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Ribs done? Halp! Don\'t know how to tell...

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EggheadOwl
EggheadOwl Posts: 31
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I searched the world over...and thought I could find it,
but, nope I didn't (thhhpppbbb)
and my ribs are done?(maybe?!?!)

Now, you gotta admit Roy and Buck would be proud of that little diddy. ;)


I have searched the searchy thing for 20 minutes and I can't seem to find whether ribs are done by temp( 160 deg. like pork?) or if you use "time"(which is hardly ever used with the egg from what I gather)

My small rack of baby backs have been on the egg for about 2 hours and are at 136 degrees. I'm cooking them at 200 degrees or so.

are they done?
:blink:


Thanks!
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  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
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    At 200 degrees baby backs will take 6-7 hours. Bump it to 250* and they will still take 5 hours or so.

    Look for the meat to pull back from the ends of the bones 1/2" or so, and look for them to bend in half under their own weight when you pick them up with a pair of tongs. You can check by using a toothpick to see if there is little to no resistance when you insert it.

    You can also take internal temps - shoot for 185-190* - but this is not quite as reliable a measure.
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  • EggheadOwl
    EggheadOwl Posts: 31
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    Thank you! The temp probe went in fairly easy, but I've been cooking them at 200 so the temp range thing might be even more unreliable. Can you even get anything up to 185 internal cooking it at only 200?

    I will check them in a bit, and wrap them in foil for the a time at the end I guess.

    thanks again!
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  • BayouMark
    BayouMark Posts: 284
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    Fidel nailed it.
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  • EggheadOwl
    EggheadOwl Posts: 31
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    I wonder where I read you could do them in 3 hours? Oh well. Looks like we'll be eatin' around 9pm. :)

    I've wrapped them in foil, put them on the grid( removed the rib rack) and bumped it up to 250*. I'll check them in an hour or so.

    Good thing we recorded the Falcons game! Fidel, you could have just about yelled me the answer - we're up the road from you a bit in Gainesville. :)

    thanks again!~
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  • EggheadOwl
    EggheadOwl Posts: 31
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    I do have a kooky question though - if pork is 160* internal - why do ribs need to go to 185* or whatever.
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  • Car Wash Mike
    Car Wash Mike Posts: 11,244
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    You have a few (3)? hours to go. I would get the temp up a little. 250ish

    Mike
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  • EggheadOwl
    EggheadOwl Posts: 31
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    Thanks mike...i was able to pull the end bone away and let's just say it didn't "fall off" by any stretch. The ribs are at 162 internal now, but we're going to leave them on a little longer I guess.

    I have learned a valuable lesson though - always read and re-read the temp/cooking times for each food. :)

    We've started eating the steamed squash now. 30 minutes from now, we'll eat some cooked apples( brown sugar and apples, cooked down to squishy) and then maybe by midnight we'll have ribs. ;) LOL
    The funniest thing is that we were home all day and could have started them at 10am, if I'd just read the directions closer! :)

    ahhh,live and learn!
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  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
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    They'll be done from a safety standpoint at 137*.

    They won't be tender until the connective tissues convert and the fat renders. That takes up until 180+ before that process completes.
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  • EggheadOwl
    EggheadOwl Posts: 31
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    Ahhh gotcha. Thank you. Well, the last one fell off when I turned them. We tasted it and of course it tasted wonderful, but it was dry. Of course, it got half-way separated about an hour ago, so maybe the rest won't be quite as dry.

    Thanks for the help everyone. They will probably look better than they taste, so I'll take some photos - but this is our first try on ribs and I'm sure next time I'll be more prepared and have the right info, etc.

    Everything else on our new egg has turned out wonderful!

    We even spatchcocked a chicken the other night and it was, without a doubt the best chicken I have ever eaten in my life! There was a little leftover from dinner and the next day I made a "chicken BLT" with it and it tasted like it was from some fancy dinner joint or something - well, other than the fact that fancy places don't usually serve BLT's.
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  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
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    Believe it or not, dry ribs are usually underdone. They do from dry to "moist and yummy" then back to dry again.
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  • BullyC
    BullyC Posts: 142
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    Hi eggheadowl

    The other nice guys gave great advice on doneness,
    insert a toothpick in fat part of meat, if goes in easy done, if goes in like butter, will be fall off bone.
    remember, when bbqing, stop worrying about time, cook
    till done. yeah time is a barometer, but checking for
    doneness or even over done is critical.
    good luck Bullyc
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