Cook #1 -- Smoked Pork Loin and Boneless Beef Ribs

For my first cookout on the GMG Daniel Boone, I prepared a 2.5 to 3 pound piece of pork loin, and six boneless beef ribs.  Here they are, prepared for the pit:  

The pork loin was seasoned liberally with "Pork Barrel BBQ All American Seasoning & Rub", which I found at Costo, and then coated with olive oil to help the spices penetrate the meat.  I let it sit like this in the refrigerator overnight.  The fridge sure smelled good when I went to grab a beer later that evening!

The beef ribs were prepared about four hours before cooking.  I applied a medium amount of "Montreal Steak Seasoning" and olive oil.  

Around noon, I started up the smoker.  It was May 2nd, the ambient temperature was about 52 degrees, and I ran the smoker in my garage due to a forecast of drizzle.  I used a couple of fans to ventilate the space properly.  The smoker heated to 180 degrees in about 15 minutes, and I was ready to begin!

Here they go!

I ran the smoker at 180 degrees for about an hour, and then I gave the meet a little "spritz" with a mixture of apple juice and worcestershire sauce.  It didn't seem like I was getting quite enough smoke, so I lowered the temp to 170.  That did the trick.  After an hour of that, I wrapped the beef ribs in tin foil.  Each rib was wrapped individually, and was then placed back in the smoker. 

At this point, I increased the temperature of the pit to 225 degrees.

The pork loin was finished in another hour or so, and I pulled it from the smoker with an internal temp of 148 degrees.  Afterwards, I let it rest for nearly an hour.  Here's what it looked like when I cut it into slices:

It's a little difficult to see, but it had a very nice smoke ring around the outside, and was tender and moist all the way through.  Next time, I think I'll take it off with an internal temp of 155 to see what the difference might be.

I let the ribs go a little longer after reading that some people had success with cooking them low and slow to an internal temp of 180 degrees.  When I removed the foil packets from the smoker, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ribs had begun to braise themselves in their own juices.  Here's what one looked like after a 30 minute rest:

The ribs had a very pronounced smoke ring, and were well done in the center.  Even so, they weren't particularly dry or chewy.  If I prepare these again, I think I'll pull them sooner to see if they are juicier and more tender, though.

Next up:  Spare Ribs.  Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!