non-believers (ask Porkchop).

(copied from Mexi-K Forum)

6 Tbls. packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup molasses

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbls dark rum

2 Tbls yellow mustard

1 Tbls pure chili powder

2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 cup Chipotles en Adobo, finely chopped

2 cups ketchup

2 cups Raspberry Preserves (I use Wall's Berry Farm Raspberry preserves from Costco)

Kosher or sea salt

Pepper

In large saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire, rum, mustard, chili powder, pepper, garlic powder, allspice and cloves. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, until all ingredients are dissolved, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Reduce heat slightly, add raspberry jam and 1/4 cup chipotles** and gently simmer sauce, uncovered, until dark & thick, about 30 minutes, stirring often. Use right away or transfer to jars, cover, cool to room temperature and refrigerate. Sauce will keep several months. Makes 5 cups or 20 servings.

NOTES:

**Add the chipotle peppers to taste. Since simmering will bring out the heat in the peppers start by adding ¼ cup of chipotles and cook for the 30 minutes THEN taste again and add additional peppers if you like it REALLY HOT.

Farmer's market - hadn't thought of that. The Raleigh Farmer's Market is huge... I will have to check there. Thanks.

Porkchop-- I know, I know... the tinfoil was usurped by the the flower pot! A little duct tape to hold the neck together, and I can slide that dish around like it was a big green egg. I think it will do for awhile. It actually worked very well. Who needs customer service? I have duct tape!

I did those ABT's indirectly at around 350° for 1.5 to 2 hours. I have to guess on the time because I don't remember exactly when I put them in... and the temperature is also a guess because my kamado-brand temperature gage is full of condensation and seems unreliable. All I know is THEY WUZ GOOOOOOD.

Anyone got any tips for getting that condesnation out? I've got it too.

Re: Saunka, Which were better

Step 3. I rubbed 2 of the 4 monster chops with this rub and 2 I left plain

Which did you prefer?

The rubbed ones. The plain were for my wife who eventually came around to my way of thinking on the rubbed ones.

I just made some EPIC pork chops. First I need you to imagine Porkchop's avatar. I used Iowa Cut pork chops that were over 1lb each. These monsters were an inch and a half thick. I have never cooked pork chops this big before.

Step 1. Last night I brined them for 4 hours in 2 quarts of water, 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup turbinado sugar

Step 2. I made a rub consisting of: 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar, 1 Tbsp ancho chile powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chipotle powder, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Step 3. I rubbed 2 of the 4 monster chops with this rub and 2 I left plain

Step 4. Got the K up to 375 and threw them on.

Step 5. Cooked 5-6 minutes each side and then flipped. Repeated until pork reached 144 degrees with thermapen

Step 6. ...

Step 7. Profit

I'm here to tell you those were the best pork chops I've made in my life. Thanks to Porkchop for the inspiration on the rub this afternoon.

i use a 1/2 strip of bacon per half-boat and completely wrap all the way around. indirect 250, couple hours. yep. hours. i know, i'm weird, but please, just try it this way with a few, and endure the wait, next time you do ribs.

you will like them. you'll wish you made more.

the bacon will cook all the way; it just takes time. sprinkle with a little sugary rub before they go on. if you try to cook too fast, the bacon shrinks up and gets ugly. low and slow, the fat and water render out, the bacon gets "tender-crisp" and the pepper gets SOFT.

What he said. I learned how to make them from Porkchop.

Well I'm making them for a party so I won't be eating all of them. I'll probably be able to get down a dozen though. I'm talking half peppers here, not whole ones.

I just prepped up 50 ABT's for this weekend using the same stuff Porkchop did last weekend. I went with the whipped cream cheese because it was easy, but I tried not to fill them so full so hopefully I'll be okay.

Did you get his contact info? I want to do the same thing. That pork was divine.

Hey, I'm Wes.

Had a blast cooking with your this weekend, Porkchop. We had some goooood food. Tell the story about the guy with the pork butt. The look on his face was priceless.