I have 1 other friend who has this type of machine, and we both agree on this---------------> I/we are not saying the ribs come out bad, terrible, uneatable, or anything like that. What we both agree on, is that we have never matched the taste or texture, that we get from his----------> charcoal burner, or my------->gas burning smoker.
The only way people know, is if they formerly used charcoal and or gas, then go to this machine as far as ribs. Yes, I agree it is way easier. Yes, I agree as far as wood input it is much cheaper. Yes, I agree, they are actually decent ribs, but in actuality, they do not compare if you are willing to invest the time using either of the other 2 methods of cooking them.
In all honesty, during the late fall, winter, or early spring because of the climate I live in, I use this machine to cook ribs because of the weather. But on the 4th of July, when I want the very best ribs I can make for family and friends, nope; and yes it is a lot more work....sadly. Same with my friend who owns a number 2.
That is not to say this is not a great machine. It does what it does exceptionally well, and that is larger pieces of meat and poultry. No muss, no fuss, and enjoy your own BB party far more than you ever could before.
Let me finish with the rib thing one more time---------------> If your deal is doing the 3-2-1 method, you can do that on virtually any grill. But, if you cook your ribs bare with just seasoning, you will get decent ribs out of this machine. I have cooked ribs 20 times in this thing, and since my friend has had his number 2 longer than I have had my number 3, we have never come close to matching the taste and texture of my gas, or his charcoal. Honest fact!
But I will tell you this that both my friend and I have discovered, and many people have also posted on this, but neither of us knew it made such a huge impact on our smoking with these machines, maybe it is just ours, but we doubt it-------------> The interior sensor of the machines, for whatever reason, when you set your cook temp, over shoot by a lot, then slowly come down. EXAMPLE-------------> Set at 225, machine goes to 270, maybe 275, then slowly decreases to your cook temp. We discovered this by using both cook probes. We both thought it had to be wrong, so we purchased thermometers that were wireless, and yep, that was what was going on.
The solution, is to start the machine, no matter the cook temp you want at 150, let it run for an hr and equalize. Go back, and raise the cook temp to your desired cook temperature, and the machine will then slowly rise to the temp you set, and stay within a degree of that until your food is done, never over shooting it by much at all, maybe 1 degree or 2. Yes, it adds time to the cook, but you get absolutely consistent outcomes which you can adjust off of, if you are not satisfied.