Off the top, I'll apologize for not taking pictures. I was rushing to get the food onto plates and forgot to snap a couple photos.
I've tried smoking food on a grill (a cheapo propane grill) before, and it was an unmitigated disaster. With the Weber, I figured I'd give it another chance with some baby-back ribs and chicken breasts.
I dry rubbed both with respective rub recipes... the rib one was a hybrid between a Cook's Illustrated recipe and an Alton Brown recipe, heavy on brown sugar and paprika. The chicken one was from a web search, heavy on garlic and onion.
I set up the grill for indirect heat. Lump charcoal piled on one side with oak and hickory wood chunks and a water pan directly above the coals. The ribs and chicken went on the other side with an ambient temperature probe and a meat probe in the middle of the rack of ribs. The goal was to maintain between 250F and 275F ambient during the cook, hoping to see a 190-205F final meat temperature. Ribs were supposed to take 3-4 hours. Chicken was just an experiment, so I didn't have a plan for it, except to pull it when I pulled the ribs.
I checked on everything every 45 minutes, and adjusted the grill whenever the temperature started getting near the edge of the range. Mostly, it was stable around 260F. After 2 hours, my wireless thermometer receiver made a funny noise and wasn't receiving temperatures anymore. I went outside and fussed with the transmitter on the grill, including replacing the batteries, but it was flat out dead. The second half of the smoke was done blind.
I painted the meat at 3h 10m and pulled 5m later. The initial indications were that the ribs were slightly underdone. I gave them another 15 minutes in the oven at 350F hoping to cheat it up to being properly tender and done. The reality is that I should've started the grill up a couple hours earlier.
The results were deliciously flavorful, but tough. The ribs needed another hour, and the chicken needed more heat and less time. For the first time, I feel confident after the attempt that I can correct the flaws and get it pretty good next time. I'm also in the market for a new wireless thermometer.
I've tried smoking food on a grill (a cheapo propane grill) before, and it was an unmitigated disaster. With the Weber, I figured I'd give it another chance with some baby-back ribs and chicken breasts.
I dry rubbed both with respective rub recipes... the rib one was a hybrid between a Cook's Illustrated recipe and an Alton Brown recipe, heavy on brown sugar and paprika. The chicken one was from a web search, heavy on garlic and onion.
I set up the grill for indirect heat. Lump charcoal piled on one side with oak and hickory wood chunks and a water pan directly above the coals. The ribs and chicken went on the other side with an ambient temperature probe and a meat probe in the middle of the rack of ribs. The goal was to maintain between 250F and 275F ambient during the cook, hoping to see a 190-205F final meat temperature. Ribs were supposed to take 3-4 hours. Chicken was just an experiment, so I didn't have a plan for it, except to pull it when I pulled the ribs.
I checked on everything every 45 minutes, and adjusted the grill whenever the temperature started getting near the edge of the range. Mostly, it was stable around 260F. After 2 hours, my wireless thermometer receiver made a funny noise and wasn't receiving temperatures anymore. I went outside and fussed with the transmitter on the grill, including replacing the batteries, but it was flat out dead. The second half of the smoke was done blind.
I painted the meat at 3h 10m and pulled 5m later. The initial indications were that the ribs were slightly underdone. I gave them another 15 minutes in the oven at 350F hoping to cheat it up to being properly tender and done. The reality is that I should've started the grill up a couple hours earlier.
The results were deliciously flavorful, but tough. The ribs needed another hour, and the chicken needed more heat and less time. For the first time, I feel confident after the attempt that I can correct the flaws and get it pretty good next time. I'm also in the market for a new wireless thermometer.