Pork ribs and water pan

[Bones]

I am relatively new and just starting out and never realized how much I do not know until I started reading on a couple of web sites. I have a Brinkman electric smoker which runs at a constant 225 degrees. I read where it takes from 6 to 8 hours to smoke spare ribs. It seem that mine are done at about 5 hours. When I fill up the pan with water I use hot water and was wondering if this could cause the ribs to get done earlier. Last Friday I put regualar tap water in the pan and the ribs were not done at 6.5 hours. The question I have is should I put hot or tap water in the pan? Do you use water.

Thanks Bones

[RuiNT BBQ]

Bones,

In your case with the electric smokers, the heating element only gets so hot so everything varies from that. Outside temps, wind, water temp in the pan, amount of meat on the grate, etc will affect the overall cook time. It the water is cold tap water when you start, it is a large heat sink that has to heat up before it all stabilizes so if you put the meat on right away it will affect the cook time. Start with hot water in the beginning and it doesn't take the heat as long to come up.

When I first started I was using a charcoal Brinkman with the electric pan conversion in it. I wanted that to be consistant so I could work on the actual flavor itself. Every time I used it the cook times were differant. Take note of all the conditions and you will see a pattern develop that you will be able to use to better predict your cooking times.

[bigwheel]

I got a sneaky suspicion you cooking a lot hotter than 225. I got a similar gizmo and it can have a 15 lb brisket ready to rip in about 8-9 hours so don't much see how it running that cool. Never bothered to stick a gauge on mine but had a chum who drilled a hole in the lid and stuck a gauge in there on his. He say it ran real close to 295 at all times. I havn't noticed much variation in temps on mine due to weather or amounts of meat. It seems to run about the same summer and winter. Now sure a cold drizzle would knock it down some. Funny you mention this topic because high on my agenda for today is to got look for a rheostat to be able to control the heat a little. Fella tole me Home Depots or Lowes should have one that would work. I will repoat back with my findings.

bigwheel


I am relatively new and just starting out and never realized how much I do not know until I started reading on a couple of web sites. I have a Brinkman electric smoker which runs at a constant 225 degrees. I read where it takes from 6 to 8 hours to smoke spare ribs. It seem that mine are done at about 5 hours. When I fill up the pan with water I use hot water and was wondering if this could cause the ribs to get done earlier. Last Friday I put regualar tap water in the pan and the ribs were not done at 6.5 hours. The question I have is should I put hot or tap water in the pan? Do you use water.

Thanks Bones

[Bones]

I have a thermoneter that I have sat on the grate and it cooks at a constant 225 degrees. The only difference I had was putting tap water in which took longer then when I put hot water in the pan and was wondering if by using tap water resulting in a longer cook if the ribs would be juicier?

Bones

[bigwheel]

Hmmm well that is sure odd on them temp differences twixt mine and yours. I dont think the hot vs cold water is gonna make much difference. Found a rheostat and all the trimmings at Radio Shack. Twenty bucks for the entire package including a knob and soldering iron kit. There are a lot of variables on the time it takes to cook ribs. Little racks get done quicker than big racks etc. I would start by double checking the gauge your using.

bigwheel