Long babyback smoke, advice needed

LeggoMyEgg0

Happy 4th!! I have a lot of food to cook today, and wanted to get a head start on my ribs, just three slabs of babybacks that I rubbed real good. I already put them on my Egg with indirect heat, dome temp around 190°F. My plan is to smoke them for around 6 hours, which is longer than I have ever smoked before, and I'd like some advice on how to keep them from drying out. I plan to baste the ribs with a mop sauce, and have water in a drip pan on the Egg plate setter. Any other ideas?
Thanks!

Brett

FlaPoolman

190° dome is low and hard to maintain. I do mine at 225-250 usually 5 hrs but have had them go 6 and still moist & tender.

mattm

Are you planning to cook at a 109 dome temp? From what I know that means your grate temp is going to be 20-30 degrees cooler. Not sure they will get to temp that way.

I cook mine at 250 dome for 5 hours and using the 3-1-1 method...unwrapped for 3 hrs, wrapped for 1-1.5 hours, then unwrapped for the last hour. Baby backs will be plenty tender and ready to eat or wrap in the cooler until serving time.

The foil wrapping with a bit of honey or beer or apple juice will make them plenty moist.

Stanley

Rib experts should chime in soon, but I'll bet they'll suggest that you bump the dome at least 50° Can't imagine an edible product coming from 190° dome. But I'm no expert in this field (I'm 1 for 2 at making good ribs... hey! I'm batting .500!)

Stanley

See? Listen to 'em and bump it up.

Dan in StL

The 3-1-1 method is your best bet. If you do a seach on here you should see plently written about it. Three hours low and slow (but like FlaPoolMan said, 190 is too low), the 1 hour wrapped in foil and then the final hour out of the foil and basted with sauce.

Or others, me included will just let them go for about the full 5 hours without the foil. If you're not opening the lid a lot, or have some liquid in your drip pan, that keeps them from drying out.

I'm going to be doing some today too. Good luck!

Mike in Abita

Here is what you need.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/06/baby-back-rib-class.html

stike

keep the lid shut,and you'll be fine. basting/mopping doesn't add moisture anyway. it adds flavor, sure. do it for flavor if you want. but the egg will retain plenty of moisture for you if you just keep the lid shut and let it go.

i'd check them around 5 hours in, and maybe every half hour after that. mine have been on 4.5 hours, and they aren't even close to bending in half when i pick them up in the middle

stike

...can't believe i didn't see the '190 dome' thing.

set your dome at 250. that'll be around 200-225 where the meat is.

if you go 190, you'll never get the ribs done. they couldn't ever reach 195/200. although you don't go by temp with ribs usually, that's pretty much what temp they are when they bend. and they'd take way more than 6 hours at 190/200