Hanging spares for fishing

My dear fishing buddy asked for something from the smoker. Already got pulled pork and pepper stout beef but it is hard to beat ribs so I thawed a cryovac pack of three racks of spares. I'll have two cookers going since I did nuts in the mini earlier and have followed that with thick slices of butternut squash.

Weather conditions have deteriorated since I started this morning. It's raining. Not hard but more than a drizzle. The little cooker is holding its own against the rain and hopefully so will the big cooker. Temperature is still mild at 61°F and wind just a bit over 10 mph.

This is a lazy cook. I just cracked open a bottle of Slap Yo' Daddy rub and sprinkled that on the ribs. I didn't even pull the membrane off rationalizing that it was best to keep on for hanging ribs. I did hang the ribs from the end with the biggest bones (front of the pig? I should swap one around to put the thicker end close to the fire. I'll do that now.

This was done on the 18 WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) with no grates or water bowl. Instead I used the rack I made from 3/8 rebar. The fire was made using Cowboy lump with hickory, apple and some black walnut for smoking wood. Fire was started using the Minion method and the cooker closed soon after the hot coals were dumped on the fire lay.

Ribs hanging in the 18.5 WSM

The quantity of smoke in the picture probably results from meat juices and rain dripping on the coals compounded by very high humidity.

time	temp	comment
1:35 PM		Fire on the coals and close up smoker. Temperature is coming up quickly (empty smoker...) so I went to one bottom vent open.
1:50		Meat on!
2:00	181°/180°(remote/lid)	Opened one more bottom vent (two open now.)
2:15	264°/230°	Opened the cooker to flip one rack thin end up.
3:22	275°/245°
4:19	270°/240°
5:10	280°/260°	Rain stopped - Ribs look done! Closing down smoker and getting ribs off in a minute.
5:20		Ribs off and resting!

Ribs were good. The first thing I tried was one that hung front end (thick end) up. The lower end was predictably dry - kind of like jerky - though it still tasted good. The other end seemed like it was verging on being dry though it was not actually dry. I wonder if spares made this way would be a good candidate for wrapping before they finish. They also seem a tad bit oversmoked.

Off the smoker and ready to rest!

I think that I'll either go back to doing spares on the grate with water in the pan or perhaps try wrapping them before they are done. When hung, I'll hang the skinny end up.