Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Not so good turbo ribs

RichardBronosky
RichardBronosky Posts: 213
edited April 2012 in EggHead Forum
I made ribs for the first time yesterday. Because I was running very late I cooked them hot and fast. The flavor was out of this world (recipe to follow), but the meat was tough as all get out. You could only get it off the bone with a knife.

How are turbo ribs supposed to be done, and what should be expected? Can they be "fall off the bone"?
I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012

Comments

  • Gato
    Gato Posts: 766
    I had the same experience with the ones I tried. Didn't have to use a knife, but not the way I like them.
    Geaux Tigers!!!
  • RichardBronosky
    RichardBronosky Posts: 213
    edited April 2012
    Ribs going on:
    image

    Ribs coming off:
    image

    Rub Recipe:
    1/2 cup kosher salt (*not* table salt)
    1/2 cup dark brown sugar
    2 tbsp dry mustard
    2 tbsp garlic powder
    2 tbsp onion powder
    2 tbsp paprika
    2 tbsp chili powder
    3 tbsp ground black pepper
    1 tbsp ground ginger
    1 tbsp rubbed thyme
    1 tbsp cumin
    1 tsp nutmeg
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    What temp cook at? Did you try to get internal temp of ribs ( I know tough)? Usually when mine are done part of the bone protrudes. Just my initial thought.
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • Eggdam
    Eggdam Posts: 223
    I usually lift a rack if it bends easy and starts to crack its done.  My guess is the weren't over 190.  I also use the toothpick method lately.  Just push a tooth pick between the rib bones and it should slide in and and out like butter.
  • KingRover
    KingRover Posts: 115
    edited April 2012
    Time? Temp? Baby backs I presume? I just did some turbo spares yesterday
    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1178810#Comment_1178810
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,167
    +1 with the toothpick test-best way especially if you have to cut the rack(s) to fit the grate.
    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.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    I tried them for the first time last weekend and they were pretty good although a foil stage was involved. Babybacks are on sale here this week and I'm going to try a no foil version. Ribs are a personal thing and everyone looks for a different texture (at least us amateurs). Hard to beat a long slow cook IMHO

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Loinbacks, 350° for about and hour and a half. I measured the internal temp at a lot of places and got 145° to 165°.

    I thought the target temp for pork was 140°. What is with this 190°? I guess I screwed that up. They definitely didn't pass the bend test.

    The good news is that tonight I put a half rack of the left-overs wrapped in foil in the oven at 250° for 3 hours and they were perfect.
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
  • I usually lift a rack if it bends easy and starts to crack its done.  My guess is the weren't over 190.  I also use the toothpick method lately.  Just push a tooth pick between the rib bones and it should slide in and and out like butter.
    Where is this 190° documented?

    Would the toothpick method work with an instant read thermometer?
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Target temp for pork being 'safe' is 140.
    You need to realize that safe and done are two different things

    Pork tenderloin is safe and done at 130 (ok, i'll play nice and say 140). Pork butt is safe at 140 too. But it aint done til around 200
    Same for ribs

    Roasts are fine cuts. Tender. Not much exercise. They are tender to begin with, so we just need to make them 'safe' and that is enough to call them 'done'

    But butts and ribs work constantly. Ribs work every time you breathe. Same for the pig.

    They're tough

    Grab a dumbell and do curls all day every three seconds, and your biceps will be jacked and tough.

    We can cook them til they are safe, at 140, but they'll still be tough. But the magic of those cheap cuts comes when you counterintuitively cook them to 200 or so

    They fall apart. The cillagen cant take it anymore and turns
    (literally ) into gelatin. All soft and succulent

    So yeah. Yer ribs were 'done' at 140 if you wanted them safe and if they were tenderloins. But they werent tenderloins. They needed to be cooked until they cried uncle. And that doesnt happen until they slog thru 150-190. And then they are 'done' not in terms of safety, but in terms of desired tenderness
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • @stike Thanks again for a perfect explanation. I need that kind of info to learn and retain it. I can confidently say the hog didn't die in vain.
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
  • Eggdam
    Eggdam Posts: 223
    I usually lift a rack if it bends easy and starts to crack its done.  My guess is the weren't over 190.  I also use the toothpick method lately.  Just push a tooth pick between the rib bones and it should slide in and and out like butter.
    Where is this 190° documented?

    Would the toothpick method work with an instant read thermometer?
    I believe I pulled that information out of the BBQ Bible by Steve Raichlen.  You can actually just use and instant read thermometer carefully in the center of the bones in the middle of the rack.  I have found 190-200 is about what it takes to break down the meat.  Racks can vary a bit so 190 may be a little low.  By the way if you ever have access to a copy of BBQ Bible try his Romy's Ribs recipe with ginger-plum sauce.  I would have never made this recipe after reading it but it came highly recommended so I gave it a go and they are unreal.
  • SamFerrise
    SamFerrise Posts: 556
    No short cuts when it comes to ribs.  All the best recipes are low and slow to give the meat and connective tissue time to break down.  I do mine at 190-200 for 3-4 hours with no foil wrap.  Baby back or St Louis style are cooked the same way basically.  The rub recipe is to your own liking.

    Simple ingredients, amazing results!
  • field hand
    field hand Posts: 420

    I usually shoot for 200 as the pull temp. But if you find 200 in the middle of the rack, the thin end is above that and the thick end will be below that. If the middle is at 200 and the thick end generally passes the tooth pick test, I pull them. If the thick end isn't ready, I'll let them go a little longer realizing the middle and other end may be pushing over-done a bit. Just wondering how others check for the "200" point.

    Barry

    Marthasville, MO

  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487
    When they bend like this they're ready to go.

    image

    Mike

    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE
  • Cowdogs
    Cowdogs Posts: 491

    Wow... Those look great.  The meat pulling back on the bone like that was another clue they were close to done.

    When I am slow cooking and someone asks me what time the meat will be ready, I have to smile a bit as I explain that while I do know exactly when to take it off, I don't really know exactly what time that will be.

  • SteveWPBFL
    SteveWPBFL Posts: 1,327
    I'm a new turbo-rib convert. Sounds like you started with tough ribs, if you can do that. I use Costco baby backs. Cook on the Egg at 300F raised direct for total of ONE hour. Add rub prior to putting on the grill, sauce about ten minutes before pulling from the grill. The ribs don't bend or fall off the bone. But. They're juicy, flavorful, and easily pull off the bone. And, they're done in one hour! See Mickey's write up on them.
  • Gato
    Gato Posts: 766
    Even at the two hour mark with the higher heat, mine still had a long way to go. Just to say to cook at a certain temp, a certain way, for a certain time is gonna make for some dissapointing cooks. They may be done, just not done. I like the way bowhun's look. But that's just me.
    Geaux Tigers!!!