The Easter Smoke

Happy Easter!

Two months after the last smoke, it's time again!

Today it's Easter. More info and pictures will be available promptly. I am currently smoking ribs...

...ah, back again. Now I have the time to add a few pictures and comment them.

A lesson learned from the last smoke was to reduce the amount of smoke wood and remove the bark. Too much smoke wood gives the meat a taste of cigarette, and that isn't very appealing.

As usual, I filled the WSM with quite a lot of meat (7 kg in total):

• 2 big pieces of thin pork ribs (40 cm x 20 cm).
• 1 smaller thin pork rib.
• 2 big pieces of thick pork ribs (1,2 kg).
• 1 pork fillét (650 g)
• 8 Finnish sausages (Makkara)

I used three recipes from "Weber's Big Book Of Grilling" on the ribs:

• Kansas City-style Spareribs: page 153
  Fresh garlic instead of garlic powder. Worcestershire sauce replaced with broth and finely chopped fresh tomatoes.
• Kansas City-style Baby back ribs: page 159.
• Country-style pork ribs with red wine vinegar sauce: page 165.
• Salt, pepper and garlic on the fillet.

The weather changed from sunny to dawn. +5°C and rather windy. The garage sheltered from the wind.

The reduced amount of apple wood was really perfect!

My friends asked if we can BBQ a few more times. I reckon that is a very good sign that they enjoyed it as much as I did!

Don't fill the WSM with pre lit coals using a shovel. It will stirr up lots of ashes on to the meat. Luckily I was able to rinse the meat with the apple juice, so no harm was done, but I was worried there for a few seconds.

Of course I had to follow the advice on the site TVWB and make a log of the cook. Here it is:

Log page 2

Click on the images to see them in full size (400-700 kB). They open in a separate browser window.

Spare ribs.	Lamb ribs
The prepared meat were stored in plastic bags in the fridge to the next day.	The WSM on the part of the lawn without snow. In the background my son Hampus was sleeping in his wagon.
Hampus woke up and helped me sweep the floor from sand. The WSM is in the background.	It was very sunny but windy. Hampus enjoys BBQing.
I added 2.5 kg of lit coals using a shovel. "An excellent idea", I thought. Not so good as it turned out. All the meat was covered in ash! It was swiftly removed using the apple juice in the spray can.	The table was set by the girls while the guys prepared the sauces and the meat at my parent's place (only 100 m away).
From left: Anders, Oscar, Anna (having a baby any day now), Pernilla and Peter in my kitchen.	From left: Thin ribs, sausages, pork fillét.
From left: Two thick ribs and lamb ribs in the Weber Rib rack.	Anna prepared the bread with melted butter and garlic, then they went into the oven for a few minutes.
The first taste...	Everyone thought the meat was excellent!
On the cutting board: Makkara, thick ribs, pork fillét. Pay special attention to the smoke ring penetration at the edges of the meat.	Left: Red wine vinegar sauce for the country-style pork ribs. Right: Sauce for the Kansas city-style baby back ribs.
...and the best sauce of them all: Kansas city-style spareribs sauce. The guys planned on taking it intravenously! ;)