New to the forum... love my model 3

[vetkilr]

Hey guys,

Love the model 3 smoker. I have been smoking everything in this thing in the last month and a half. Still trying to figure out how to get better bark on my ribs. Flavor and moisture I have seem to have down but just can't get a bark like my other smoker. Also would really like to have my ribs look better, they always come out so black. On my other smoker, smokey mountain style, I could get a nice bark and a more professional looking dark red color.

Does anyone have a secret they found?

 

[vetkilr]

On my other smokers I have had over the years it was always easy to find the right temp and basting to get my ribs to a nice reddish brown color and have a nice slightly hard bark but still remain juicy and melt in your mouth tender.
But after two different ribs cooks I still can't find the right combo in this smoker. Does anyone have a secret to not coming out with their ribs black and getting a slight bark on their ribs?

I did however figure out how to get my vinegar twang into my ribs, in this thing, a very hard thing to do... not opening the door on this style unit.

 

[mnsmoker]

I've been smoking for about ten years and have done hundreds of racks on my stick burner and vertical propane unit, when I started doing ribs on the #2 I had the same trouble to dark and sometimes almost sooty......problem to much wood. It's crazy how little wood these things actually need.

My Recipe: Famous Daves Rib Rub, 3 oz. cherry wood, 2 mini loaf pans apple juice next to the smoke box, 225 for 5 hrs ( absolutely no peeking ) and you should be close if not quite done I either throw em back in or finish in the oven if I'm getting short on time.

 

[Smokster]

For ribs, I use no more than 2 OZs of wood chips or chuncks, a pan with apple juice next to the smoker box, then set to 225 - 230 and leave it for 5 - 6 hours.

I've never had any issues with too dark a bark, but too much wood will darken the bark and add a really smokey flavour which is not to my liking.

Try different methods until you gat the results you are happy with, and if they are not fall off the bone, then you are pulling them too early.  I also like to bast them with BBQ sauce for the last hour.

 

[DivotMaker]

Hey vet,

Some of your bark problems may be rub/prep-related.  What kind of rub do you use, and do you use anything as a binder (oil, yellow mustard)?  The paprica content in the rub can contribute to more of a "reddish" tint.  It could also be your method; do you foil, or smoke them "no peeky" for the duration?

I find I get really nice bark on my ribs when I use yellow mustard first, then a brown sugar-based rub (I'm a big fan of Famous Dave's Rib Rub for a "quick" solution).

3 racks of baby backs, at 235, take about 5 1/2 hours for me, and come out looking good. 

Give us a little more detail, and I'm sure we can help!

 

[vetkilr]

Thankx guys.

First smoke I rubbed down with mustard and then my own rub I make. It doesnt have sugar in it, I really don't like a sweet rib, Im more of a vinager bbq guy. The first smoke I used a pan with apple juice and about 4 good size chunks of hickory and apple. Did't peak til the 4 hour mark...ribs were already blackish but really moist. I then took out the apple juice and went one more hour. Ribs were really moist, but because I cant baste like other smokers every hour there was not the vinegar taste that I have become accustomed to.

So I made a couple changes with this last cook.
In stead of mustard, I rubbed down my ribs with hot sauce and then rubbed them with my base rub and let them sit over night. I then took them out of fridge and added a little of a rub that has some brown suger just to see if it would make a difference. I also this time didnt add a apple juice tray( thinking that there would be less moisture in chamber thus create a dryer and harder bark). I added same amount of wood 4 good chunks two apple and two hickory and didnt peak for 4.5hrs. Ribs were still balck pulled back from bone. Although the ribs were dryer to the look without the apple juice. The bark still was mussy and you can just push of the rub with your finger instead of it being baked on (best I can describe it).
I will say that adding the hot sauce on the ribs and then applying rub fixed my not having the vinager flavor and didnt really add anymore heat, just seemed to draw the rub flavor down deeper into meat and you could really taste the little vinager twang I was after.

 

[DivotMaker]

I'd be interested to see what your rub recipe is.  I, personally, find mustard to be the best binder on pork for a chewy bark.  I always use a water pan, with apple juice, next to the smoke box (except for poultry or things like jerky). 

Reading about your wood amount makes me think that you're over-smoking the meat.  Sounds like an awful lot of wood for ribs.  Most of us use a digital kitchen scale to weigh our wood, as these smokers take so little to be right.  For ribs, 2 1/2 - 3 oz is plenty.  If you have smoke rolling the whole cook, you are building up creosote on the surface of the ribs, which may lead to the black coloration you mentioned.  Once meat hits about 140, it stops "absorbing" the smoke, and it builds up on the surface.  Look at the inside of your smoker; that's a surface that doesn't absorb the smoke....black, right?  Try reducing the amount of wood.

 

[vetkilr]

I bet you would like to see my rub recipe  .

I guess a scale is in order for sure. I was thinking the same about reducing wood in half, but should weigh it forsure. The last cook it was belching pretty hard at first...I was actually laughing thinking dang I guess Ill find out how tough this thing is.

Next smoke:
Half the wood if I can't get a scale by then.
And am going to wrap wood with foil and slow roll the temp.
120 for 30 min
175 for 30min
240 for the rest of the time
5 hrs no peekin  8)
Maybe a small bit of apple juice in a lil pan as well

 

[Smokster]

For your next smoke, try using no more than 2 oz of wood, regardless of the number of racks you put in the smoker.  4 ozs is a lot and will affect the color of your bark.

There are a lot of posts on this forum and you can see where the ribs are not as blackened as your results.

 

[old sarge]

vetkllr

In the electric smoker, the heat is derived from the heating element which is quite different from a smoker where the heat is produced from wood or charcoal.  I too noticed a difference when I switched from the offset stick burner to electric. The red or mahogany color was noticeably absent (as was the continued maintenance of fire box tending). The coloring you are missing has something to do with combustion and the many gasses given off, some of which produce the  traditional pink smoke ring. I also found out quite quickly that too much wood in the smoker box accomplished nothing but a thick layer of 'bitter black creosote' covering the meat.

I also have a weber kettle and a gas grill. Cooking steaks or burgers over hot coals yields meat that has a slight mahogany appearance  that is lacking when cooked over propane with artificial briquettes. Each method is somewhat different in the end result.

I've not had any luck in replicating the mahogany appearance by adding lump charcoal to the smoker box in my electric. Some folks add charcoal as a matter of habit; I have ceased. And for wood quantity, the smoke will only penetrate or flavor the meat up to 140 degrees.  After that, the smoke particles just sort of layer up on the meat and add nothing but black bitterness. So I weigh the wood, cutting pieces in 1 and 2 ounce chunks. That way I can smoke with a precise weight and not over smoke.

Hope this helped.

 

[vetkilr]

Thanks guys... I will try 2oz next smoke

 

[NDKoze]

You will eventually find the amount of wood you like to use.

I have found that most of the Hickory dowels from Smokin It are 1.5-2.0 ounces a piece. So you could have been using 8 or more ounces of wood on your first smokes, which you now know is way too much.

For me, I think 2 ounces would not be enough. But I do tend to like a deep smoke (not bitter) flavor. So, when I do ribs, I shoot for 2.5-3.0 ounces.

I always use one mini-loaf pan with apple juice or beer with a mustard layer prior to the rub and always had very nice chewy bark. Because of the brown sugar in most of my rubs, my ribs do get fairly dark, but they are not bitter and do not have any creosote taste.

I think we are pretty much all in agreement that 2-3 ounces for ribs is the way to go. Some like Smokester shoot for the bottom end of that range and others like me shoot for the top of the range. Either way, you are talking about cutting your wood by 2/3 to 3/4 from your previous two smokes. So, I think you are going to have better results no matter what.

We will anxiously be waiting to hear the results of your next rib smoke!

 

[mnsmoker]

Ribs have become my favorite thing to smoke once I quit chasing the smoke ring and mohogany color, the last ones I did I swore they were the best ever, planning on 8 racks 4th of July weekend!!

 

[DivotMaker]

Ribs have become my favorite thing to smoke once I quit chasing the smoke ring and mohogany color, the last ones I did I swore they were the best ever, planning on 8 racks 4th of July weekend!!

8 racks?  Nice!  Go big, or go home, right Jim?!  lol.  Yep, that smoke ring had me for awhile, too, but didn't take long to realize how unimportant it is to great Q!