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Hello, Am keen to cook some pork ribs next weekend. I've never done them before on the smoker – would you recommend starting with St Louis/spare ribs, or baby back? I'm inclined to go with spare ribs as they're bigger/meatier. Any advice much appreciated!

Is that right? They don't judge both?

Cheers, Chris. I did add plenty of rub after watching your video. I'll never know re the flat! But while it was tasty, it was pretty dry. I'm sure I should have let it cool a bit before wrapping it in foil and storing in the coolbox. Very happy with the point, though. On Mon/Tues, I chopped up the end piece of the point, and cooked it in a hot oven with some beef stock, barbecue sauce and some dark brown sugar – it was really good. Almost tempted just to buy point-end briskets from now on! (fat = flavour etc) But it's really encouraged me to have another crack 🙂

Looks great; am sure it tasted great, too 🙂

Thanks very much, pal 🙂

Ha, where should I start?! 1. A plainer rub, just salt and pepper, not one with paprika/garlic/onion etc (not that I think a plainer rub would be better; just keen to see the difference 2. I would trim it and shape it. This time, although I removed some big lumps of hard white fat, and some silverskin, I didn't trim bits off to square it off - will do that next time 3. Will buy a 5kg brisket, not a 7kg one! 4. Will cook it during the day, not overnight, so I can top up water pan halfway through the cook (and spritz it more often) 5. Will let it cool in the kitchen for a bit before wrapping in foil etc So the answer to your question is yes 😁

Yes, quite possibly. I think the thermometer is about 20deg or so lower than it actually is, so may well have been just over 200.

Thank you, will try that next time. Topping up the water every couple of hours is a bit of a faff, I must admit. I thought about cutting the brisket and putting them on separate levels, but because this was my first crack at it, I was keen to do a 'neutral' test and just see how things went, to give me a benchmark. If you do that, which would you put lower down? The point? This brisket was 7.25kg. I should have trimmed it more judiciously, definitely, and not ideal to put it on the smoker and disappear off to bed for 8 hours 😄

Very good point. I just looked at the thermometer on the ProQ itself, but yes, the meat was so big, it was wider than the water pan sitting below it!

I think, because I've seen amazing briskets from Aaron Franklin, T-Roy, Harry Soo etc, I had that sort of brisket in mind - naive, I know. But Aaron said that his first brisket was dire, and you can only learn and get better which each one. I'm already planning the next one!

Yes, water pan overnight (it seems to dry up after about 3hrs), then filled up again first thing.

My first brisket is done and dusted! Overall: not bad. A little overcooked, but the point had a good texture and was still juicy. The lean was too dry but still tasted good. I cooked it overnight for 8hrs, with briquettes and oak/cherry chunks. Weirdly, the smoker struggled to get over 200F, but when I checked this morning, the brisket's internal temp was 166F, so fresh load of charcoal, and cooked for another 3hrs. Took it off at 205F, then wrapped in foil and placed in coolbox for a couple of hours. I suspect I should have let it cool on the worktop for 20-30 mins first - another lesson learned! I've cut the end of the point off and will make burnt ends later in the week, and I still have a huge slab of meat left, which I'll probably freeze. Also, the brisket was just over 7kg, and in all honesty was too big for my ProQ Frontier - I had to prop it up a bit, and really cram it to make it fit. Will go for a 5kg brisket next time. Always knew that my first brisket would be a steep learning curve, and so it proved. And even though it wasn't brilliant, it was still very tasty! Some pics (I served it with sweetcorn pudding and some greens with garlic and chilli):

So do I! Looks great.

I think it's best to trim the skin off, then do it separately as crackling if you wish (and, as you say, leave a thin layer of fat on top) But others know far more about this sort of thing than me! @Wade @Justin

to Austin!

Ah, good to know. March/April would be good time, given the avg temp. And so many places to see (other than Franklin!). Would be fascinating, on so many levels 😀

Yep. 8hrs overnight (tomorrow), then however long it takes on Sunday!

Somebody make it happen! 😎 (direct return flights from Gatwick for £360 #justsayin'

Cheers, Justin, will do. I'd prefer not to get it on the smoker and go to bed, but because this is a big'un and am sure will take 10-15 hours, would rather give it 8hrs overnight then see how things are on Sunday morning, rather than try and do it all in a day.

Thank you, Wade. You're right – as this is my first brisket, I'll strip it back and just do rub and see how it goes, then I have a benchmark. I think I will just trim it tonight, then apply rub tomorrow afternoon. Is there an optimal time for adding rub before smoking?

Yep, makes perfect sense. Will do that. The brisket was delivered today. Nobody in the office believed me when I told them that it weighed 7kg, so I asked them to pick up the box 😂

Will take a look later - am guessing he says to bring it to room temperature! Yes, Aaron is the daddy, isn't he? Would love to visit his restaurant one day... there should be a WoodSmoke Forum trip arranged!

Found the article: https://amazingribs.com/technique-and-science/myths/let-meat-come-to-room-temp (please delete if quoting from other forums not allowed)

Is that right? Am sure I read on amazingribs.com that it's better to smoke meat straight from the fridge, as smoke particles stick to meat better, but I have no idea if that's true! I always take steaks etc out of the fridge 30 mins before cooking.

Another question: After trimming, am going to inject it – how long should I leave it before applying the rub? And what's the ideal time between applying the rub and getting it on the smoker? Was planning to trim/inject/rub Friday night, then start smoking Sat evening (as I'm playing golf early on Sat, not back til early afternoon), give it 8hrs, then check early on Sunday and fire up the smoker again. Apologies for the multitude of questions…