Have I Mentioned How Much I Love My Smoker?

I think I have. In fact I know I have. It's the greatest thing ever. I got the smoker kind of on a whim really. I have been doing Harris Polls online for years and years. I never win anything, but for every survey you complete, you get points. The points accumulate and you can trade them in for merchandise. Well I was at the highest number of points to trade in so I figured I'd go for it. My choices weren't all that great really. A shop vac (Nick wanted that, he wanted it bad!), the smoker, a watch, an Ipod docking station and a few other things. The smoker kept calling my name...Kathy, Kathy... chose me! So I did.

It's a process so you really have to make sure you don't have any plans. You need to prep the meat the night before. This time I was doing ribs so I didn't have much to do. Just clean them up a little, remove the membrane. I decided not to put a dry rub on this time.

In the morning I got my fire going. I use regular Kingsford charcoal and hickory chips. Let the charcoal burn for about 20-30 minutes. While the coals are doing their thing, soak the wood chips in water. Once the fire is ready, put the wood chips on top of the coals and then work fast!! Since my smoker is what's called a bullet smoker, I have a water pan that MUST have water in it. So... coals, wood, water pan, low rack, high rack. The ribs (with nothing but salt and pepper on them) went on the high rack. Then close the lid. To ensure not too much smoke will escape, I wrap between the lid and the smoker in foil. Once that lid is on and the foil is in place, the end! DO NOT OPEN THAT LID! You really have to trust that it's doing what it should be doing. It's hard, but the more you open the lid, the more smoke escapes and you won't get the flavor you want.

After 4 hours, we opened the lid to flip the meat. It was looking good, but was clear it needed more time. So we closed it back up (making sure the water level was still ok), packed the foil in it and left it alone for another 3 hours.

The ribs were done. They were perfect! SO incredibly delicious and tender. I had sauce but I never even used it. They didn't need it. The smoky flavor was enough to make these the best ribs I've had all summer. Look at all that color. That is all just from the smoker. No rub, no sauce.






And once again, that smoke ring that is so desired when you smoke something was present. If you enlarge this picture, you can see just how succulent and juicy these ribs are. Go, go now while they are probably on sale and get yourself a smoker! You won't regret it!