July 4, 2005
Go Long, U.
This smoke is going to go longer than I planned. No big deal since It’s just dinner for me. The mega mart had half of rack of pork spareribs, the big end with the flap and the chine bone. About 6 bones wide.. I rubbed them down last night. I Fired up the charcoal at 4:00 PM and the smoker was running 259 on the grate. I did not expect that high a temperature. I put the candy thermometer in the top vent and it reads 245. Odd difference, but it’s only BBQ. I Closed the bottom vents, put the meat on. The grate temperature has been 224-233 . I was planning to take them off at 9:00PM but that time has past. Another flashlight cooking session.
I made the BBQ beans and baked some white bread yesterday so there’s not much to do while waiting. So I cruised the BBQ message boards and the internet opinion is that spares take longer than baby backs and it doesn’t matter whether it’s 4 pounds or 20 pounds. Which make sense but my brain isn’t wired to accept that. Small amounts should could cook quicker than large ones, right? A resounding maybe not! It’s a matter of surface area and density if the heat is constant. The ratio of meat area and meat density a consistent heated air for a half rack of ribs is close to the same as say four full racks since the air volume is kind of almost infinite. Obviously one pound will cook faster than 20 lbs cook (in 1/20th the time)
Just for fun and because the price was right, I tried smoking corn on the cobb. Two ears, two ways. Pull the husk back, remove the silk and tie the husks back together at the top. Second way is to remove the husk and silk, rub the cob in a bit of olive oil. I’ll bet either way is tasty and I’ll find out if there is a difference. Time to baste the ribs and check on the corn. Oh, my. I’m going to miss 10:00 PM too.
[Results] The naked corn, the one with out the husk was serious over cooked. The one with the husks was tender and had just the right amount of smoke flavor made it way past the husks. Now I know.