Frustration - Bitter Ribs??

Little Steven

I couldn't read it when I copied it. There are thousands of versions out there. Wasn't meant to be a church comment

Nature Boy

Mastro said:

Hi Everyone,

I cant think of a better way to describe my experiences cooking ribs other than frustration.  The first time i tried it... the most amazing, best tasting ever, but since the hit/miss.  I'm using the Mike's 3-2-1 method @ 225-250 (at the dome) and at those temps i sometimes encounter bitter tasting ribs.  My process is as follows:  cleaning out the egg (taking out he rings, etc), saving some of the left over lump, then adding new Royal Oak lump above the used.  I add 2 green egg fire starts and let it burn with the dome open for at least 30 minutes.  I then add chunks of hickory or peach and close the dampener down to sliver/slightly open, add the plate setter, pop on the grate, and let the temp stabilize at about 225.  I then add the ribs.  Where am i going wrong?  The ribs have a the taste of what the lump smells like when i first start it up (also it seems that smell is slightly present during the cook).  Do you think it's the Royal Oak - I'm using a bag that i had for a while (i stocked up when they went on sale at Walmart)? Should i let it burn for an hour before adding the ribs?  Even then there's still unburnt lump, so my thought is the unburnt lump will still give off that bitter smoke?  Has anyone had an issue with bitter ribs or have insight as to why this occurs?  if so, please describe your solution.

Greatly appreciative!!! 

Mike

Howdy Mike. 

A bit late I know, but have read the responses, and generally good advice from these good people. As was said, if the smoke smells good, you are good, and that is the bottom line. Everyone has their technique, and you'll learn a lot by reading how everyone is doing it. There are a lot of roads to getting good smelling smoke, and the quality of charcoal and the wood is important, but it really comes down to time. And that time depends where you are…how much moisture in the air and in the fuel you are burning. Over 15 years cooking on  the EGG, and 11 years of competing, I've come up with my own technique, and I like it…and I always get clean smoke. I have never really taken time to explain on the forum, so here goes…hope it helps in some way, because over smoked food really is a downer.

I like to start with a clean firebox and add a few pieces of charcoal….say, a large soup bowl, or both of your hands cupped in a bowl shape….if you have big hands . I use 1/2 of a BGE firestarter….sometimes a whole one. I lay a lit firestarter in the middle, and pile a few pieces of charcoal around it without smothering the flame. I leave the lid open….1/2 firestarter only takes about 5-10 minutes to burn off. Then I close the lid, open the vents wide, and let the EGG get up to whatever temp it gets up to. Usually around 400 with that small load of charcoal. Never hurts to start with a hot EGG. When all the charcoal is glowing bright orange, I lay on 2-3 large fist sized chunks of good hard seasoned wood, then promptly cover up with new charcoal. For ribs, about half a firebox.

Then I close down the vents to where I'd normally cook at 300, and wait. At competitions, this is when I go walk around and talk to the other teams. The temp will drop to 200 or less after I add all that new charcoal, and will slowly come up to temp (I agree with the folks that like to cook at 250 or more). So it will spew nasty smoke for a while, then at one point (depends on many factors but is usually at least 30 minutes and up to an hour), you will see thin blue smoke that smells incredible.

A bit long winded, but it is what I have settled on and thought it may be worth sharing. As I mentioned, there are many ways to clean smoke…and this is just one. 

Maybe there is a chance that this technique will receive a name, as many other contributors have experienced when sharing techniques….if so, I'd like to call it the Nature Boy technique

Heee!!

Happy cookin

Chris