Ah the joy of finally using my Smoker! I have been wanting to try this for ages and finally this Memorial Day weekend presented the perfect opportunity.
So I bought a rack of Baby Back Ribs and a good size Chicken. I cleaned out the Chicken and took off the silver skin at the back of the ribs. I liberally used a blend of spices on both. For the Chicken I used a Lemon Rub, for the Ribs I used a Mesquite Rub. I didn't "rub" into the meat, just liberally coated both on all sides. I then covered each in saran wrap and put them in the fridge overnight.
Now for the smoker. As this was the first time I used it, the manufacturer recommended giving it a good 2 hours "smoke" time to season the smoker at a temp of 200-220, just for the first time using it. In the smoker box to the side, I used a combination of charcoal and Mesquite chunks to fire it up, and then just let it smoke away with the vents 1/4 ways open, as recommended. All the while keeping an eye on it to make sure the temp was steady. Whenever the temp would start to go down, I would just add another piece of Mesquite chunk. It was actually so cool, because I was able to watch the temp gage from my window, so I didn't have to go out in the heat too much.
In the meantime just before I was ready to smoke, I took out both the Chicken and the Ribs to allow them to come to room temperature. Once the two hours of pre smoking were up, I brought both of them out and placed them in the main section of the smoker. I then opened the vents half way as recommended and kept a temp of 220-250. From then on I literally just had to keep checking the temp, which I have to say was really constant from that point and made it to where I didn't' have to do too much. Now that's what I call AWESOME!
* I had inadvertently forgotten to charge my camera, so I used my iPhone, the pictures were not always the greatest. So this is the closest picture I could find that actually looked like my Smoked Chicken. Please check out this guys awesome blog!
I had to add the odd chunk and odd charcoal here and there however, really it was surprisingly easy. I checked the meat every hour and after about 2 hours the Chicken was done and boy it looked and smelled delicious! It tasted even better. I have to say it is the best Chicken I have ever had lol. Seriously, it was that good!
The ribs took a little longer and I noticed that the end near the smoker box was getting slightly darker than I would like, so for future reference, I would definitely use Aluminum foil on the ribs half way through cooking time. However, the mid section and the other end tasted divine! You can definitely use some mop sauce here, before putting Aluminum foil on, or later for dipping but they where awesome as they where. I love ribs and I would totally recommend this way of cooking them to every rib fan.
We had sides to go with these but I can tell you, we where picking at these two mouth watering meats before they even got plated, YUMMY! So if you get the chance try this out. You don't have to have a smoker like I have of course, you can either by a small smoker box, or just make one up for use in your oven. Either way, if you love BBQ ribs/chicken, this is the next step, along with a chilled Margaretta!
So I bought a rack of Baby Back Ribs and a good size Chicken. I cleaned out the Chicken and took off the silver skin at the back of the ribs. I liberally used a blend of spices on both. For the Chicken I used a Lemon Rub, for the Ribs I used a Mesquite Rub. I didn't "rub" into the meat, just liberally coated both on all sides. I then covered each in saran wrap and put them in the fridge overnight.
Now for the smoker. As this was the first time I used it, the manufacturer recommended giving it a good 2 hours "smoke" time to season the smoker at a temp of 200-220, just for the first time using it. In the smoker box to the side, I used a combination of charcoal and Mesquite chunks to fire it up, and then just let it smoke away with the vents 1/4 ways open, as recommended. All the while keeping an eye on it to make sure the temp was steady. Whenever the temp would start to go down, I would just add another piece of Mesquite chunk. It was actually so cool, because I was able to watch the temp gage from my window, so I didn't have to go out in the heat too much.
In the meantime just before I was ready to smoke, I took out both the Chicken and the Ribs to allow them to come to room temperature. Once the two hours of pre smoking were up, I brought both of them out and placed them in the main section of the smoker. I then opened the vents half way as recommended and kept a temp of 220-250. From then on I literally just had to keep checking the temp, which I have to say was really constant from that point and made it to where I didn't' have to do too much. Now that's what I call AWESOME!
* I had inadvertently forgotten to charge my camera, so I used my iPhone, the pictures were not always the greatest. So this is the closest picture I could find that actually looked like my Smoked Chicken. Please check out this guys awesome blog!
I had to add the odd chunk and odd charcoal here and there however, really it was surprisingly easy. I checked the meat every hour and after about 2 hours the Chicken was done and boy it looked and smelled delicious! It tasted even better. I have to say it is the best Chicken I have ever had lol. Seriously, it was that good!
The ribs took a little longer and I noticed that the end near the smoker box was getting slightly darker than I would like, so for future reference, I would definitely use Aluminum foil on the ribs half way through cooking time. However, the mid section and the other end tasted divine! You can definitely use some mop sauce here, before putting Aluminum foil on, or later for dipping but they where awesome as they where. I love ribs and I would totally recommend this way of cooking them to every rib fan.
We had sides to go with these but I can tell you, we where picking at these two mouth watering meats before they even got plated, YUMMY! So if you get the chance try this out. You don't have to have a smoker like I have of course, you can either by a small smoker box, or just make one up for use in your oven. Either way, if you love BBQ ribs/chicken, this is the next step, along with a chilled Margaretta!
"It is better to have burnt and lost,
then never to have barbecued at all"
- William Shakespeare
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