Originally published at: Smoking incredible ribs and chicken is supremely easy | Boing Boing
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You say “smoking” but don’t mention the wood you’re using to smoke - what’s you’re preferred variety? And is there a specific insert for the wood in the Kamado-style smoker? Or are you using a separate smoke box or foil packet, or something else? 
Looks delicious!
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Lump hardwood charcoal is wood An awesome thing about the Kamado, that I shall go add to the post, is that you are always using smoke to heat the food. Not adding smoke to heat generated from burning gas or massively treated briquettes. No box for chips, no adding chunks.
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You are very quickly making me a convert. Thanks for the details!
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Or get a pellet smoker and go full Ron Popeil (set it an forget it).
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Their customer service is awesome. I bought the model I did as it comes with the high-tech smoker insert ‘the slo-roller’ and I bought the pizza oven (DoJoe) as an add on.
I use the slo-roller 2-3x a week. It does an amazing job. I kinda sure it’ll perform 98% similar without it tho and might be a bit easier as I wouldn’t feel compelled to clean it every few months.
The Do-Joe is AMAZE-BALLS but after a year of frequent use the tabs that hold the bottom layer of ceramic gave up. KJ looked at the photos and shipped another to me. I am thinking of having the dead one it welded back together so as to never have an issue again.
I would get a Joe-Tisserie but I prefer to smoke chicken and turkey spatchcocked.
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I used to do low and slow but waiting around for hours on end killed it for me. Then my neighbor who is an executive for a smoker manufacturer told me to get a temp probe and let the smoker go (usually 300-350 degrees). I take the meat out when it hits temp, so much faster and just as good especially if you use a wrap.
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Thats my brother’s favorite way.
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here in my part of texas the h.e.b. store i shop at has charcoal made from hardwoods. you can make out the rings in some of the larger pieces. i use a small quantity of that on one side of my weber 22" grill and then along the way i add soaked smoking chunks. for ribs i usually mix equal parts of hickory and applewood. since the soils in my area are very potassium depleted i collect my ashes and then use a spreader to distribute them all around the yard.
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I got a pellet smoker just before lockdown and have my ribs pretty dialed in by now. I smoke them at 225 for about three hours, wrap them in paper and baste them with some apple cider vinegar and brown sugar, smoke for two more hours, then unwrap and smoke for the final hour with some bbq sauce (I prefer a mustard based carolina style). Very yummy.
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Actual Mileage May Vary.
I got a Kamado about three years ago, and I messed with it a couple dozen times. It had two settings: “Oops, got way too hot” burnt to hell, and “Oops, it went out three hours ago.” I really gave it a lot of opportunity to strut its stuff, but only succeeded a couple of times, and needed to mess with it a lot on those successful times.
I’m glad it works for you Jason. I wish it did for me.
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Hardwood lump charcoal doesn’t produce very much smoke, at least compared to wood. Though more than briquettes. Most of the people I know using kamados still add chunks.
Though it would depend on how much smoke you like, and kamados with wood chunks are often criticized for being a little acrid.
You might want to give it a shot, but depends on what you’re into. No smoker box needed with a charcoal smoker. Logs or chunks are plopped right on top of the charcoal. I like pecan, maple and oak a lot.
That’s a bit of a fight.
Hanging out in the salt over night helps the meat stay ■■■■■ and seasons it through out. So it’s a bit of insurance.
The dry surface if you do it uncovered helps with a dark bark and for me at least tends to help minimize the stall.
But smoke clings better to wet surfaces, creates a better smoke ring, and desiccating the outside slowly is important for getting a crispy rather than leathery bark.
Professionals from restaurants and competition guys will often tell you it doesn’t do anything or screws up the bark.
But competition guys are often injecting. And restaurant fridges are significantly wetter environments than home fridges, and health codes might prevent leaving the meat unwrapped without a dedicated fridge.
So I dunno if it’s the best take.
I like the results I get from rubbing overnight, uncovered then spritzing or basting while it smokes.
Eta: Out of curiosity what brand of lump do you use?
I had really disappointing time trying out the common brands years back (especially Cowboy and Royal Oak).
But there’s a ton of newer “premium” brands out there these days, often targeted at kamados, and I’ve been thinking about giving them another shot. At least in the little konro grill I picked up recently.
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You say “smoking” but I see no mention of rolling papers. What. the. hell.
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It’s also super easy to slow-cook racks of ribs in an oven with a dry rub. I use a Tuscan seasoning blend, 250 for 4 hours. (I don’t usually like smoky flavors).
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So my local liquor store has $1/lb 7lb bags of mesquite labled “MESQUITE” and “MEXICO” and its great mesquite and a Santa Rosa tritip will be SUPER HAPPY. It is mostly medium to larger chunks with usually 1/5 the bag as rubble.
My grocery store has BEST OF THE WEST Oak available for a little more. I mix the two. Best of the West is OK and has able 1/3rd rubble at the bottom. Sometimes some rocks.
I have bought bags of Royal Oak. My neighbor wants me to try his ‘Green Egg Organic’ lump that he bought with his green egg that he has never used. I have been mostly going with cheap and available because it is cheap and available and I haven’t even run into a premium bag of wood to burn to get curious.
I did try some premium chunks of wood for the Weber vs the Weber chunks and they do home inbetter sizes for more $$. Apple wood is apple wood, afaik.
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Unless you’re purchasing wholesale from a culinary supplier there isn’t a ton a difference and not many people need to be ordering whole logs by the cord.
Size is the important part. Bigger chunks put out more smoke, cleaner smoke, and last longer. From what I’m told it’s especially important with a kamado where reloading during the cook can be a problem.
I’ve heard good things about various cheap mesquite charcoals, seems to be a big thing with briquettes too. Some of the pricier ones are kiawe, which is Hawaiian mesquite.
Honestly seems like that exact Mexican mesquite charcoal was the good one up until recently.
The green egg stuff seems to be one of the new fancy ones everyone is after. Along with Fomo and Kamado Joe Big Block. The selling point is mostly 100% hardwood, in bigger chunks, and less debris. Which kinda solves a lot of my issues with lump.
I found a lot of construction debris in the cheap brands. Especially Royal Oak. Including 3-5" pieces of pvc pipe, obviously pressure treated wood, bits of galvanized metal, and a lot of plastic twine and sheeting. The small chunks and abundant dust meant fire either choked out or burnt out so quick it wasn’t worth using.
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I live near the beach and, every weekend, one of my neighbors smokes various meats. The aroma surrounds the neighborhood with delicious flavor vapors and probably annoys the vegans to no end.
Now I want a big green egg even more.
I saw today they are now selling a Joe Jr. 13.5" Kamado Joe.
In the bay area I would see Green Egg’s available on CL fairly frequently.
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