Since we moved to Pasadena, I've been working on improving my grilling skills, but I've also been wanting a smoker. Gus' in South Pas, Robin's in Pasadena, Bonnie B's Smokin in Pasadena, and California Smokin in LA, even that episode on Kitchen Nightmares where Gordon goes to that smokehouse - those places all got me intrigued by the idea of smoking different meats.
Last night, we put together a dry rub and got it on the ribs, and put it in the fridge. Knowing the long cook time, I woke up at 7 to get going on this long process.
LIGHTING THE COALS
For grilling, I've got the convenience of a propane grill, but with charcoal, I've gotten pretty good at lighting as long as I've got lighter fluid. Apparently, with smoking, you shouldn't use lighter fluid, so I tried without it for about an hour (no exaggeration). That didn't work. Had to go to Home Depot and buy these Weber Lighter Cubes. These things are awesome, don't need paper or anything, and they don't mess with the taste supposedly.
COOKING
Put one rack of ribs on the top grate, one rack on the bottom, and began letting the time pass. I put together two "Mops" but both with an apple cider vinegar base, and experimented with the two ribs.
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TEMPERATURE
I thought the difficulty would be keeping the temperature down, but in fact, it was the opposite. After a couple hours, my charcoal was really on the downfall. Had to throw in another Lighter Cube with several batches of coal to keep the thing at the "smoke" temperature.
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After about 4 hours and 30 mins, I decided it was time to stop watching, and start eating. I took the ribs out, and whaddya know? Success.
It wasn't dry, and it wasn't raw...and to add to that, it actually tasted pretty good.
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Can't wait to try the tri tip haha. After that will probably be salmon?
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