Weekend cooking, Finally!!

ronbeaux

<p />Drove home from Colorado last weekend, straight to work the rest of the week. And finally I get to cook low and slow. Here are the Baby Backs ready to put on the egg. Tomorrow is a brisket flat's turn in the egg.
These ribs are going on the large at 240 till done. About 5 hours I hope.

SMITTYtheSMOKER

How long until we move on to the "breast competition" ?<br><br>Post edited by: SMITTYtheSMOKER, at: 2005/06/09 11:01

Pharmeggist

ronbeaux,
Let me know how the ribs turn out. I would like to try cooking them tommorrow on Sunday. I have NEVER cooked ribs before ever. How do you check the temperature on them to tell if they are done. Anyone else out there that reads this please post some follow ups. I just bought some Bad Byron's "Butt Rub" from my local Green egg dealer and a 20lb Bag of Green egg lump. [p]Thanks in advance, Pharmeggist

[ul][li]http://buttrub.com[/ul]

ronbeaux

Pharmeggist,
I'm not sure of the exact temperature. I've cooked so many I don't even check it. Plus its hard to get a probe placed in a perfect spot to do the checking. A good rule of thumb is to look for when the meat starts pulling away from the edges of the bones and a fork will tear through real easy. Check out Whiz's site for the 3-1-1 method. It's hard to mess up. I like to put mine on at 240 to 260 indirect and just baste them when they look like they might dry out. Usually they are done in 5 hours and fork tender.[p]I'm cooking them that way in Mobile for Saturday. Sunday will be chicken legs and wings and maybe that cheese bread thing.

gdenby

Pharmeggist,[p]On a metal grill, I never had ribs that were more than barely edible. On the Egg, they are sooo much easier.[p]There are a couple of things that help with success. Assuming you have St. Louis style trimmed ribs, make sure that the membrane on the bone side is pulled off. It can be difficult, but a sharp knife to start the peel and some paper towels to help grab work pretty well.[p]Give them a good rub. If you're not ready to start the egg, wrap in plastic and set them in the 'fridge. Otherwise, let them sit out, coming up to room temp while you get the Egg goin'.[p]Sneak up on a dome temp of 250. Try not to overshoot, and let the temp hold for at least ten minutes.[p]You must have something to block the direct heat from the coals. I find that some HD aluminum foil rolled into a little pan shape works well enough on the bottom grate.[p]Place the ribs on a raise grate. A rib rack works pretty well if you have a lot of ribs. Let them cook for about 1.5 hours. Turn them and place them in different positions, in order to even out the cooking effects. [p]The easiest way to get really tender ibs is to take them out of the rack after three hours, and plav=ce them meat side down in either an aluminum foil pan or foil pouch with enough semi-sweet fluid, like a mixture of apple cider and cider vinegar, that half the rack is immersed. An hour sealed in the aluminum should make them almost fall apart.[p]Then finish on the grill for 5. - 1 hour at a slightly higher temp. Let them crisp for maybe 15 minutes, then glaze them with sauce. Wait 15 min., flip, glaze again. Wait 15, and your done.[p]To test, pick up a slab, and see if it droops under its own weight. And/or, grab a bit of meat, and tug. It should come away in your fingers.[p]Every session varies slightly, so you do need to check every so often to see if the temp is holding, or the meat is getting too dry.[p]gdenby[p]

AZ Traveler

gdenby,[p]Thanks for this tip. I stacked my last ones in foil with apple juice but some wasn't as tender as others. I think the pan would work well. Thank again, AZ

ronbeaux

<p />Pharmeggist,
Here are the ribs at 3.5 hours. Thinned a little KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce with apple juice to keep them moist. Not quite there yet. Soon!!

Pharmeggist

ronbeaux,
I appreciate all the information from you and from all those who responded too! I am happy to report that my first ribs cooked were egg-cellent. I used the plate setter inverted with an aluminum pan in the center... I put water and liquid smoke in the pan with some red wine vinegar. I stabilized the temperature of the grill at 300 degrees. I peeled the membrane off the baby back ribs. I used Bad Byrons Butt rub on the ribs. I put the ribs bone side down on the grill rack above the drip pan. It took two and a half hours for the ribs to hit 160... I took them off and wrapped them in foil and added "sweet baby ray's" barbeque sauce and left them on the grill for about 5 minutes... brought inside and got my fixins ready. TO tell you how good they were lets just say I put down a whole rack of ribs in one sitting... they were that good.[p]Thanks again, Pharmeggist