New Cobb Supreme Grill / First Cook Ribs

Cobb Grill America (US Distributor) had a huge one day Labor Day sale on all their products at 30% off and I needed some items for my standard Cobb Premier so I ordered them and after kicking it around for most of the day and evening, I ordered the Cobb Supreme Oval which is their largest cooker. The 30% off is the largest discount I have ever seen on these cookers. 

Ok, I decided to cook a slab of loin back ribs and a slab of St. Louis cut spare ribs for my first try with the new cooker. 

I prepped the ribs by trimming some of the fat off and then removing the membrane. I then sprinkled on a good rib rub about 20 minutes before the cook. I added about 20 all hardwood briquets to the charcoal basket for the cook. Used a couple chunks of hickory for smoke.

Got the cook started about daylight this morning.

Cooker just sitting there and doing it's thing...

The standard round Cobb Premier is about 11-1/2” in diameter on the cooking surface and my new oval Cobb Supreme measures about 12” X 17-1/4” on the cooking surface. 

I cooked the ribs at about 300F degrees and the cook took 2-1/2 hours. Did not use any foil.

Ribs sliced and ready for serving.

Nice looking ribs with lots of meat.

A couple of nice thick loin back rib pieces along with a couple of sides makes a fine meal.

Nice smoke ring on the rib pieces.

The first cook came out pretty good but I did have too much charcoal in the cooker and had to fight to keep the temperatures in check. Probably be a small learning curve on this oval cooker as compared to the smaller round Cobb.

Hasty-Bake Gourmet / Rib-O-Lator Rotisserie

I use the Rib-O-Lator in both my Weber Performer and my Green Mountain Daniel Boone grill but had not tried to set it up in my Hasty-Bake until yesterday. I did have to make a few adjustments to get it to work like I wanted and here is my first cook. 

I decided to cook a couple of slabs of pork loin back ribs, three pork steaks cut about 1/2” thick, and a big pork chop that I had left in the freezer. 

I trimmed the meat, and then added my rub, and when it got to the sweat stage, I put it on the Rib-O-Lator which was spinning on my all Stainless Steel Model 257 Gourmet Hasty-Bake cooker. 

I had figured that I would need about four hours in the cooker so I had loaded up enough fuel for that length of time and added a couple chunks of hickory for smoke. Everything looked good at the start of my first cook.

About 90 minutes into the cook, my pork steak and pork chop was nearing my finish temperature so I applied my glaze and let it cook an additional 15 minute and pulled them off of the cooker. 

When I pulled my steaks and chop, I also wrapped my ribs with some goodies. After an additional 45 minutes, the ribs were at 204-207 degrees internal which is my finish temp for this meat so at this point, they were unwrapped and placed bock on the cooker for my glaze. 

I let them glaze for about 15 more minutes and pulled them off the cooker. 

I had one of the pork steaks and a couple of ribs and some mashed potatoes with some  good ole white gravy made with bacon fat, and Mommy made up some cole slaw for my salad. Was way too much but the part I got eaten was sure good. 

The Rib-O-Lator worked fine in this cooker so I am sure it will see some more use in the future. 

Hasty-Bake Ranger Mini Review and 1st Cook

I have finely got around to setting up my new Hasty Bake Ranger 380SS to suit me and then doing my first cook on it.

I have it sitting on one of my service carts to make it much easier to use.

Built a Stainless Steel second cooking grate for the cooker. 

I also found a nice cover to fit this setup.

Next step was to cut a firebrick in half and then adding one whole firebrick to make my divider in the firebox for my fuse burns which is the method I use for my longer cooks in my Hasty-Bake cookers. 

I figured my first cook could probably take up to 5-6 hours so I loaded the charcoal pan about 80% full of the Stubb’s charcoal and added a few hickory chunks for smoke.

My first cook was to be a Slab of Ribs cooked over a half pan of BBQ  Pit Beans so the drippings would go into the pan to give the beans some additional flavor, and a pan of Au Gratin Potatoes. Wife made up a Wilted Baby Spinach Salad to go with this meal. 

Made up the pan of Au Gratin potatoes the evening before the cook and then did the same for my BBQ Pit Beans and put both into the fridge. 

Started my fuse burn the next morning just before daylight and it took about 45 minutes to get the cooker warmed up and on temperature for my cook.

While the cooker was coming up to temp, I prepped the ribs and then cut the slab into two pieces so they would fit over my pan of beans. At this time, I also added my brown sugar to the top of my bean pan. When the ribs reached the sweat stage, I started my cook. 

The fire in the charcoal pan just before I loaded the cooker...cooker temp was at 180 degrees and climbing slowly. 

This is about an hour into the cook and after I got the cooker vents adjusted for a nice steady burn.

The first item done were the potatoes.

Ribs were wrapped with some goodies about 2-3/4 hour into the cook.

The beans were the next item to get done and I hadn’t stirred in all the drippings and smoke skum when this picture was taken. 

The ribs were unwrapped and then glazed and this is my results for this treat. 

Ribs cut for serving. 

Wife’s Wilted Baby Spinach Salad to be served with this meal. 

Everything came out great and it sure was a wonderful lunch.

And for the Hasty-Bakers that are following my progress with this new Ranger and my method with the fuse burn to operate it, here is some additional information.

This cook took about 4-1/2 hours which is quicker than I expected and only used the first row or half of the loaded charcoal. This would calculate out to about 8-9 hours total cooking time with my 80% full load of charcoal if I would have needed it. And I think with a full load of charcoal, a fellow could get up to 10-11 hours total cooking time with this method. 

Cooker control was about what I expected and about the same as it is with my larger Hasty-Bakes. My planned cooking range for this cook was about 220-275 degrees measured on the surface of the cooking grid and I had both the intake and exhaust vents all the way open at the start of the cook. I shut the intake vent down to about half open about 1-1/2 hours into the cook. After the 2-1/2 hour mark, I closed the intake vent all the way. The last vent setting I had to make was to close the exhaust vent down to about half open and this just locked in the temperature to where I wanted it and I think it would have run for several more hours if I would have needed it. It’s almost a “set and forget” method of cooking on this smaller Hasty Bake Ranger (tailgater size) cooker. 

The food was great, the cooker operation was great, and I am very satisfied with my new cooker. 

Update: There is not as much room between the firebox and the ash pan so I had to cut down my normal 4" clearance to 2" between the firebox and the ash pan for this fuse burn. Worked fine at this distance. 

Holiday Rib Cook / Weber Performer / Slow 'N Sear

I did this cook for my youngest Daughter and SIL who were in from North Carolina for the Christmas Holiday. She always wants my ribs and rolls.

Ok, I started with some Rick Salmon’s BBQ Pit Beans which features about a pound and a half of pulled and chopped pork for this smaller pan of beans. This picture shows the beans before I put the sugar on top. 

This was the total cook which included 3 slabs of loin backs, some big baker potatoes, and the Pit Beans. My rolls will be done in the kitchen oven. 

I fired off about 12-14 good Wicked Good hardwood briquets in the corner of the Slow ‘N Sear and when they were ready, I poured in another full Weber chimney of the Wicked Good briquets into the device and then set up my cook. I placed my beans in the “basement” or on the charcoal grate as I wanted my rib drippings to go into them for that additional flavor. 

Next step was to use a Weber Rib Rack for my three slabs of loin back ribs right over the top of my Pit Beans. I then added some hickory chunks for my smoke wood and I was on my way.

Got an early start on this colder 17-18 degree overcast day but at least it should be dry for my cook. 

I did spin the ribs around later into the cook to be sure I had even cooking. 

Later into the cook when my ribs looked right, I wrapped them with some goodies and placed them back on the cooker. Also added some peanut oiled and SGH rubbed baking potatoes. 

I also glazed my ribs with a mix of some Blue’s Hog and other products later into the cook and just before they were ready to come off of the cooker. 

These Pit Beans were the last thing off of my Performer. 

The cook took a little over 4-1/2 hours at a temp range of about 275 - 300 degrees. 

Ribs cooling down some for slicing. 

My cloverleaf yeast rolls ready for the oven.

This several year winning Indiana State Fair recipe is the best I have ever tasted. I couldn’t help myself and ate one right out of the oven with some clover honey. 

Sure made a nice holiday meal for part of my family.

Brisket and Ribs on the Weber Ranch Kettle

A while back, I purchased a couple of those “prime” full packer cut briskets from Costco and hadn’t cooked one yet and I also had a couple of nice brisket flats to cook from and for a neighbor so a cook was born. And since I am always looking for an excuse to use the Ranch Kettle, I decided to just add a slab of ribs to kinda fill it up a little and give it a go. 

I trimmed the briskets and then injected them and added a rub and placed them into bags for an overnight stay in the fridge. 

Early the next morning at about 5:00am, I got the meat out of the bags, and then prepped a slab of St. Louis cut spares, and placed it all on the kettle.

Was a cold and rainy day for most of the cook and the Ranch Kettle did a fine job with this smaller load of meat. 

Wrapped the ribs at about 3-1/2 hours into the cook. I also wrapped the briskets with Rick’s Sinful Marinade as soon as they were ready and completed the cook in about 8-1/4 hours. 

The results of the cook and it did come out quite well. That cooker is a blast to run!!