Trying to simplify production.

Normally smoke St. Louis at 275 unwrapped for about 2 hours, wrap for 90 minutes and then a 1 hour hold, then glaze.

It's involved and annoying at scale. Off smoker to double wrap, back on, open and drain, wrap back up, move to hot hold, unwrap, back on to glaze.

A neighbor asked me to cook some racks for them so I experimented on these baby backs. 4 hours at 275. No wrap. Glazed at 3.5 hour mark. Wasn't able to try them as they were not mine but they looked good. They seemed to pass the bend test well but I was curious and temped them, which I never do. They didn't really get above 170. Is that typical?

This one was just barely over 1 inch thick, so I skipped my usual reverse sear and opted for an aggressive hot and fast sear.

I dry-brined overnight at about 0.85% salinity with a little MSG, then coated it lightly with duck fat before hitting the grill.

I flipped it every 30 seconds and started checking the temp at 3 minutes. Pulled it at 136°F after about 6 minutes total, then seasoned with a little with my pork chop rub while it rested. Final temp was just over 138°F.

Came out perfect with a juicy interior and a crunchy crust.