First attempt at smoking on a Weber grill

[redfalconf35]

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.

 

[emwolf]

I've never used the thermometer for keeping track of temps, just kind of grew up knowing that the top vents need to be only a little open for the long term smoking. I do know the weber takes an awful long time with ribs, usually when you think they're done give 'em another 45 minutes.

 

[joeyboy]

I have one and tried with pork butt. I got the same results and finished it on the stove top.

This is the reason I have been looking at pellet grills. The charcoal is a pain. I would keep it, as I have a lot of charcoal. The only hold back is the price.

 

[paintflinger]

At least with ribs, a thermometer doesn't matter much.

 

[cerna348]

I have a co-worker who has three different industrial size smoker that he uses regularly. When he is doing a small batch and or doesn't have time, he uses the a-maze-n smokaer tubes with great success. He smoked some wings for about 4 hours just on a cold weber grill on a chilly day to impart the smoked flavor and then brought them inside to fry them. They aren't too expensive, I am thinking about giving one a shot: A-MAZE-N-TUBE-SMOKER 6'' or 12'' - Prefilled with Pitmasters Choice BBQ Pellets

 

[Badgerstate36]

I smoke with my Weber all the time and while its not exactly an ideal setup, it does work. At some point I want to get something like a Brinkman, where the firebox is seperate from where the food is, which makes it much more true indirect heating and makes it much easier to load the fuel. Even still, you can smoke with a Weber just fine.

 

[Commander Quan]

Ribs were supposed to take 3-4 hours.

The reality is that I should've started the grill up a couple hours earlier.

Really you're going to want to give the meat closer to 6 hours. I've tried to do them faster but it's never worth it.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Ribs can be tough because they are under cooked. For the first 2 to 2.5 hours smoke them at 275, then wrap them in foil along with a coating of your favorite sauce, etc. till they bend down nicely when gripped with a pair of tongs or the meat pulls down from the end of the ribs.

As for chicken breast, that almost needs a cold smoke (just smoke very little heat) until it's smoked enough to your liking, then move to heat to finish at 160-165F.

 

[TexLaw]

Really you're going to want to give the meat closer to 6 hours. I've tried to do them faster but it's never worth it.

Not baby or loin back ribs. Four hours can be about right for those, maybe five True baby backs take 3 or 4. Spares can easily take 6 or 7.

 

[Acmemfg]

St. Louis ribs are the best way to fly (in my opinion).
5-5 1/2 hours at 205 degrees. Baste every 45-60 minutes.
Wrap with sauce of your choice for the last hour. Maybe boost the heat to 225-230 for that hour. Finest kind.

 

[Raissermesser]

My late father-in-law, then my mother-in-law, would parboil ribs before putting them on a Weber grill. The problem is that while it's possible to use a grill this way, it's not what it's designed to do. Here we use hardwood for this sort of thing, with indirect heat, and charcoal for grilling.

We BBQ by wrapping meat in aluminum foil first, then exposing to smoke for about the final hour. This part is really to taste, and can vary.

We don't cook with sauce on the meat. Sauce is something we apply later.

Yes, you can do chicken this way. We've done quarters many a time.

We use a standard oven thermometer to watch the heat, and a meat thermometer to check the results. As a rule of thumb, if you can twist the bone and the meat comes off with no effort, it should be done, but always check with the meat thermometer to make sure.

 

[redfalconf35]

The charcoal is a pain. I would keep it, as I have a lot of charcoal. The only hold back is the price.

I actually don't mind the charcoal. I have the flip-up grate, so adding more during the smoke only involves a pair of tongs. I also have the chimney starter, so starting it up only involve a couple pages from the local rag, a lighter, and 20 minutes (during which time I'm usually prepping the food, anyway).

I'm sure the configuration of a real smoker would get rid of annoying things like removing the hot water pan to add more coals, but I need to prove to my wife that I can produce good food before getting a real smoker.

In the interim, I may spend $100-150 to get a slow and sear insert for the Weber to make life a bit easier.

 

[joeyboy]

I actually don't mind the charcoal. I have the flip-up grate, so adding more during the smoke only involves a pair of tongs. I also have the chimney starter, so starting it up only involve a couple pages from the local rag, a lighter, and 20 minutes (during which time I'm usually prepping the food, anyway).

I'm sure the configuration of a real smoker would get rid of annoying things like removing the hot water pan to add more coals, but I need to prove to my wife that I can produce good food before getting a real smoker.

In the interim, I may spend $100-150 to get a slow and sear insert for the Weber to make life a bit easier.

I have the same the thing except my Weber has the propane tank to start the chimney. I used the flip up grate but I am a little, okay a lot, impatient. I haven't used it for anything in over one year.