Keltin's Smoked Pork Spare Ribs

Keltin

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Keltin’s Smoked Pork Spare Ribs

Picked up a slab of Spare Ribs to smoke today. Unfortunately, the Butcher cut them in half before I got to them. But still, I cut them down to St. Louis Style, and had a small 4 bone section left, along with 2 pieces of the brisket. All four pieces went on the smoker at 225 degrees for 4 hours.

For smoke, I used White Oak chunks that I soaked in water. White Oak is a very mild smoke, much milder than Hickory and Mesquite, but has a very wonderful flavor. You can use a bit more oak in your smoking since it is milder. Interestingly enough, I didn’t get quite the smoke ring from Oak that I would have gotten from the same amount of Hickory. But, the flavor is phenomenal! I actually like it much better than Hickory. Not nearly as acrid, very smooth and subtle. Nice smoke!

I added wood every hour, and “mopped” the ribs every 45 minutes. The mop was actually in a spray bottle and was 50/50 Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar.

I sauced the larger St. Louis cut and a brisket piece with Sweet Baby Rays Original for DW. I left the rest “naked” for me. Here are the pics.

Ribs cut and rubbed.
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Introduced to the smoker. Notice the on-grill thermometer showing a near perfect 225 (it dropped a bit when I pulled the lid for the pic).
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Lid on, and smoke rolling. It’s a vertical water smoker by Masterbuilt.
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2 hours in during the second “mop”.
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Done and ready to come off.
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Here they are after resting.
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BamsBBQ

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damn fine brother, damn fine...

i love oak, i try to use it every time i smoke... i really like in when cooking beef..it adds such a nice flavor but you are right about the smoke ring, not as good but food still always tastes better..

i am not a fan of hickory or mesquite
 

Keltin

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damn fine brother, damn fine...

i love oak, i try to use it every time i smoke... i really like in when cooking beef..it adds such a nice flavor but you are right about the smoke ring, not as good but food still always tastes better..

i am not a fan of hickory or mesquite

I've used Oak before, but it was a while back. After truly being critical of it tonight, I have to admit, Oak is the way to go. I'm turned off from Hickory and Mesquite now. Hell, I've never been a fan of Mesquite anyway!

The guy that gave me this Oak is also working up some Cherry for me, so I'm looking forward to that!
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
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I've used Oak before, but it was a while back. After truly being critical of it tonight, I have to admit, Oak is the way to go. I'm turned off from Hickory and Mesquite now. Hell, I've never been a fan of Mesquite anyway!

The guy that gave me this Oak is also working up some Cherry for me, so I'm looking forward to that!

i was once told that if you dont use hickory or mesquite when Q'ing then its not real Q(yes i was in texas..lol)... if they only knew..lol

once you go cherry, you never go back..lol

when i was installing a solar system this past week, we stopped in at a hardware store.. they had cherry chips and pecan chips...not the chunks i wanted but i cant get either where i live...same brand but our stores do not carry it..

cant wait to try the pecan
 

Keltin

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I've heard so much about Cherry, I just can't wait to try it! My guy is supposed to come through with seasoned logs, so I'm rather excited!
 

BamsBBQ

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I've heard so much about Cherry, I just can't wait to try it! My guy is supposed to come through with seasoned logs, so I'm rather excited!

mrs bam prefers her ribs done with cherry wood... with very little rub on the ribs..... it turns the meat a deep red and always gives a beautiful pink smoke ring
 

Keltin

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That's what I'm also curious about. I hear Cherry gives an awesome smoke ring. I had thought wood was wood for the smoke ring, but tonight shows NO. There is a difference. Very interesting.
 

chowhound

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Good looking ribs, Keltin. I don't see much of a "ring", like you mentioned, but it looks like the smoke permeated the meat pretty good by the pics you took. They've got that pink look inside. L2Q was asking about that a while back in a thread. I think we concluded it was caused by a lot of smoke.
I have some chicken thawing, but I may just have to smoke some ribs tonight. You given me an inkling for some :^)
 

Keltin

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Doing ribs again tonight. Using strictly Cherry wood this time. It’s the first time I’ve used Cherry, so I’m interested in the flavor and smoke ring I’ll get.

Will be having Spare Ribs trimmed to St. Louis Style, Extra Large Beef Short Ribs, and some Lamb Steaks.

The Lamb will come off in when it reaches 155 – 160. Probably 1 hour or so.

This is the beginning. More pics to come one they are done. Let it begin!




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The Pork Ribs with Bam's super secret rub!
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The Lamb with regular rub.
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The Short Ribs with the Brisket Rub from Chow’s link. Notice the little Cook’s Treat from the Pork Rib trimmings (from the brisket).
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Love2"Q"

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good looking start .. hope you have plenty of beers on ice ...
looks like its going to be a while before you eat ...
 

Keltin

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I took the Lamb off after 1 hour and 15 minutes. It measured 155. I foiled it and let it rest. When I cut into it, I could see a small bright pink smoke ring. Not bad for only 1 hour worth of smoke. Even though I pulled the meat at 155, after resting, I found it was cooked to well done, so no medium-rare pink in the middle.

The taste is extraordinary. The Cherry smoke is fantastic, the meat is incredibly tender. It’s probably the most tender Lamb steak I’ve ever had.

I served a Kakadu Wild Fire Pepper Sauce on the side by Vic Cherikoff. It’s an Australian sauce, so I thought it fitting (this is Australian Lamb :smile:). This sauce is rather sweet, earthy, and has a slight kick of pepper to it’s after taste. It went perfectly with the smoked Lamb. A wonderful compliment.

If you’ve never smoked a Lamb steak (shoulder chop), give it a try. One hour worth of smoky cook time, and you have a wonderful and flavorful treat.

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chowhound

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That's a nice looking lamb steak. I've never seen a cut like that around here, just chops. I can just imagine lamb and cherry wood for smoke.
Very nice.
 

Keltin

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Thanks! DW and I shared that one chop (she actually took a few bites!!), and I put the other away. I'll eat it tomorrow for lunch I think. I'm impressed so far with cherry wood. If you look close at that last pic, you can see the incredibly bright pink of the smoke ring near the top of the cut. Can't wait to see what the ribs look like!
 

Keltin

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I’ll be honest. I had always thought a smoke ring was simple chemistry….the formation of nitric acid by combusting wood. I had thought that, wood, was wood, was wood, when it came to combusting, forming the nitric acid, and producing the smoke ring.

But lately, I’ve learned differently.

Using Hickory or Mesquite, I get about the same ring every time.

But at the start of this thread, I used Oak, and quite a bit of it, and not much smoke ring at all.

Now there is this lamb with cherry, and the small ring that formed in only an hour is incredibly bright and very pink.

It’s becoming painfully obvious to me that the type of wood does indeed affect more than just the flavor. Not sure of the chemistry of it…..maybe one wood has more “something” than another, but the type of wood (from what I’m seeing) does indeed impact the color and depth of your smoke ring.

If I disagreed with anyone about that in another thread, I apologize. If you tried to tell me otherwise (either here or elsewhere), I stand corrected! :lol:

I don’t have all the answers yet (more research is required), but the type of wood does affect the smoke ring. I’d imagine a secret weapon for competition would be to always add Cherry to your other wood when smoking to get the benefits of the bright ring. Plus, the taste of cherry smoke is really good.
 

Love2"Q"

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keltin .. different meats take the smoke differently ...
i know that is not news to you ...
but the thing is .. when you match meats with certain woods ..
you get a magnificent smoke ring in very little time ...
 

Keltin

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keltin .. different meats take the smoke differently ...
i know that is not news to you ...
but the thing is .. when you match meats with certain woods ..
you get a magnificent smoke ring in very little time ...

True. But it’s becoming very obvious to me the type of wood plays a big roll.

Here are two pics. Both Pork Spare Ribs. But cooked on the same smoker for 4 hours. Both receiving new wood every hour. Identical technique both times. Yet the first pic is of Hickory, the smoke ring is nearly 100%. There’s very little grey rib meat as most if it is tainted with the smoke ring.

But, using the same technique with Oak, I got very little smoke ring at all.

Further, the Hickory ring, even though deep, was a pale pink, and Cherry on the lamb was very bright. I’m interested to see how the ribs turn out.

Hickory Smoke Ring

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Oak Smoke Ring

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Keltin

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Ok, it’s all done. Got to say, I’m a bit miffed. Didn’t get nearly the smoke ring I expected. The Cherry wood ran and smoked the whole 4 hours, really heavy at times, yet the smoke ring didn’t do what I thought.

The flavor is outstanding though. I noticed the beef picked it up, not terribly deep, but brightly. From what I’m seeing, I can get a better smoke ring and penetration with Hickory than Oak and Cherry. Especially on pork.

Now, for the Beef Short Ribs, they pulled back hard on the bone and became little roasts of sorts. I found the best way to deal with them was not as “ribs” but as sliced beef. So I sliced the hunks off the bone and then sliced the meat on a bias against the grain. This also allowed me to cut away the significant fat caps that was present on 2 of them.

The spare ribs are great, and cherry wood flavor is awesome. I’m disappointed in the smoke ring, but the flavor and tenderness is great.

Bam’s rub was simply awesome. Nice sweetness with a touch of heat that sank deep into the meat. Deep flavors that really came through in each bite. It made a wonderful bark and actually formed a bit of skin that was a joy to eat.

DW says we need MORE rub Bam!! I used all I had on this cook.

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BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
Ok, it’s all done. Got to say, I’m a bit miffed. Didn’t get nearly the smoke ring I expected. The Cherry wood ran and smoked the whole 4 hours, really heavy at times, yet the smoke ring didn’t do what I thought.

The flavor is outstanding though. I noticed the beef picked it up, not terribly deep, but brightly. From what I’m seeing, I can get a better smoke ring and penetration with Hickory than Oak and Cherry. Especially on pork.

Now, for the Beef Short Ribs, they pulled back hard on the bone and became little roasts of sorts. I found the best way to deal with them was not as “ribs” but as sliced beef. So I sliced the hunks off the bone and then sliced the meat on a bias against the grain. This also allowed me to cut away the significant fat caps that was present on 2 of them.

The spare ribs are great, and cherry wood flavor is awesome. I’m disappointed in the smoke ring, but the flavor and tenderness is great.

Bam’s rub was simply awesome. Nice sweetness with a touch of heat that sank deep into the meat. Deep flavors that really came through in each bite. It made a wonderful bark and actually formed a bit of skin that was a joy to eat.

DW says we need MORE rub Bam!! I used all I had on this cook.





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might not have been deep with the smoke ring, but look at the color of the smoke ring...couple things you have to take into consideration...the rub you used stops alot of the smoke ring, i know first hand because i made it..lol

it does the same for me

i knew you would like the flavor of cherry wood, i like most woods but if given once choice to smoke food with for the rest of my life with..it will always be cherry.

overall all your food looks awesome brother. i bought some ingredients yesterday to make more rub, i just have to get another dehydrator, mine took a carp on me:twak:

dont you love the smell of cherry smoke now? to me it smells sweet and the whole time i am cooking with it, i want to stand in the smoke and smell it..lol
 

Keltin

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The flavor and smell is awesome. And yeah, you can stand in the smoke and not be run off due to acridness. The smoke is nice and smooth. Wonderful. I definitely need to take a shower before bed! :lol:
 
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