First test run.

[Ron Pratt]

Glad to hear that you liked it – though you did list some doubts! 🙂 Sirloin is generally a fine tasting cut of beef and though you only aged it 21 days I still believe 28 would have had a more pronounced impact of tenderizing it. OTOH keep in mind I’m the dude headed to at least 60 days with my present rib eye primal! Today is day 49 so I’m getting there!

As for your rib contest are they spares or baby backs? Is this a sanctioned contest or a friendly local kinda thing? Being in KY then your judges probably lean toward sweet sauces over vinegar based ones – right? Have you heard of Blue’s sauce products? With a BGE I assume you already have heard of and might use the 3/1/1.5 method or some variation thereof.

Good Luck and thanks for all the thanks!!!

[Chad Hayden]

I won the Jack in 2007. So, I’m familiar with BH and BHTR.. I know what they like here as far as flavor profile.. Just looking for some good cooking tips on cooking ribs on the BGE, large.

[Chad Hayden]

Trust me, I don’t claim to know everything about bbq !.. :S I’m not familiar with cooking BBQ on the BGE. I am shooting for 250, 3.5/1.5 in a test run today. I have one spare and one bb i’m trying today. Just thought I’d bounce that time/temp off of you. I’m not one to be shy on asking questions. I learn a lot about BBQ from everybody.

I’ve seen where you’ve mentioned Jim Minion here, so I figured you might know more about BBQ than you might lead on.

Next time, it’s gonna be at least 28 days for that dry aging ! 🙂

I really like this forum !.. Lots of nice people here. If there are any sort of BBQ question, I’ll be glad to help.

[Ron Pratt]

I am still honored by your presence here – you’re being too modest and humble – winning the Jack takes more than luck, my friend and all know that!

Just curious though I mentioned the 3/1/1.5 rule of thumb as a general guideline that gets people off to a good start so I’m not sure what you mean by 3.5/1.5. I agree about the 250. If your 1.5 is foiled I don’t think you are going to be happy with the results. Keep us posted!

[Chad Hayden]

Typically, in a contest, I cook on a backwoods smoker. When I “WAS” a good rib cook, I cooked at 275 3/1.. 3 hours unwrapped, 1 hour wrapped.. I find since I don’t cook in a moist environment in the egg, as compared to the BWS, I was shooting for a lower temp to keep the sugars in the rub from burning.. (which happened to me last weekend)… I personally don’t like to foil longer than 1 hour. But I do like it to be the last thing i do, since the sugars added in the foil, i don’t want to burn by re-setting on the smoker. maybe 4/1, and put back on the cooker if I feel I have to.. I should add, that I have to be extremely careful in my techniques and recipe to ensure that my ribs look awesome when presented. I know some of the best ribs I’ve ever ate have been pretty dark, but don’t score well on appearance.

I’ve only cooked ribs on the egg twice and this is my 3rd time.. all in the past 3 weeks. The contest is Run for the Ribs, and the rib cookoff invitational, there is 10 of us.. Me, Mike Davis, Chris Lilly, Mike Wozniak, and some other good rib cooks.. I got my work cut out for me. (Moonswiners is my team name)

I hope it’s ok to talk about BBQ on a dry aging forum. If I shouldn’t you can always e-mail.

[Chad Hayden]

Yes, fortunately, I have a plate setter. For the contest, we’ll be supplied with a plate setter too. (they are providing the BGE’s and necessary utincels and the ribs !)..

My goal was to run at a average temp of 250. 245-255 swing. But right now that egg wants to sit at 265. Inlet shut down now and top at 1/8″ open.

I think for now, for the contest, I’m going to allow 5.5 hours cook time, 20-30 minutes to plate. I have a cambro, and if the ribs get done early, I’ll throw them in there.

I much rather be cooking pizzas on that thing right now !!!

Update: cooker stayed at high 260’s/low 270’s. 3 hours cooking, 1 hour in the foil. Slightly overcooked. Would have made Applebee’s and the neighbors happy, but not judges. Anyway, right now it is what it is, need a bit of luck now for the contest. I rendered all the fat out of the spare, not out of the BB.. too hot for those guys. Anyway, Learned a lot, so that’s a good thing. Y’all cross your fingers for me next Friday !

[Chad Hayden]

I’ve had my BGE for 4 years.. back in 2007, BGE had a promo with “50 eggs for 50 contests”. They gave away one BGE and a bunch of accessories at selected contests. I was fortunate to win one. I basically grill with it 95% of the time.. I’ve cooked prime rib for Christmas, Turduckens, bread, Meatloaf, pizzasm you name it. But since being a BBQ competitor, I only cook BBQ as I would for , competition, on my Backwoods. When I cook BBQ, it is strictly for practice, as I am burned out on BBQ !!..

So, you with 11 years experience with the BGE, and me with just 4, of course I’d ask you. If you were to buy a backwoods, you should ask me for tips !! :). I’ve taken your above tips and will make note of them. I did calibrate my thermometer, as I had bought a brand new one for the contest. (BGE has a new tel-tru).. but I have a great probe therm. that is calibrated that I install on the grate level, and that is what I go by anwyay.

I put lt. br. sugar, honey, parkay and a couple of dry ingredients in the foil.

No reason to defend your choice of grill, since I love it too, I just need someone with better understanding of it to help me.

[Chad Hayden]

Back to Dry Aging !

I got to thinking about this weekend’s Sirloin. One of the main reasons why I chose Sirloin, well, was because it’s cheaper than strip or Rib eye at USDA prime. Also, a few years ago, I ate at Gallagher’s in Las Vegas, and had an awesome dry aged Sirloin there.. That was what I was shooting for. On their website, the claim their steaks are dry aged at a constant 36 f. for 21 days. Well, I did just that. Not near the same results. So, it got me thinking.. Maybe since my fridge fluctuates between 32-38, I need much better control. I’m afraid that when it’s 34 or below, it hinders the aging process. So, 21 days may not be a true 21 days in my fridge as it sits right now.

Johnson Controls makes a nice temp control, primarly made for home brewing. It’s about $60. I am going to purchase one of these and play with the settings in my fridge before trying it again.

As far as the bag goes, this time for me it worked perfectly !. I was amazed on just how good of a membrane it made on the meat !. it actually took some pull to get it detached from the meat. I’ve been really enjoying this (new to me) new technique for coming up with a world class steak at home !

[Ron Pratt]

Truth be told they probably also regulated the humidity besides maintaining a level temperature – at least that’s what the “big shops” do with their special aging rooms. As for that Johnson Control someone else here also invested in one or at least a similar device that maintains a stable temp. I don’t recall Chad if you are using a dedicated refrig or just the bottom shelf of your kitchen refrig, but opening and closing the door is also going to make swings. IMHO that’s part of the benefit of the DrybagSteak product – while it breathes the meat inside the bag is not immediately affected by the brief swing due to opening.

Glad to hear you had better luck with the vacuuming this time…practice makes perfect…right? :laugh:

As for the amount of tugging needed I tell people it’s about the same as stripping the backing off contact paper.

[Chad Hayden]

Yup, it’s a dedicated Fridge. It keeps rubs/sauces on the bottom shelf, but the top shelves are where I place the meat.. there’s at least 4″ around the whole thing.. But now it’s holding briskets and butts for this weekend’s contest. After the contest, I’ll look at the temp control and try it again.

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