fire brick set up

Unknown

when useing large bge to do ribs .would you take out ring and place grid on and put ring back on grid. place fire bricks on grid with drip pan on bricks and then put your 18 1/2 grid on top of the pan? i hope this makes sense.

Char-Woody

mike k, you can and its been done that way via Jslot and others..Depends on how many ribs your gonna cook. Tell us more about what your attempting and we will go from there.
C~W....and welcome to the forum Mike K...

Unknown

Char-Woody,
i am going to do two fresh slabs of spare ribs fri. so i thought i would try the set up with the fire bricks and since i have that many ribs ,thought i would put ribs in v- rack

Char-Woody

mike k, I did some spares the other day similar to what your doing with out a v rib rack.[p]Setup as follows"
3 firebrick flat on a cheap spare grill
2 firebricks setting on edge to support a second grill
1 drip pan foil lined on the flat firebricks
Add liquid..(any kind) to the pan.
Set second grill on the firebricks on edge.
Cut the spares in half and set them on the second grill directly over the drip pan. and lean then with the thick butts up against each other so they form a TeePee inverted V shape.
I pinned mine with long bamboo sticks to hold em together at the tops. Leaning is fine too. I use the slots in the grill to help position the ribs.
No need to flip flop or mess with the ribs or even open the dome.
Run dome temps at 225F and no higher than 250F for 5 hours.
My ribs were simply dry rubbed and olive oil sprayed to hold the rubs ..and that was it...Delicious..
Have fun...
C~W

Tim M

<p />mike k,[p]That rig should work. You said you would put the upper grid on the drip pan. Unless you have a tall one, the grid should rest on the ring you placed back in on the now lower grid. As Woody said, J-slot has a method posted where he does this with a pizza stone. It not the only way to do ribs and I wouldn't suggest it but......... [p]How many racks are you planning to do? I have seen pictures of Mr. Toad and Jslot doing 10+ racks in an Egg. I have done 6 racks a few times and I do mine direct at 220-250 deg when doing more than a couple racks. [p]Tim

Unknown

Tim M,

Unknown

Tim M,
hey tim i have checked out your site and also char woody and have gotten a lot of help and good ideas. thanks alot. mike k

Unknown

Char-Woody,
hey char woody, that sounds good and i think i will try that.did you go indirect the whole time? thanks alot for the info. you and tim m have some great ideas.
mike k

Char-Woody

mike k, yes, this is indirect..!

Unknown

mike k,
my ??? was did you go indirect the whole time???? no foil wrap after three hours ???? no direct for the last 1/2 hour???

Unknown

mike k,
hey c-w this is my first try with the fire bricks!! they really make a big difference in your draft settings !! i put the ribs on at 1:00 pm and have the daisy open 1/2 way and bottom all the way and it seems to be staying at 200 deg. i did put the ribs on at room temp. but i also put a wet wood chunk of hickory or two with some wet chips also.

sprinter

mike k,[p]Just got into this thread but with the firebricks the temps are a little bit more constant with that much ceramic mass. BUT BEWARE that with the firebricks the meat sits a LOT higher in the dome. Make sure that your thermometer is not actually stuck into the meat and your fire is blazinghot underneath it. Just a thought, now I'll go back and read the rest of the thread.[p]Troy

sprinter

sprinter,[p]Yep, read the rest of the thread now. PLEASE check to see that the dome thermometer is not stuck into one of the racks of ribs. I'd hate to see a good batch of ribs turn into charcoal.[p]By the way, I wasnt that clear in the post about the ceramic mass a second ago. It takes a while longer to reach your desired temp with that much mass in the egg, i.e. the indirect setup with firebricks. However, its also a much more STABLE temperature once its set. That mass works like insulation and keeps the spikes and lulls in the fire to a minimum and the temp stays constant. It shouldnt actually effect the amount of bottom or top vent that you have open, my temp settings are the same direct or indirect. It just takes awhile longer to get to the desired temp indirect. Hope this is more clear. [p]Troy

Char-Woody

mike k, yuppers...indirect the entire cook..:-)

Unknown

mike k, you did good..now I have to see what friend Troy said..:-)[p]

Char-Woody

sprinter, right on...nothing to add. You did good too..
Hey..I just whupped up some Andama dough for a bread cook on the BGE this afternoon..A first try on that one.
C~W[p]

Nature Boy

sprinter, Great points. Just to add on. [p]If you get too hot with a lot of ceramic mass, it takes forever to get temps back down. If you close the vents down to slits to try and bring the temp down, you risk the fire going out...and you wouldn't know it for some time, as the extra ceramic takes lots of time to cool. A couple tips to getting good steady temps when using mass (IMO) are:[p]When using mass for low cooks do not allow temps to get too hot. To avoid this, allow plenty of time for a slow heatup of the ceramics, keep your vent settings small, and make small individual adjustments as you hone in on your target temps. [p]Just my Friday afternoon two cents worth!
Great weekend to ya!
NB

sprinter

Char-Woody,[p]Sounds good. I've cooked some bagels and a lot of sourdough but never Andama (anadama? not sure) I love that whole grain earthy stuff, doesnt anadama have corn meal in it? Just flour and water in bread dont catch it for me, gotta have some "stuff" in there to sink yer teeth into. I love sunflour seeds, heavy whole grain wheat flour, sauted onions and some shreaded parmesan cheese, man thats good bread then. Good luck with it.[p]Troy

Char-Woody

sprinter, shucks.. I thought I had ya stumped...your right it has 3/4 cup of cornmeal to 1.5 cups of white unbleached and 1.5 cups of whole wheat. You know your breads, but I already knew that..heeeeeyaaa.
I gotta teach NB how to cool down a hot BGE...Easy do.
I hope Mike K comes back so we can let him know when his indirect cook is done..Hey Mike..at 5 hours you should be able to split the middle rib bones with meat shrunk about 3/4" from the tips of the small end bone. They should tear apart easily..if not then add more time till they do. There is no exact time as all ribs are different..I think. Could be??
Cheers..C~W[p]

Fireball

sprinter,
Here is one recipe:

ANADAMA BREAD[p]2 c. water
1/2 c. corn meal
2 T. butter
1/2 c. dark molasses
2 t. salt
2 pkg dry granular yeast
1/2 c. lukewarm water
1 T. sugar
6 c. flour
1/4 c. warm melted butter[p]Boil the 2 cups water and gradually add the corn meal in a slow
stream, stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth. Add 2 T.
butter, the molasses and salt; let stand until lukewarm. Add the
yeast to the 1/2 cup lukewarm water, sprinkle with sugar, cover
and let stand until foaming and doubled in volume. Add to corn
meal mixture. Stir in the flour, gradually, just enough to make
a stiff dough. Knead well for 10 minutes. Place in a warm greased
bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Cut through dough
several times with a knife. Cover and let rise again for 45 minutes
until doubled in bulk. Toss lightly on a floured board. Knead
and mold into two loaves.[p]Place in greased and lightly floured bread pans. Cover and let
rise again until doubled in bulk. Bake in a 400 degree oven for
20 minutes; reduce heat to 375 degrees and continue to bake until
the loaves are golden brown. Brush bread with warm melted butter
and turn on sides on a cooling rack to cool.
Fireball[p]
[p]

sprinter

Char-Woody,[p]I do know my breads, its a passion, or obsession, however you want to characterize it. Nothing like the smell of fresh cooked bread in the house.[p]I have a whole pork loin on tap this evening. Nothing special, just rubbed it down last night and plan on about 2 hours at 325-350. As usual, tons of cherry wood to smoke 'er up good. This is an unplanned treat for us, we had planned on ribs tomorrow night and still do, they just had these on sale at the grocery store last night so what the heck. Lunches are set for the next week too with some sammiches from the leftovers.[p]Have a great weekend, hope the bread turns out for you also, egged bread is special no doubt.[p]Troy

sprinter

Fireball,[p]Sounds like it may be a winner. I've typically seen them with more cornmeal and less flour, and a mix of wheat and white flours too, this would be a little bit lighter. May ahve to give this one a shot, always looking for the ultimate bread recipe. Thanks[p]Troy

Unknown

Char-Woody,
cool!!! you have been a big help. i can not wait to dig in. it is almost time.

Char-Woody

sprinter, yer heating up my appetite..Bread just went on the bricks..4:02 P.M..!

Char-Woody

Fireball, thats pretty close to this one..small variations.
Good recipe. I find out in about a hour with this one.
C~W[p]

mocha

sprinter,
thanks for the tip. i would have hated to see those ribs like charcoal too. i did check to see if the thermometer was stuck in a rib and it was not but close. it just took awhile to get stable like you said. once stable the draft openings were about the same. thanks again ,got to run it is about time to eat those ribs!!!!!

Char-Woody

mike k, they should be reaching a nice mahogany look exterior and the meat shrunk down from the bone..When they are ripe..you can rip the center bone right out. These will be a bit drier than a mop..and if you want em more moist put some sauce on em for another half hour or so.[p]

Unknown

Nature Boy,
thanks , i have found all of these tips to be true.it will take a little practice to perfect this type of cooking .

Char-Woody

mike k, don't forget to sample before you quit the cook. Another tip..
C~W[p]

Unknown

Char-Woody,
wow!!!!!! that was some good eats!!!! hey just wanted to say thanks to you and the others who helped me get through my rookie rib deal. they turned out real well. the fire brick thing was a little different but i think it was helpfull. it will take some time to get used to. i used the jj rub and that was good also. i put just a little sauce on for the last 15 to 20 min. the meat prety much just fell off the bone. thanks again i hope to catch up with you later.
mike k

Char-Woody

mike k, great, and it will get even better as you get the hang of it...Spares are a low and slow steady cook. No rush.
E.mail me if you like with details of what you might like to improve..
bbq-dude@home.com
Char-Woody