Up to this point there has been a lot of barbecue planning, barbecue calculations, timing of steps in the barbecue process, and just generally getting everything ready to go.
You have been cooking for about an hour or so, tantalizing all your downwind neighbors and guests with that sweet, smoky scent.
They are primed to take a look at the barbeque that is causing all of this wonderful aroma, and if you are going to follow our technique, you are about to pull your meat out of the smoker and wrap it in foil.
Invite them over to take a look, just be advised that they may not leave!
The 1st hour gone, these ribs are ready for the next step! Time to show off a bit!
Invite all those lucky folks who will get to sample your creation, and any that you want to make mad that they aren’t, to take a look at the ribs as the peek their head out for a moment before entering the low and slow cook phase.
Wrap the ribs, or shoulder, or butt, in foil, tend to the fire, and close the door. Your job now consists of entertaining. You get to entertain your guests, preferably fire side, and you get to entertain your smoker, preferably with your friends.
Low and Slow
The “low” refers of course to the need to keep the temperature low – recommend around 225`F – for the next several hours.
For ribs, that could mean keeping the fire steady for 5 more hours or so for a backyard cook, less for a competition cook.
If you are doing a good size butt, you have just started an 18-hour-or-so odyssey!
And I’ll be honest with you – a straight out smoker requires a little bit of continual attention.
I often consider that an advantage – I get to be in one of the places, doing one of the things, often with some of the people, that I love the most! Doesn’t get any better than that!
This is where it becomes helpful to be philosophical about life – remember, it’s about the journey, not the destination
Yes, you get to eat the wonderful creation at the end of the process, but you can easily enjoy the process just as much by surrounding yourself with an enthusiastic group of friends and family.
The main thing you have to worry about on the cook is the temperature. If you have a smoker like the one I have featured on these pages, then you can count on it to maintain a consistent temperature for about 1.5 to 2.5 hours before you will need to add coals and/or wood.
You will probably find out, if you experiment a bit, that the lump charcoal may tend to burn a little hotter than briquettes, and maybe as a consequence it will also not maintain its heat as long as briquettes. That is actually one of the benefits that the briquettes may tout, that they will hold a more consistent temperature, for a longer period – by design.
We do not consider it enough of a benefit to switch from lump to briquettes, but it may be what works best for you.
Get to know your smoker
The better you know it, the better you can gauge how much charcoal or wood to add along the way to maintain the temperature range. Add too much and you get high spikes, too little and you will extend your cooking time.
Ready for the foil, these ribs are well on their way to ‘Low and Slow’.
Too high and you lose the slow fat rendering process that adds so much flavor and tenderness to the meat. Too low and the fat can stay around unrendered. At the end of the
day, the most flavorable end to this journey is found by keeping the temperature close to 225`F. We give ourselves a range from 200`F to 250`F when cycling through charcoal
and wood additions during the cook. In other words, as the fire burns down, your temperature will naturally begin to drop; our advice is to pay close enough attention to keep itfrom getting below 200`F before you add charcoal start it going back up.That does not mean that you wait until 200`F and then add coals. Inside the smoker – remember it is closed during this time! – you have a build up of residual heat. When you open the door, some of that escapes, but the unlit coals will not begin to replace that heat for quite a few minutes. Your existing coals will continue to lose heat for a few minutes as well, so if you wait until you hit 200`F to add anything, you will drop even further before you start the climb back up.
So what if you waited too long
Well, I use a couple of approaches – you can grin and bear it, add the proper amount of coals, and inform your guests that they may need to wait for dinner may be a few more minutes than you said before. Or, you can add a little bit of dry wood to the coals and the flame up will more quickly raise the temperature in the smoker.
Be careful if you do this
You do not want to cause too high a spike and potentially scorch the meat – this flame is even trickier than just overall heat from the charcoal. Flame ups can literally reach much closer to the meat itself and while the overall temperature of the smoker will experience a spike, the meat surface that is closest to the tips of the flame are likely to experience a much higher spike, and not with desirable results.Which leads to the obvious next advice – try not to add so much fuel to the fire that you end up with charcoal to eat! This is not as hard to do as it might seem, especially if you have dipped fairly low and you are trying to correct it. Just remember, you are going to be here a
while, the name of the game is low and slow cooking – if you have undercooked you can always cook a little longer, but if you overcook, you’re done! Get it right and you are ready to wrap in foil and put the meat back in.
A few new pieces of lump charcoal and some wood, we’re ready to close the door and proceed.
A Boston butt in the last quarter of its ‘low and slow’ phase, while a rack of ribs is just getting started.
Closed back up and ready to cook, the smoker begins the ‘Low and Slow’ phase of the cook.
Qpinion: Ceramic charcoal cookers have adistinct difference to smokers in respect to the’Low and Slow’ cook phase. Indeed, one of the beautiful things about ceramic cookers, in myopinion, is that you can load them with good lump charcoal, a little wood, adjust your vents and it will cook for a loooong time on its own, at a consistent temperature – often even for that entire 24 hour period! Sometimes, in today’s hectic world, that can be invaluable. Even if youdon’t need to go a way from it for a day, sometimes it is nice to know that you can walk away for a few hours if you need to.
Qpinion: Note the position of the vents – all are wide open to ensure that the new coals and wood catch quickly and maintain the temperature ofthe cook. Adjusting the vents can be key to the amount of fuel you have to add, or how often youneed to add it. We rely on them to help control the higher and lower than ideal temperatures. I keep the top vent wide open, and use the side vents to adjust the burn rate, and thus the temperature.
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