Guitarbloke

Thanks @Mick! I'll give that wrapping trick a try this weekend. I kept mine bone side down, and I didn't really wrap them properly - I just covered the tray with some foil. Should it be a tight wrap?

Thanks @Icefever I definitely enjoyed the experience – Next time, I think I’ll prep the night before though – I spent a lot of time faffing about making glazes, rubs and marinades! I might have another go this week after work - although it’d need to be a hot and fast cook or else I’ll be eating at midnight! The lack of space on the grill has got me toying with the idea of a WSM now though…

So today I took advantage of the dry weather and attempted my first cook on my Broil King gas grill. The idea was to do a track of babyback ribs for me and some salmon for Mrs Guitarbloke. I also wanted to try making some cornbread to go with it. First thing that struck me was just how small the cooking area is! I hadn't realised when I bought it, but for cooking indirect there's not much room left once a rack of ribs goes on! Anyway, I cranked it up to 500f and gave it a good scrub beforehand, making sure to get shot of all the cobwebs and spider eggs (yum!). After spending an age prepping my ribs (note to self, do all the legwork the night before...) I finally got them on the grill at about 2pm. Half an hour later I realised I'd forgotten to add the box of woodchips which had been soaking for a couple of hours... so I threw that in there and whacked up the burner to get then smoking. Once they started to smoke I turned it back down to 250f and let the ribs do their thing for 2 hours (spritzing every 20mins or so). After 2 hours, I pulled them out and added some apple juice to the makeshift tray (I couldn't find a big enough foil tray anywhere so made a scrappy one out of strong tin foil). I covered them over with foil and let them cook for another hour before glazing and putting them back. At this point I added the salmon - the recipe I was following said 2hours at 250f, however after an hour the internal temp on the salmon was 160f which is quite a bit over where it should have been. It didn't seem to be drying out so I reduced the heat and left it there, but keeping close watch. The ribs still needed another hour (according to the recipe) but they were starting to look a little dry. Internal temp was 195f at this stage. I cut the heat entirely and let everything sit in the bbq for a other 20mins while I went and did the cornbread. I then took everything out of the bbq to rest. The internal temps seemed to have settled at 195f (ribs) and 160f (salmon). End result was... ok. The ribs weren't chewy and they weren't dry either, but they needed a bit if a bit to pull from the bone. I did a marinade, a rub and a glaze and the flavour from the three really was delicious. The salmon despite having reached 160f nearly an hour too soon was fine, not dry at all - possibly even a little too wet as 'er indoors prefers her fish a little overdone. Issues: The main issues I ran into were controlling the temperatures - any advice would be appreciated! When opening to spritz, the temp would drop from 250ish to about 225f and I had to crank up the burner high to get it back up again, this meant wildly fluctuating temps on occasion of up to 268f (when this happened, I had to open the lid to drop the temperature back down). It was bit of a juggling act! Generally, if I was not touching the grill at all, the inkbird wireless probes showed that the temp in the grill was flitting between 246f and 256f. I was aiming for 250f, but couldn't really keep it consistent. Overall, it needed a lot of babysitting to maintain a temperature of close to 250f. There must be an easier way? I only used 1 of my three burners - adding a second burner even on the lowest heat made the temps go up way more than desired. Salmon should have taken 2 hours. Hit 160f internal after less than an hour which threw off everything else timing wise... arrgh! I noticed that the temps became much more difficult to control once both items added to grill. Anyway, here are some pics of the finished articles. Far from perfect sadly, but a learning experience if nothing else!

Hmm yep it seems to be just that burner running hot for some reason! The others are fine and the ribs have been on for a couple of hours now - thanks for the suggestion (can't believe I didn't try that...) 🙈

I'm trying to cook up some ribs today but I can't stabilise the temp on my broil king gas bbq. I've only lit one of the three burners and it's on the lowest possible heat setting, but once the lid is down it just keeps climbing. Trying to keep it at 250f but currently it's at 350f and still climbing. Am I missing something silly? Do I just need to keep turning off the grill and opening the lid to bring it back down whilst cooking?

Aah I'm with you! Cheers @Icefever

Thanks @Smokin Monkey - I hadn't heard of the 3-2-1 method before so I'll do some reading up. When you say to wrap it with liquid - do you mean pout the liquid over the top and wrap it, or just have the liquid in the bottom?

Thanks for the tips @sotv! If all goes to plan and it turns out well, I'll post some photos! (I might cheat this time round and use the gas grill, as from what I've been reading I'll need to insulate the Landmann with some stove rope and sealant before it'll be of any use)

Since it's looking like Sunday is going to be dry, so I'm planning what to do for my first cook. What would you recommend as a starting point for a complete beginner? All I've done to date has been a few mangy burgers and some sausages - and even that was a good few years ago. At my disposal, I have a Landmann Kentucky Smoker, and a Broil King gas bbq. My partner is a vegetarian (well, almost - she still eats fish/seafood), so I need to figure out something fishy for her, and then something a bit more animally (is that a word?) for me. I was considering doing a rack of baby back ribs for myself, and some salmon & prawns for the missus. Does this seem a bit ambitious for a first go?

Thanks @Justin - great deal! Have just ordered a couple of bags

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I'm OD'ing on YouTube videos and old episodes of Pitmasters at the moment, so as soon as this awful weather passes I can get cracking! @Phlashster Beds BBQ is great, it's only small, but they have some really fancy looking stuff in there!

Hi all, I've recently taken my first steps into grilling and smoking - I bought my very first BBQ a few weeks ago (a Broil King Signet 320), and I also picked up a Landmann Kentucky Smoker (it was being sold cheap secondhand so I thought why not!) to use as a dedicated smoker. The 2 BBQ's take up a sizeable chunk of our little garden, but luckily I have a very understanding partner - she's a vegetarian who loves the smell of barbecued meats, so strangely she's actually very encouraging about my latest venture I'm what you'd call a complete novice to barbecue, so you can expect all sorts of embarrassing and silly questions to come from my end. I apologise in advance for that, although rest assured I will always try googling first before asking anything! I'm planning to start off small and build up my grilling skills with (what I assume to be) fairly simple cooks - like ribs and wings. My goal is to be able to host a little gathering at home later in a couple of months time and be able to roll out a perfectly slow cooked brisket! I've just ordered myself an Inkbird IBT-4XS wireless thermometer and a couple of books by Myron Mixon, so hopefully I'm set to start off in the right direction! Cheers! Sean