Ribs BBQ Shootout: Weber charcoal grill vs. Pitts and Spitts BBQ pit

November 8, 3:56 PMSacramento Outdoor Cooking ExaminerJohn Wallace

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Sacramento Outdoor Cooking Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Ready to flame grill ribs after 3:45 on the BBQ pit

Can a $300 Weber charcoal grill turn out BBQ ribs tasting as good as a $3,000 custom pit? We tried both this weekend, and grillers and BBQers will want to see our results and recipes.

The Equipment

Weber Performer, about $300
The Performer is a standard 22” Weber charcoal grill (“The Weber”) with a gas lighter, which I believe is indispensible as it allows one to start the charcoal without mess or fuss, resulting in more frequent use. Gas grills are easy and convenient, but for a tiny bit more work charcoal gives a much better flavor.

Pitts and Spitts, about $3,000 shipped with accessories

Pitts and Spitts of Houston’s U2436 (“The Pit”) is often regarded to be the finest pit barbeque for the home available. It has an offset firebox and uses cordwood for fuel. Mine has an optional flame griller that allows grilling over an open fire.

BBQ Meat
The ribs were Cryovaced Swift spareribs from Costco. We used one rack for each piece of equipment for our tests. Costco spares and back ribs are usually of excellent quality and the price is always good. The racks came trimmed roughly St. Louis Style (without the rib tips or brisket bones) but we finish-trimmed as shown in the slideshow below.

The Shootout
Each rack was cut and treated identically. The purpose was to conduct a blind taste test with BBQ’d pork ribs, each rack cooked on a different piece of equipment. The judges were our family of three. As the visual of the finished products was indistinguishable from one another, I believe this non-scientific test was valid, albeit a very small sampling. Factors evaluated in the taste test were appearance, taste, and texture.

The Recipe

The entire recipe and procedure is shown below in the slideshow. Recipes from BBQ4Dummies.com never omit any step, and ingredients for everything is given with one exception only, our barbeque sauce. We’re working on a bottling deal so that recipe remains a camp secret.

Trimming
The skirt (flap) on the back of the racks was removed, as was the membrane. The final cut was to eliminate more flap meat to end up with basically rectangular racks, consisting of only the bones and finger meat (the meat between the bones).

Rub
This time we slapped the purists in the face and rubbed in about two tablespoons of Wright’s Liquid Smoke on the front side of both racks. I was concerned that the Weber-cooked ribs might not have a smoky flavor, but wanted to keep each rack consistent. I don’t know if the liquid smoke made any difference, but it did not detract from the outcome. I would do it again.

The rub is a discovery that the family loves, and it’s Kirkland’s Sweet Mesquite Seasoning from Costco. While most of us BBQ geeks take pride in our homemade rubs, this one is perfect for ribs. The primary ingredient is sea salt. It’s a very course rub and we use it sparingly or it’s overpowering. I used about two level tablespoons per side, spread it out thoroughly, and rubbed it in with my hands. I would not use it on anything but pork ribs due to its pungent, sweet smoky flavor. Once the rub was applied, the ribs were “booked” (front meat side to front meat side) wrapped and refrigerated while the fire was being prepared.

Cooking
See cooking log below. The Weber ribs were cooked for a total of 5 hours, and the pit ribs for 3:45. Ribs were cooked at 225 degrees on both units. To finish, we added another step; we grilled each rack on the flame grill for about 15 minutes, turning once. This added a nice bark and crunch and may have improved the flavor. This is a new process for us, and I will make it a part of the routine from now on.

Preparing the Fires
As I’ve said before I use only hardwood, preferably Mesquite, lump charcoal. The Kingsford-style briquettes are largely fillers and chemicals and do not impart the same flavor as 100% hardwood. I used one of the two charcoal holders for the Weber, and put in two large handfuls of charcoal. That was to be the last charcoal added to the Weber.

The pit takes cordwood, and we used three 16” logs of seasoned white oak, ignited with the gas lighter supplied with the pit.

Side Dishes
The ribs were served with the family-requested baked potato and LC’s Barbequed Green Beans. The bakers were an experiment. They were first scrubbed, then punched with a paring knife, and then treated with a coating of garlic olive oil and rubbed with a generous coating of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. They were then wrapped in foil and set aside. Total cook time in the pit was 2:45.

Cooking Log
2:30 pm fires started. 3 logs in the pit, 2 large handfuls charcoal in the Weber
3 :00 Weber is at 240 deg, ribs started. Pit is at 165 deg
3:15 Weber down to 230, added a chunk of hickory. Pitt is 300.
3:45 Weber at 200, added 2 chunks of apple. Pit still 300
4:15 Weber at 225, Pitt at 250. Ribs started in the pit and added the two foil-wrapped baked potatoes. Turned ribs in Weber.
4:45 one more log in Pitt, 3 more apple chunks in Weber—added 2 whole chickens to the pit as an afterthought and realizing we were out of smoked chicken salad.
5:30 1 more log in pit, 3 more chunks in Weber.
6:00 1 small log in the pit, 3 more apple wood chunks in the Weber
6:30 3 more apple chunks in the Weber
7:00 pulled bakers from the pit, put in the oven on Warm, and added another log, 2 more apple chunks to the Weber
7:30 pulled the chickens 163 deg. Added three more apple chunks.
8:00 The pit ribs passed the doneness tests, consisting of a visual, taste test, and having the far half of the rack crack in the middle when picked up with tongs placed in the middle of the rack. The Weber ribs failed the tongs test, passed the other two. As it was getting late, I transferred the racks from each BBQ to the flame grill on the pit and sauced each rack with the BBQ sauce for a glaze.
8:15 dinner served

The Taste Test
Each rack was placed on the cutting board and each rib was individually cut. Two paper plates were served, each with the cut ribs from each BBQ. On the bottom, I marked a “Q” for the pit ribs, and a “W” for those from the Weber. I asked my daughter to put them in random placement on the dining table so I too would not know the difference.

As stated, the taste tests were to include appearance, taste, and texture. While the visuals were identical, the pit ribs won hands down. They were fall-off-the-bone juicy and tender, and the smoky taste was phenomenal. I have probably cooked over 100 rib racks, and would enter these in any competition. By mutual agreement we are all very critical of my outdoor cooking, and we agreed that these ribs are the best I’ve ever done, and the best we’ve ever had.

The Weber ribs were OK, but the texture was much more firm, and they were not as smoky. While my wood chunk usage seemed near obscene at a total of 20--I use 2 in the Cookshack for the same process--, the flavor did not come through well. In an attempt to isolate the differences,several factors could contribute and be considered:

• The Weber needed constant replenishment of fuel, requiring the removal of the lid each time. The pit wood is added to the firebox so the hood over the food is never opened. It’s possible the smoke didn't have a chance to fully penetrate the ribs.
• The distance from the edge of the charcoal fire to the near edge of the ribs was 11” in the Weber. In the pit, the distance was 32”. Although both temperatures were held at 225 degrees, one could speculate that the pit ribs were not subjected to direct fire heat, and the Weber ribs were. The actual fire in the pit is much hotter, probably 350-400 degrees; the thermo in the Weber is right over the fire and it's much less intense than the pit fire, which was necessary due to the close proximity of the meat to the fire.
• Even though the cook time for the Weber ribs was 5 hours, opposed to 3:45 in the pit, they probably needed more time. They were starting to dry up, so next time I'd consider mopping with the BBQ sauce cut with vinegar and a little garlic oil during the process
• It may be wise to use more charcoal and less wood, as the charcoal does burn longer and more evenly. I think some of the smoky flavor could be lost, however.
• Par boling may be a helpful step, although it's frowned up by the competition folk.
• The Weber is designed for high heat grilling, not low and slow BBQ. A very highly respected BBQ competitor in Georgia who won a rib shootout comp against Bobby Flay  swears by cooking ribs at 350 degrees on the grill while mopping. That should be tried as well, although I can't imagine obtaining the same smoky flavor.

For the side dishes, the baked (barbequed) potatoes were superb. The inside visual gave a slight brown tint from the smoke, which wasn’t appealing, but they were soft and had a rich, subtle smoky taste. I preferred these over oven-baked; the rest of the family would opt for the overn-baked spuds.  LC’s Barbequed Green Beans is a recipe we’ve featured previously, and it’s a real winner. Consider trying both.

While the ribs from the Pitts and Spitts pit were noticeably better in all taste tests, the Weber method has potential but needs refining. For those with gas grills who’d like to try grilling pork ribs, read Stylie’s Grilled Baby Back Pork Ribs

There’s a reason why good BBQ usually comes from a pit with an offset firebox, but for home BBQers with a Weber on their deck, we did prove that ribs can be done on them with some success.

If you liked this article, you will probably enjoy these too:

How to Smoke and BBQ Salmon

Three Delicious Ways to BBQ a Rib Roast

World Class Tri Tip Steak