Barrel cooker

fishindoc

So my wife got me a barrel cooker for my birthday.  I hung 3 slabs of ribs and admittedly they were a tad overcooked. 2hrs at 275 then wrapped for an hour. I found they were dry compared to my kamado ribs. So then I tried 1hr hung and 1 hr wrapped at 275 and they were slightly undercooked but still a little dry. Anybody else find this to be true or have a remedy? I did enjoy the smokey flavor I must say. Thanks in advance

lkapigian

Dry probably undercooked unless they just crumbled off the bone

Did they pull back from the bone? Bend Test? How much meat on the bone when you took a bite

Overcooked ribs fall apart, not usually dry

SSQUAL612

Paging @SoCalTim  I think he has experience cooking ribs on a PBC.  

HoustonEgger

I've done ribs on my PBC and they came out over done/falling off the bone but not dry. I suspect you might be cooking at higher then 275 or need to go lower then that. I shut my air draft down as much as possible for mine and managed to have them going around 250.

fishindoc

HoustonEgger said:

I've done ribs on my PBC and they came out over done/falling off the bone but not dry. I suspect you might be cooking at higher then 275 or need to go lower then that. I shut my air draft down as much as possible for mine and managed to have them going around 250.

So how long did you end up cooking then at the 250? And did you wrap?

lousubcap

Don't know the type of barrel cooker you have but I have a PBC (and have not measured cook temp).   Just this last weekend I cooked 4 racks of baby backs on it.  (Too lazy for playing with sticks).  Even with the intake more open than suggested for my elevation they took around 4.5 hours to finish.  (Running long compared to the advertised ball-park time frames is consistent for me).  I used the tooth-pick test for the win and they turned out great.  As above, @Ikapigian has a good summary of texture relative to the cook process.  FWIW-

fishindoc

lkapigian said:

Dry probably undercooked unless they just crumbled off the bone

Did they pull back from the bone? Bend Test? How much meat on the bone when you took a bite

Overcooked ribs fall apart, not usually dry

The first cook they were falling apart done and I thought they were dry...the second cook they weren't quite done. They had bite on the bone but the bone didnt come clean. If I pulled the bones apart it was a little tough to pull them apart. They could have used another 30 mins I suspect but even those were a tad  dry. I'm using Hunsaker smoker with the hybrid rack. That puts the ribs out on the outer edge hanging...maybe I need to try the regular hanging rods that hang over the vortex plate which would make it a little more of an indirect cook?

HeavyG

I've hung ribs (just baby backs) in my WSM many many times and they have always been fine.

HoustonEgger

fishindoc said:

HoustonEgger said:

I've done ribs on my PBC and they came out over done/falling off the bone but not dry. I suspect you might be cooking at higher then 275 or need to go lower then that. I shut my air draft down as much as possible for mine and managed to have them going around 250.

So how long did you end up cooking then at the 250? And did you wrap?

4.5-5 hours - straight through - no wrapping

DoubleEgger

@Jeremiah

Jeremiah

I’ve had similar results. Good ribs are much easier to obtain in the egg. The pit barrel is great for whole chicken and tri tips though. 

Jeremiah

And turkey. Killer turkey. 

fishindoc

Perhaps then I shall plan on doing my ribs in the egg unless I have to do lots of slabs and do chickens and poultry in the barrel. Anyone done a brisket in the barrel hot and fast?

lousubcap

@fishindoc - You must be able to adjust/regulate temperature in the barrel you have.  Have at the hot and fast brisket and let us know how it goes.  @Mickey has done a turbo brisket on the BGE with great results.  FYI-
Search function for more info.  

blasting

fishindoc said:

Perhaps then I shall plan on doing my ribs in the egg unless I have to do lots of slabs and do chickens and poultry in the barrel. Anyone done a brisket in the barrel hot and fast?

Not hot and fast, but low and slow brisket's done in the UDS are tough to beat.  Some of my best results in butts and briskets have come out of the barrel.

fishindoc

blasting said:

fishindoc said:

Perhaps then I shall plan on doing my ribs in the egg unless I have to do lots of slabs and do chickens and poultry in the barrel. Anyone done a brisket in the barrel hot and fast?

Not hot and fast, but low and slow brisket's done in the UDS are tough to beat.  Some of my best results in butts and briskets have come out of the barrel.

You get the charcoal to last long enough to do a 10-12 hr brisket cook?

fishindoc

So...to report in. I did some more slabs today. 250 for 3 hrs..then wrapped with a mop sauce at 250 for another hr then sauced and carmelized for bout 10 mins. Absolutely delicious...juicy..done...smokey. Kingsford professional briquettes with 2 large apple chunks. Seems dialing back the temp and going a little longer is the key...for me at least. Oh..baby backs btw

fishindoc

blasting

fishindoc said:

blasting said:

fishindoc said:

Perhaps then I shall plan on doing my ribs in the egg unless I have to do lots of slabs and do chickens and poultry in the barrel. Anyone done a brisket in the barrel hot and fast?

Not hot and fast, but low and slow brisket's done in the UDS are tough to beat.  Some of my best results in butts and briskets have come out of the barrel.

You get the charcoal to last long enough to do a 10-12 hr brisket cook?

Yep, no problem - I went almost 20 hours without refilling once.