Thank you! Taste great! Ta dah!
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Wowza!
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Dang! Perfect. I don’t think I need smellivision to get a clue to that smell.
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Those look wonderful. I was all set to smoke ribs for the fourth, but the deluge that hit the Hill Country put an end to that idea. I rubbed them with some Gates KC and cooked them at 325F for four hours. Half an hour before they were done, they got a brushing of HEB Carolina sauce. They were delicious but would have been immeasurably better smoked.
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I’ve got two racks of St. Louis ribs in the fridge that I lathered with a Cambodian-style paste (ginger, garlic, salt, sugar, fish and soy sauces, and black pepper). Mrs. ricepad and I don’t eat enough ribs these days to justify purchasing a cryopac of two racks, but we learned yesterday that Spawn2 and Son-in-Law are coming home tomorrow, and they love ribs. Since today is the last day of my regular store’s sale on them, I pulled the trigger on a package - $2.25/lb.
I trimmed the two racks of spares myself into St. Louis cuts and salvaged just over 5 lbs of scraps to be used for something else. Of that 5 lbs, four are mostly boneless and will probably be used in some kind of stir-fry application, while the remaining pound is the brisket bones that will be the basis for soup this Fall or Winter. I neglected to take pix, but maybe I’ll remember to take some when I load them into the cooker tomorrow. My mouth is watering at the thought.
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Gorgeous! Not sure what kind of "cooker* you mean and wondering; what temperature was that?
It’s a Char-Broil Silver Smoker offset cooker. I’ve made a couple of modifications to make it more efficient and even out the heat. You can just barely see one of them in the photos, which is a can that is on the bottom of the chimney that extends it down to the level of the grate. Straight out of the box, the bottom of the chimney is several inches above the cooking grate, which means that a lot of heat isn’t getting put to use at the level of the food, but I fitted a can from which I’d removed the top and bottom, so the upper half of the cooking chamber stays hotter. The second modification is a simple baffle between the firebox and the cooking chamber. You would recognize the baffle from it’s previous life: an aluminum pie plate. I just propped it up against the opening to force the air coming out of the firebox to swirl more as it entered the cooking chamber. This cooker has served me faithfully for probably 20-25 years. I’d like to get a Traeger, but I can’t justify the expense if this sucker continues to work so damn well.
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That sounds pretty cool, and those ribs look awesome! Can you tell what temperature you were cooking at! I love the color!
It ranged from 275F to 300F for the whole cook. Didn’t have to fiddle with the air intake this time at all. That’s not always the case, though - sometimes I have to open it up or close it down, but yesterday I hit the sweet spot for the fire.
ETA: I usually just use Kingsford briquettes for fuel, with a good sized chunk of fruit wood for smoke. Still have a little of the apple tree we cut down a couple of years ago. When that’s gone, I’ll probably see if the local cherry grower will give me some of their larger prunings or even a culled tree from which I can take branches.
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Honestly, I noticed the can before the ribs, even. Thanks for answering my question before it got asked. Those look delectable.
My kind of family!!
Ah, well, Mrs. ricepad doesn’t clean the bones off that well, but we’re kinda like the Sprats: I clean up after her.
I have to laugh. 45 years ago, when my grandmother died, someone brought a HUGE pile of smoked ribs to her house. My cousin (female) and I were the only ones there at the time. Everyone else was at the funeral home. So … we ate ALL OF THEM.
We disposed of the bones evidence …
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It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that I could polish off an entire rack of St. Louis spares by myself, but the older I get, the less it takes to get me stuffed. After four bones, I’m pleasantly full, and a fifth bone will make me uncomfortable. The sad result is that I don’t make ribs as often as I used to, because it takes us too long to finish off two racks (which is how I usually buy them).
I hope the house didn’t smell of the ribs to give you away!
They were already cooked. We ate them at room temperature; we were hungry, not picky. 
You and me both. 18 YOA, full rack, no problem. 56, acid reflux, 4 bones and I’m full. I don’t do buffets any more, and enjoy more modest portions these days.
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Maybe this is why I only do baby back ribs at home. Just in the oven - I live in a condo. The Fire Departmnet would frown on a smoker. …
