# Country style ribs on the WSM



## Frank h (Sep 28, 2012)

hey all
i am thinking about doing up some country style ribs on my WSM. i have grilled these many times with mixed results. they seem to respond well to the high heat fast method such as my gas grill can perform. 
am i wasting my time trying to smoke these ?
also , should i brine these? ive never done that with CSR's


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## Bob In Fla. (Sep 28, 2012)

Mostly "_Country Style Ribs_" are cut from a pork butt or shoulder.  Most of the time, they're grilled.  Since they're from the butt, you could probably smoke 'em.  Yep, I'd probably brine 'em.

BOB


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## bigwheel (Sep 28, 2012)

Great info Bob. I usually try to get butts in a solid chunk so I dont have much expuriences in this area..sniff sniff. Now real Country Style Ribs come from the S. End of a loin to where it gets too boney to make Pork Steaks..which is the po redheaded step child of a poak chop..lol. I know all this because I watched the butcher cut up a bone in loin one day when I was dumb enough to buy one for some reason. Hey Hambone..if you aint already bought the sliced butt..spring for a intact model. If it cost more they are lying. Your cooking gizmo will thank you in the AM. Anybody who can mess up a Boston Butt with an Official Brinkmann Gourmet..could tear up an anvil with a rubber hammer..as said and been heard before most likely. Now I can't quite figger out how come your fine cooking instrument cant buid up no heat. The finest bbq cooks in the world used them as an instrument of choice for a chicken blaster at one time. Are you sure you aint built a fire in the electric model..where they forget to give you the element? Mine has a shiney liner in the firepan which could not support a charcoal fire. Good news is if you dont pay the electric bill you can always take the liner out and go try to scrounge up some nasty old charcoal. Just trying to cover all the bases here so to speak. If you already bought the stuff I would cut it back from a grilling session to at least slow grilling and finish in foil with some liquid. Would hate for you to wind up with Tasso..which only goes for about twenty bucks a pound at the Cajun 7-11's.


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## Frank h (Sep 29, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> Great info Bob.
> Anybody who can mess up a Boston Butt with an Official Brinkmann Gourmet..could tear up an anvil with a rubber hammer..as said and been heard before most likely. Now I can't quite figger out how come your fine cooking instrument cant buid up no heat. The finest bbq cooks in the world used them as an instrument of choice for a chicken blaster at one time. Are you sure you aint built a fire in the electric model..where they forget to give you the element?
> If you already bought the stuff I would cut it back from a grilling session to at least slow grilling and finish in foil with some liquid. Would hate for you to wind up with Tasso..which only goes for about twenty bucks a pound at the Cajun 7-11's.



Ok , B- dubya , just for the record , my Boston butt always came out pretty good on my brinkmann. In fact , most everything I made on that smoker came out ok....I just knew I was never going to be really happy with it cuz the temps were all over the place. So I sold it to a neighbor for 10 bucks and he was real happy to get it.
Now as far as my heat issue with my new WSM , it's not that it won't build up heat , it's just that last time I used it , the temp sagged about 2-3 hours into the cook and I had to stir the coals ( which , as far as I could tell , was because the charcoal grate had gotten clogged with ash , and no air could circulate) in fact , this happened twice that day. Which was weird , because the first time I used it , that smoker rocked steady at 250 for 10 hours with no issues at all.
I am 100% sure that my WSM is a gen yoo wine charcoal smokah ! All it got is a charcoal ring and grate just like the pictures in the catalog.
It has been suggested to me that maybe my charcoal absorbed humidity while stored in my garage and that made the briquettes burn funny. But other than that , I have no theories.
My plan is to see how the fire behaves when I cook the CSR's with the bag of briquettes I have left.  So any thoughts you might share are welcome.


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## Frank h (Sep 29, 2012)

Bob In Fla. said:


> Mostly "_Country Style Ribs_" are cut from a pork butt or shoulder.  Most of the time, they're grilled.  Since they're from the butt, you could probably smoke 'em.  Yep, I'd probably brine 'em.
> 
> BOB



Thank you , sir


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## bigwheel (Sep 29, 2012)

Ok gotcha..do sound like a dead ashes issue. I think Kingsford makes twice the original size of itself in the ash department. Keeping the firepan shook is critical. Smart thinking.


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## Frank h (Sep 29, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> Ok gotcha..do sound like a dead ashes issue. I think Kingsford makes twice the original size of itself in the ash department. Keeping the firepan shook is critical. Smart thinking.



I was thinking after I burn up this kings ford , I might try some lump...they sell the cowboy lump around here pretty cheap , but that doesn't get great reviews on the forums. You know any favorite brands I might find in massatooshits?


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## bigwheel (Sep 29, 2012)

Well hmmm..Ozark Oak Lump from Snow Arkieville is the best. The package say its from Yellville but that aint right. I think the name just sounds catchier. Chances of you bumping into some in Boston would seem slim to none. I have used it in the past and might be findable is Royal Oak lump. Its been many moons since I had some but seems like it was well behaved. Still hear yups brag on it so might be good. Now do not get brave and try to use their briquetts. That make Kingsford look like the best stuff in town. Cowboy brand lump is total crapola. My old pal Big Dave got to hitting first chicken using Kingsford Mesquite flavor which he claimed was better than the regular. It stinks like N. Texas mesquite..aka a pile of smoldering dirty gym socks is the only thing I dont like about that. They should get some advice on where to buy the wood. The industrial sized bags of Mesquite lump from the Sonoran High Desert of Mejico works great on big pits but the hunks are way too large for effective use on R2D2 configurations. I know because I tried it one time. Was not muy stalweiner so to speak. Hey just dawned on me seems like Green Egg makes some lump or seems like I heard that somewhere.  Sure they very proud of it. Should find it any bbq speciaty stores..green egg dealers..Academy Sports..BBQ Galore etc.


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## Frank h (Sep 30, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> . I have used it in the past and might be findable is Royal Oak lump.   Cowboy brand lump is total crapola.  Hey just dawned on me seems like Green Egg makes some lump or seems like I heard that somewhere. Sure they very proud of it. Should find it any bbq speciaty stores..green egg dealers..Academy Sports..BBQ Galore etc.


 
yeah , i think i'll look for that royal oak lump. seems to me ive seen that around. one fella just told me give the legs of the WSM a rap with a metal bar every now n then to keep the ash shook down..i'll have to remember that next time....


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## bigwheel (Oct 1, 2012)

Never had a WSM but beating around on the legs with a metal bar sounds a little potentially destructive. On the cheap Brinkmanns it works pretty good to just reach in and grab the firepan with a pair of pliers and give it a shake. On the models with separate bases..or large pans on bigger pits picking it up on each side while wearing welding gloves and shaking vigorously works real well.


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## Frank h (Oct 1, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> Never had a WSM but beating around on the legs with a metal bar sounds a little potentially destructive. On the cheap Brinkmanns it works pretty good to just reach in and grab the firepan with a pair of pliers and give it a shake. On the models with separate bases..or large pans on bigger pits picking it up on each side while wearing welding gloves and shaking vigorously works real well.



i agree about the risk of destroying my smokers legs by beating on them....I did have the thought of improvising a rake of some kind to move the ash down off the grate....all these techniques (except lifting the pit off the base)raise the possibility of an ash cloud settling on the meat...I'm going to have to experiment and see what works best


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## bigwheel (Oct 1, 2012)

Well if you move to lump the problem is a lot less. Those crappy briquettes dont need an excuse to form into a cloud..they just need a location. Noticed in direct cooking dripping grease can generate enough ash to cover the meat also. Not sure the rake thing will work for ya. When you get to trying to bang the ashes out of there a person needs to be forceful and vigorous. Most folks just shakes it real hard and let gravity do the work. Not seeing how lifting the barrel off the base is going to get ashes on anything. That feature should be helpful for you.


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## Frank h (Oct 1, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> Not seeing how lifting the barrel off the base is going to get ashes on anything. That feature should be helpful for you.


 
yes. i agree. once you lift the barrel off you can stir , rake or shake to your hearts content....


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## bigwheel (Oct 2, 2012)

Yeppers smart thinking. I've got a couple of two piece Brinkmanns like that. Noticed you can phart with the fire quite a bit and if you leave the lid on the barrel it holds in the latent heat surprsing well..course there is a water pan in there to moderate things a bit.


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