Poor ribs

BajaTom

Did 5 slabs of St. Louis style ribs the other day. Cooked at 250 to 260 dome temp indirect straight through for 5 hours. They came out moist and tender but had a very acrid flavor. I did not clean out my old lump just added fresh lump before lighting. Put 3 pieces of hickory on for a smoke flavor. Ther was not too much smoke and it was fairly clear. They were eatable but the flavor was off. Could anyone provide feedback? They were fresh from our local Schnucks. Thanks, Tom.

Rumrunner

BajaTom, all natural ribs? No enhancements, brines or injections from the packers?

stike

BajaTom,
how long was the fire established before putting them on? did you light with wax cubes? anything funky?[p]

BajaTom

Rumrunner,
All natural and no solutions added. The ribs were good and fresh. I did slather with yellow mustard. I've never done that before with ribs. I've always slathered my butts with yellow mustard. I did use off the shelf rubs but I've used the same rubs before on ribs and butts. I just don't know. Thanks, Tom.

BabyBoomBBQ

BajaTom,[p]Humm, I expreienced this during a pizza cook once. I fired up left over lump & realized I needed more fuel. So, I added lump over the burning stuff. Cooked the pizza with horrible results. My guess is I didn't let the fire "burn clean" to get rid of the VOC's and dust. Now, I always remove old lump to a sifter bucket, put fresh in the BGE and add the old lump on top. I light the old stuff and let the fire stabalize for at least 30 minutes before adding wood or food. Next time you fire up a load of fresh lump, take note of the smell when it's first getting started. It seems more acrid at the start. (I use Royal Oak and BGE Brand.) I also make sure I don't use any wood chunks or chips that are mostly bark. HTH.

BajaTom

stike,
I use a starter stick form a local grocery store. I've used the same stick for the last 2 years. I do not wait more than a 10 minutes after the fire dies down to put the food on the egg. I stabilize the egg while in the cooking process. Thanks, Tom

BajaTom

BabyBoomBBQ ,
The new lump on top of old may be the problem. I usually put to much lump in my egg. I don't burn off the old lump often enough. I guess I need to change my ways. I'm too old to change but I can't have bad ribs again so change is comming. Thanks, Tom

Unknown

BajaTom,[p]Three chunks of hickory is too much for my taste. However, I've had ribs turn almost black having just a couple chunks of wood that didn't burn clean. Also, there's going to be a lot of fat dripping from five slabs of spares. If it was dripping on some hot coals, that can create nasty smoke too.

stike

BajaTom,
hmmm[p]you might want to wait a bit longer, because that wax/parrafin stuff can smolder like the bejeezus if it loses it's active flame.[p]i did that once. lit the wax starter cube, it had a good flame, i came out, saw smoke and thought i was the owner of a good fire. putting the food on at that time exposed it to the smoke from the starter, which is REALLY acrid and tastes exactly like you described.[p]not trying to tell you your bizniss, but you MAY want to let the fire go a bit longer, especially smoking, to ensure a clean burning fire (giving the starter time to burn off) .[p]i have very small chunks of starter stuff, maybe a quarte size, and they take ten to 15 minutes to burn away. if i shut the lid while they are igniting, and they go out, they will smolder for a half hour.[p]how big is the starter stick? you don't need anything migger than one or two quarter sized peices to light for a lo-and-slo. if you are using the whole stick, i bet that what you tasted was the smoke from that thing.

fishlessman

BajaTom,
ive had that happen when there was too much moisture in the old lump, also hickory is a bit harsh for me, i like to add some fruit wood like cherry in with the hickory, actually about 2/3rds fruitwood

BabyBoomBBQ

BajaTom,[p]Sure thing. Just to be clear, I seldom burn all of a load. I shut the egg down and store the remaining lump in the egg. I use the leftover on top of new after I have sifted it. I find the old stuff lights faster. Happy Eggin'!

Unknown

BajaTom, You didn't say how big these chunks were but I am still guessing you got too much hickory smoke on them. Was there any leftover hickory chunks mixed in with the old lump from your last cook?[p]If those hickory chunks are green and contain mainly outer and inner bark, they also contain a lot of tannins. These tannins are what can give hickory an acrid smoke. The amount of tannins in the wood dissipates as it seasons.[p]Lager,[p]Juggy

tach18k

BajaTom, ten minutes seems like a short time to have the Egg ready for food, even at 250 dome. I alwasy wait for about 20 minutes to let the temp stablize.

tach18k

BajaTom,
I always put new on old, never have a taste problem

BajaTom

Juggy D Beerman,
I went ahead and burnt off all the lump because of the taste of the ribs. I did not look to see if there was any left over hickory. Thanks, Tom

stike

BajaTom,
new lump isn't the problem, because we often put in a fresh load for lo-and-slo cooks, and the majority of that lump is not lit when the food goes on.[p]i think the problem is the food going on while those starter sticks are burning (or smoldering)