Small Pork ribs to smoke

[niceguy0427]

I have 2.7 pounds of pork ribs to smoke and they don't look real meaty.  I know this is a pretty small quantity, but it is what I have left over from some pork we bought recently.
 Do I still smoke them for 5 - 6 hours  at 225 degrees with a pan of liquid in the bottom of the smoker and about 2 oz. wood or something different? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I'm a little concerned about over cooking them. In previous smokes I've noticed when I set the thermostat at 225 degrees according to my Maverick the temperature in the box goes as high as 280 degrees.

I know it has been suggested to me to start smoking bigger quantities, but I found these ribs in the freezer and thought I would try smoking them.

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[swthorpe]

I would go with 3-4oz of wood, and would recommend checking them at 4.5 hours or so to see if the meat is pulling back from bone.  Even with less meat, I suspect you will still need close to 5 hours at 225F.   

As for the temp swings, I would not worry about that.  For a set temp of 225, I typically see 25+/- degree swings on my maverick (I have a #2).   I have to admit that 280 is a big swing from 225, but I wonder if the swing in temp diminishes as time passes during the smoke.

[NDKoze]

I would check to make sure that you don't have the small piece of packing cardboard still covering your internal temperature probe.

I had 3-4 smokes under my belt before I found that little pesky piece of cardboard on my smoker probe. I was seeing the same thing as you with huge spikes.

BTW, I agree with Steve that you'll probably need to go close to five hours at 225.

I typically use 2.5-3.0 ounces of wood for ribs.

With your smaller ribs, you "may" want to check them at 4 hours instead of 5, but I don't think I would open the smoker until after at least 4 hours though.

Put the ribs on the shelf as close to the top that you can get without getting too close to the top. In my #3, I typically smoke 3-packs with 2 racks on the second to highest rack and the third in the middle of on the rack directly below.

The heat is most stable at the top of the smoker. So, in general you should try to place you meat as high as you can in the smoker.

Take some pics and share your results.

[niceguy0427]

OK, I just checked again and there is no cardboard on the probe.
I have been placing the probe from the Maverick fairly close, but not closer then 2", to the meat I have been smoking. Is this about right or is there a better place?

[es1025]

I would recommend putting the probe below the meat.  Use the clip provided and slide probe into it.

[DivotMaker]

Don, something I learned, from Auber, is that the heat in the top of the smoker is the most stable, so I recommend placing the box temp probe as high as possible (but not touching the side walls or top).  Also, I know that you routinely smoke pretty small pieces of meat; that may account for the high spike in temp.  It's kind of like an empty smoker - the meat is not enough of a heat sink to stabilize the temp like when you're doing larger quantities.  I would recommend a water pan on one side of the smoke box, and a brick or pan of sand, on the other side.  You need enough heat-absorbing mass inside the smoker to stabilize temps.  Just a thought...

[niceguy0427]

OK, I smoked the small amount of ribs a few days ago and they came out great. I "listened" to all your advice - thank you - it made for a very successful smoke.

I put the ribs on the top shelf, 3 bakers on the next shelf down. I had a pan of German Lager on one side of the wood box and a brick wrapped in tin foil on the other side. Put the temp at 1 click above 225. Temperature swing was plus or minus 9 degrees. Yahoo no big temp swings for a change. I checked the meat after 4 hours and 20 minutes - DONE!

I have another question - at what point (how much meat) should I quit using the brick or is it OK to use the brick whether I have a small amount of meat or a large amount of meat to smoke?

[DivotMaker]

Way to go, Don!  Those look fantastic!  Great bark, good pull back from the bones...perfect!  Bet them taters were good, too!

I like the brick as a heat sink move - great ingenuity!  I'd probably go with it on anything under, say, 4 lbs?  Not sure that it would hurt anything on bigger smokes, either!  Heat sinks help stabilize the temp, as you have learned.