Just smoked my first rack of ribs, ever!

I used Steve' Memphis Dry Rub. Had to spend $30 on all the spices that I didn't have!
Let the rub sit on them over night, and had them on the grill by ten. I'm using a horizontal barrel smoker, so I built the fire in the side box using Kingsford & apple wood. Kept the temperature at 225 for 5 hours. All the small pieces (the parts that were cut off the ribs) were done at about 3 hours. The four racks didn't have the 1/4" shrinkage that Steve had talked about, but I didn't want to ruin them so I took them off the grill. They were cooked through and tasted GREAT, but didn't have that "fall off the bone" texture. Well that didn't please the wife much. So we wrapped the ribs in foil and put them in the oven at 220 for 2 1/2 hours and that made all the difference in the world! Not sure if this has ever happened to any of you, so let me know if I had done something wrong.

Mitch

If you have a whole foods type store in your area that sells spices in bulk containers you can save a lot buying that way.

You can also get your spices online at places like http://www.americanspice.com/ It's much cheaper than the store.

Wayne...

You have to buy rub spices in the bulk section of the grocery store or you'll go broke making rubs. You'll be amazed how much less money you'll spend.

I have cooked the ribs the same way you have but after 3 hours on the pit wrap them in foil and finish the last 2 - 21/2 hours wraped and it will make a big difference.

Thanks for the replies, will try to find spices in bulk, but how long of a shelf life do they have? Will also try wrapping the ribs up in foil and see how that works.

Mitch

Shelf life? Now that is the question of the day isn't it. You should... no you must, find a place with a high turn over. The shelf life of any spice (ground spice at least) is 6 months to a year and I can almost guarantee that the spices on the grocery store shelves are well on their way to their death. I can not believe the difference in flavor when buying bulk spices. You should either buy or re-use the spice containers and only buy what you will need. For example, I don't use much cardamom (just for curries) so I only buy a few ounces. On the other hand I use a ton of paprika and chile powder, so I buy a bunch of that at a time. BTW I can normally get a grocery store size amount of spice for around $.35,.