What a feast. Thanks, everyone for bearing with me, and I wish I could've had you all over to enjoy together.
with one rack, I did no preparations while the other rack had a spicy rub applied the night before. Both turned out better than I would've expected for my first time. Easily better than the ribs you'd get at diners and even better than some BBQ restaurants.
the meat didn't fall off the bone (my preference), but could be pulled/bitten off cleanly. I'm most proud of seeing the smoke ring.
Some takeaways:
1. I underestimated how long the charcoal would last. One chimney full was plenty and I didn't need to add any new coals. I had to stoke the pile a bit halfway through to better mix the lit coals and the unlit.
2. The ribs ended up being on the grill for 5 hours, 15 minutes. Next time, I'll probably pull the ribs off 20 minutes earlier as I think I lost some juiciness. Some bites were perfection, while others were a bit dry.
3. Use less rub. I covered every speck of meat with rub. I'll probably use 30% less next time.
4. The thermometer is the MVP. If I didn't have that thing, there's no way I would've achieved the same results.
Questions:
1. Did the wood chips make a difference? Do the wood chips assist in the smoking/cooking, or are they just for flavor?
When I first started, for the first 1 hour there was white smoke that escaped every time I pulled off the lid. For the next 4 hours, no smoke. Losing visible smoke worried me, thinking that the coals were dead - that thermometer kept me from doing shit other than adjusting the vents. I ended up adding a second handful of wood chips after 2 hours.
2. When do you guys add the rub - the night before, a couple hours prior, right before throwing the ribs on the grill?