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Bad Rib Weekend
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Knox
Posts: 6
I found car wash Mike's rib recipe on the forum & gave it a shot last weekend. Results were far from good & thought I followed on the money. Smoked 2 full racks of loin back ribs from Costco at 225 for about 5.5 hours. Sprayed with apple juice 50/50 mix every hour & finished with some que sauce for the last 30 minutes. Flavor was good but the pork was tough as leather. I prefer 'fall off the bone' ribs & wondering if I need to use some foil for the next attempt. Did I miss a step?
Comments
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Dependant on the thickness of the ribs 5.5 hrs. seems kind of long to me. That and the toughness issue kind of sounds like dried out over cook. I usually pull back ribs off 3.5-4.0 hrs. tops and I never foil. Run my egg or kettle between 225 and 250.
Large BGE, Weber 22.5 kettle, Weber Genesis
Cobourg, Ontario -
Steve
Caledon, ON
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Yeah, my first ones were on 5 hrs. they were moist and tender but a bit under done ... should have left mine another hour I think...Never eat anything passed through a window unless you're a seagull ... BGE Lg.
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250º on the dome, which would be about 225º on the grill level. I used a rib rack for the first 4 hrs. and then laid them out for saucing in the last hour.Never eat anything passed through a window unless you're a seagull ... BGE Lg.
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@ad18... pretty tough to overcook them to where they are dried.
dried and tough is undercooked. dried and brittle is over cooked.
sapres can safely hang out 8 hours at 250 and still be fine.
loin backs can sometimes go 6 hours too.
hard to screw them up. many folks under cook, from fear of overcooking
ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante -
Hi Knox. Looks like you have already received some eggcellent advice. A dry tough rib is an undercooked rib. You'll soon learn to judge by looking at them how fast they are cooking. Or you can always check the internal temp. You should be in the 160s after a couple hours, and seeing a little browning on the surface.
225 is really low. Even if I want to cook low and slow, I like to put some heat to it at the start....even as high as 300, then work toward 240-250 after an hour. Just sounds like you needed to be cooking a little hotter. Foil is your friend as well. No matter what method you are shooting for, if your ribs are well-browned and developing a crust, but still tough (you can tell be lifting them or with a toothpick), then it will help to wrap them in foil for the finish. Usually, but not always, they are pulling back from the bone....so that is something to watch.
Just some ideas, but be careful if you decide to go by dome temp and time that you have seen written somewhere.
Happy cookin, and better luck next time! Cheers
Chris
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Here's a key bit of BGE info that will help with your low&slow cooks. (I found this after hosing up a couple myself!) Temperatures for BGE cooks reference calibrated dome temperature which can run 20-40*F hotter than your cooking grid temperature. So if you are used to doing ribs at around 220*F on another smoker rig then you will need around 250-260 on the BGE to get the same response.
Always use the toothpick test (works better for me than the bend test) to see if they are finished.
Check out the following site www.greeneggers.com forum page left hand side BGE Quick Reference part 1 and 2 for lots of basic info and links.
Welcome!
Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. -
can someone explain the "toothpick" test.greygoose
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A toothpick should slide in easily between the bones.
I use the more common, but perhaps not as accurate, bend test. Pick up one end of the slab with tongs. If it almost folds in half under its own weight, its done. Or I just grab an exposed bone, and see if I can start to pull it out of the meat.
My last ribe cook I had 2 racks, one of which was thicker than the other, and probably about 20% heavier. When it came time for the test, the smaller began to split in half, and the larger only bent to about a 60 degree angle. I removed the smaller, and bumped the temperature up to 300+. I didn't wait too long, because dinner was already late. Portions of the small rack were just right, but other portions were clearly dried to the point of char. The thicker was still not quite right. Fairly chewy, and some portions did get charred from the higher heat.
The CWM method is very good. Frequent dome opening can really slow the cook down. I usually only open twice towards the end to check for doneness and basting.
Also, it is O.K. to let the slabs come up to room temperature before Egging. For me, that sometimes cuts cooking time down by nearly an hour.
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Redemption!! Had the courage to try the ribs again Saturday & they were perfect! Cooked at 250 dome temp for about 6 hours & they were fall off the bone & very moist. Great ribs...thanks for the advice. Toothpick method works well to check for timing. Looking forward to my next cook.
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Great job Knox-one ? Did you spary every hour during the cook or just let it go for the duration...curious here as I have had mixed results both ways-partial to not spraying (too lazy...) but...Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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I sprayed w/ the 50/50 mixture every hour plus drip pan w/ water. I'm not going to change a thing next time as they were a '10' in my humble opinion.
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Thanks for the feedback-may have to reevaluate my laziness, Still expect this BGE to take care of more than cooking errors by the masses!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. -
Toothpick test works well. Also you will learn after a few attemps to look at how far the meat is pulling away from the bone. This may be silly but did you make sure and remove the membrane before placing on your egg? Keep trying, it will get better as you gain experience.
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I'm curious, did you wrap with foil at any time??Geaux Tigers!!!
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I did some baby backs this weekend also. Temp was between 250 and 280 dome, spritzed every hour after first hour, foiled after three hours, then about thirty for the finish. Ribs were very tender, but I thought a little on the dry side. Good eats, but not my best ribs ever.Geaux Tigers!!!
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No foil used. Had similar results when I cooked a few weeks ago where they were tough & 'dry'. I'm thinking you might want to leave on a little longer. Seems opposite but the meat was very tender at 6 hours. Very ends were starting to dry out so keep an eye on them with the longer smokes.
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I always put my St. Louis cut spares on 7 hours before I need them. They are usually done before that, but every now and then a thick slab needs that time. If they are done early, I take them off, double wrap them in foil, and put them in a cooler. It also depends on how full the cooker is sometimes if it is packed tight enough to affect air flow between the slabs. I usually use the bend test to check for doneness.Large BGE Decatur, AL
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I do use foil and have always had great results with my ribs. I either use the 3-2-1 or 2-1-1 method depending on the ribs and never had any complaints. As I respect the hardcore individuals that refuse to use foil, it is your money and your food. Try both ways to find what you like, and if you do use foil don't be ashamed to use it.
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Not a hard core thing. I have done both and prefer the texture without foil
Steve
Caledon, ON
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I do use foil and have always had great results with my ribs. I either use the 3-2-1 or 2-1-1 method depending on the ribs and never had any complaints. As I respect the hardcore individuals that refuse to use foil, it is your money and your food. Try both ways to find what you like, and if you do use foil don't be ashamed to use it.
+1 on that. I use the 3-1-1 and will never go back. There just that good...... i guess i should mention that this would be for baby backs. I dont want them to fall off the bone. i want to pull the meat off. other types of ribs may require a 3-1.5-1
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Me too on foil. I go 3-2-0 @ 250-275 dome, the 0 being unwrapped and on to my gas grill for a little char and light sauce (I prefer wet). Been doing it like this for a while and I cannot see how I could improve the recipe at all!
-BD
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No foil used. Had similar results when I cooked a few weeks ago where they were tough & 'dry'. I'm thinking you might want to leave on a little longer. Seems opposite but the meat was very tender at 6 hours. Very ends were starting to dry out so keep an eye on them with the longer smokes.
These were not tough at all, very tender. Bones pulled back. Just a little dry. Will foil longer and or earlier next time
Geaux Tigers!!! -
removed post
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For fall off the bone ribs foiling is the way to go. I'm in the 250 degrees dome temp, NEVER lower. One hour in foil 250 degrees dome with indirect setup and those ribs will get nice and happy and fall off the bone.
Good luck
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