First Cook - Still have some learning to do......

Did my first cook tonight, and while for the most part it went ok, I still have some things to learn, which is OK, as I plan on having this for the rest of my life.

So I won an Egg from Knob Creek Bourbon this year, and finally received the egg and got some time to put it together.  Even had a little helper.....


Decided on doing some St. Louis style ribs as a first cook.  Forgot to take some photos before hand of prepping - which I am sort of kicking myself, as I think it might explain some of the issues that I had.  The bone side seemed to have some extra fat/grisel/meat? towards one end, which I haven't seen in others photos.  So maybe it was a bad selection of meat. (Potential issue #1).  I did pull off the membrane, but it was only on what appeared to be 2/3 of the ribs.  Again wondering if it was a bad selection of meat or I was suppose to cut off some additional meat.

Wanted to keep it low and slow (did 3-2-1 method) as I knew the day was going to be hectic - which may be issue # 2.  I was able to get it going and up to a somewhat consistent temperature between 200 and 225.  Threw in a couple pieces of cherry as well.  Of course in the excitement of it all, I forgot to put the drip pan in.  So maybe 40 minutes into it and doing yard work/chasing a little one around, I realized this and threw it in after taking the grate and ribs off.  The temp of course fell, and in an effort to get it back up, I started playing around with the vents.  (Maybe I should have given it more time and  just let it readjust itself instead of trying to rush it - Mistake #3?)  It did finally settle down after it started spiking above 275.

For the remainder of the first leg, I think I was doing ok.  Temps seemed consistent, and the smell was amazing.  Did a Dizzy Pig rub that was rubbed in on the bone side.  Meat side was yellow mustard, and a liberal amount of Dizzy Pig rubbed on.  I was running around and not always keeping an eye on it.  But as I stated, the temps seemed to be doing ok any time I came back to it.


For the second leg, I wrapped up the ribs in some foil, and got them back on.  Once again, I played with the vents a little in an effort to try and get it back up, as it seemed to be stuck below 200.  Of course you adjust things, walk away, and come back to find it is now 300+.  Back to adjusting.  I think I just need to learn that it will come back to the temperature that you want, I just have to give it some more time.  During that time, we were doing some family Christmas photos, which forced me to take my eye off it and not check on it as often.  So I am not sure how long it was sitting at the 300+ mark as we were busy for about 45-60 minutes.  Once I got it settled down and was sticking around it more, it seemed to be fine.  Again, started learning to just leave it alone and it will do its thing.

Last leg, the temp stayed right where we want it to be (225 +/-) and I threw some Sweet Baby Rays on.  Everything looked and smelt amazing.  Even cracked open a new bottle of bourbon to help celebrate the ocassion.


Let the ribs rest for about 5-10 minutes, and dished up.


I thought they looked good.  I thought the flavor was amazing.  The texture was a different story, and almost seemed chewy.  They weren't melt off the bone (though I have read in the professional competitions, this is not wanted.)  There also seemed to be a lot of cartilage, or gristle at the ends (not where the bone is protruding).  Again not sure if this was a bad selection of ribs.  Which if that is the case, what do you look for when picking out ribs?  Did I not trim the ribs enough?  Granted I don't read too much about trimming a lot off the ribs.  It seems to be more about the membrane.  Were the ribs just not on long enough?  I did do the bend test, and did get some cracking - more on the thinner side, than thicker side.  Maybe they just weren't done enough yet.  Finally, I didn't have water or anything in the drip pan - some people seem to put something in, others I thought I read or took as they left it dry.  Maybe that was the issue.

Either way, it was a good first learning experience.  Hope to learn more from the forum, and feedback.  Especially considering I had never smoked anything before.  I can also see where having something like an iGrill that could alert you to spikes or drops (I think it does that) could be helpful or allow you to venture off a little bit more.  Looking forward to the feedback/comments.