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Babyback Ribs - need help

mr toad
mr toad Posts: 779
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
I really do need some help here – Friday I am going to cook/smoke baby backs – But Here Is Important Background Information – I am cooking for two other BGE couples – I must be on my “A” game –

Here is my plan – use Dr. BBQ’s method - first a rub, a ½ and ½ mix of Jack’s Rub and Bad Byron’s – 250 degrees - cook to temp with apple and cherry wood - and foil and add a sauce – need some help with sauce – something sweet maybe with apple –

Please make any suggestions – give advice – offer corrections

I must “make it happen”

Thanks, mr toad

See no Evil - Hear no Evil - Speak no Evil
                    Smoke no Evil

BGE - Mini, Small, Medium, Large
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Comments

  • cazzy
    cazzy Posts: 9,136
    I absolutely love Bone Suckin' Sauce on ribs.  It glazes very well and the taste is very appetizing.  

    I personally dont foil as the egg doesn't really require the step.  If they are BBQ vets, they may not like the results that foil produces.  I like to bite the meat off the bone and wasn't happy with my end result when I foiled my ribs on the egg.  They were overcooked and and didn't hold the bone at all...truly falling off.  

    Good luck!
    Just a hack that makes some $hitty BBQ....
  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    edited July 2012
    I personally cook BB's at a higher dome temp...like 300-350. I don't foil, and when I sauce, I use Bone Sucking Sauce(original).

    You can't cook ribs to temp....they need to be cooked until tender. It's too hard to try and cook ribs to temp.
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    I highly suggest either "hot bone sucking sauce" or "Stubbs sweet heat"

    My best ribs go like this:

    Raised direct @300 dome temp.

    Rub with DP red eye express.

    After the first two hours baste every 30 min with half allegro hot and spicy and half balsamic viniger.

    Coat with one of those two sauces 10 min before they are done.

    No flipping, no foil, no hassle.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • bbqlearner
    bbqlearner Posts: 760

    +1 to what Cazzy said. I personally don't foil the egg until I took it off the BGE to let it rest in the cooler because I like to have strong bark on my ribs. Just my 2 cent.

     

    Houston, TX - Buddy LBGE, Don SBGE, Tiny Mini & Shiny Momma Pitts n Spitts

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    quick comment, bblearner: no need to rest them in the cooler unless they are done way too early.  it will also preserve your hard earned bark.


    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • bbqlearner
    bbqlearner Posts: 760

    Thanks Stike. I've heard people saying you need to let the ribs rest in the foil to absorb moisture back so the ribs will be moist when you eat it. Not true?

    Houston, TX - Buddy LBGE, Don SBGE, Tiny Mini & Shiny Momma Pitts n Spitts

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,666
    im not big on the foil cooks but if im serving to a crowd i serve half dry ribs and half with a sweet sauced ribs
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002

    Thanks Stike. I've heard people saying you need to let the ribs rest in the foil to absorb moisture back so the ribs will be moist when you eat it. Not true?

    That's correct. That statement is not true.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • cazzy
    cazzy Posts: 9,136
    edited July 2012
     Posts: 15,027
    170 is well done for a roast (or steak, which is nothing more than a thin bit of a roast), but underdone for a brisket (or any barbecue meat).

    Why?

    Well. A roast is a fine cut, and barely needs any cooking at all. We cook it just as little as we can stand because it is ALREADY tender. Cook it to give it color and flavor, firm it up, and so that it isn't truly raw. But damn near raw

    So why take a brisket (or ribs, or butt) way beyond that? Easiest way to answer that is to cook one to the same temp you'd call a roast done. It'll suck. Tough and likely dry

    Wtf?

    A brisket or butt or ribs are NOT fine cuts. They do all the work. Ribs move constantly, the legs carrying the animal around. 

    What to do? 
    Take them to 195 or so, and slowly, if possible

    If you flinch, and take them off at 170, they'll be dry and tough, just like an overcooked roast

    But tease them along to 195, and the tough connective collagen will break down. The meat can no longer hold itself together, and the collagen will have literally been converted to gelatin. That gelatin makes the meat feel moist, disguising the fact that it really is dry, most of the water ('moisture') having been driven away back in the slow climb from 150-190. You ARE cooking it until it is dry. But thankfully the very thing that makes it tough (collagen) will convert to Jell-o (i'm not lying), and actually re-wet the meat, replacing the lost water with slippery gelatin. And since this Collagen is what made it tough, its being gone means it'll fall apart. Tender and if not 'moist' by roast standards, certainly succulent and soft, slippery. 

    You are not cooking a roast, so ignore roasting techniques. Just as this is not a lobster, you would not steam it for fifteen minutes for the first pound, and two minutes a pound thereafter
    Just a hack that makes some $hitty BBQ....
  • scooter759
    scooter759 Posts: 257

    Be careful to not overdue it on the wood chunks. One fist size peice (or smaller) of each should be fine.Let em smoke a little before you add the ribs. It's been mentioned here before to "smell" your smoke first, if it doesn't smell good don't put the ribs on til is does.  I learned that lesson the hard way. 

    Bone Suckin sauce is great on ribs if you can get it.

    I hit mine with some apple juice after the first two hours, then once more an hour later.

    Extra Large, 2 Large, Medium, Mini Max, Weber Summit gasser, Weber Q. Mankato, MN
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited July 2012
    the idea of resting originated from resting a roast or a steak.  even then, you wouldn't rest a roast (or steak) under foil or  in an insulated environment, because it would keep cooking.

    people here it seems (old forum, actually) started to conflate the two separate ideas: resting a roast; and keeping pulled pork warm when it's done early by wrapping in a cooler. they are unrelated ideas, but they got melded.

    it's been said that "juices" redistribute in a resting steak/roast.  not quite what is happening.  the roast cools, and that means less juice flows out when cut.  the cooler the meat is, the better able it is at holding juices in.  imagine the roast as leftovers in the fridge the next day.  juice is still there, but it certainly isn't running out when you cut a slice.

    so, we rest in order to allow the meat to continue cooking a bit (carryover) and then to actually cool.  that's why a half hour rest for a roast is often what's suggested.  takes a while.

    barbecue isn't moist because of juices in the meat.  those juices are mostly long driven off by overcooking the meat to 200 or so.  there's SOME moisture from water in the meat, but not as much as if you'd stopped cooking it at 140, and sliced it.  but then, for ribs or PP, it'd be tough.  so we overcook it, the moisture is unfortunately driven off (mostly), but the meat falls apart.  the melted fat and gelatin (from converted collagen) 're-wet' the meat in a sense.  fooling you into thinking it is moist (from water).  it's not really. 

    so, if you wrap and rest barbecue, you will steam it a bit, softening the bark.  the non-existent juices aren't there to rest, and the meat is well overcooked anyway, so no need to care about carryover.

    eat it right away.  or maybe allow the pulled pork to cool before shredding (i don't though).  if you try to allow it to cool in a cooler, you're fighting logic. it'll stay warm.

    and so that's why it's done.  simply to keep it warm.  your butt is done 4 hours before the guests arrive? cooler it.  it'll be piping hot four hours later.

    but it is ready to eat, and (IMHO) at its peak quality, the moment it comes off the BGE


    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • markprewitt
    markprewitt Posts: 20
    edited July 2012

    Everyone is different, and every rack of ribs is different.  What I have found that works for me is a slower/lower smoke.  I smoke my ribs at about 190-200 degrees mass-meat up with a plate setter for about 6 hours, basting once at the 3 hour mark (unless I am doing dry-rub only).  I use an aluminum pan and put an apple juice/cider and water mix in the pan and let it naturally steam upwards towards the bottom side of the meat.  At 6 hours, I judge the consistency of the meat and fire it up to about 250 degrees for about 30 minutes.  The ribs always have a full smoky flavored bark on top while not losing moisture causing the ribs to be too dry.  FYI: I NEVER wrap them in foil....it taints the taste (my opinion).  I hope they turn out great!!

  • bbqlearner
    bbqlearner Posts: 760
    Amazing facts. Constantly learning. Stike, did you go to meat school or something? Just kidding =))

    Houston, TX - Buddy LBGE, Don SBGE, Tiny Mini & Shiny Momma Pitts n Spitts

  • cazzy
    cazzy Posts: 9,136
    Amazing facts. Constantly learning. Stike, did you go to meat school or something? Just kidding =))
    I think he soothed himself with a t-bone instead of a teddy bear.  Just saying! :P
    Just a hack that makes some $hitty BBQ....
  • mr toad
    mr toad Posts: 779
    WOW !!
    a tremendous amount of information - thanks so much

    mr toad
    See no Evil - Hear no Evil - Speak no Evil
                        Smoke no Evil

    BGE - Mini, Small, Medium, Large
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited July 2012
    anything i know i learned by putting into practice what i learned on the forum, and by trying to understand WHY something happens.

    truth be told, too, when someone tells me to do something (like rest a butt in a cooler) i am immediately skeptical. hahaha  way too much lore is passed around as fact, and so the minute i hear a 'fact' i tend to try to figure out what it really means.

    hence my years long maniacal rampage against the myth re: 'smoke being only absorbed in the first hour' 

    heard a woman on tv last night say that nitrates caused cancer, and that's why she doesn't eat bacon.

    she was enjoying a nice salad at the time
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • misu
    misu Posts: 213
    : 'smoke being only absorbed in the first hour' 


    but that's a well known fact :)
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    well.  it's well known, i'll give you that.
    :))
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • misu
    misu Posts: 213
    :(   I was expecting some more rampage
  • bbqlearner
    bbqlearner Posts: 760
    I believe that the pesticides in the veggies can cause cancer, and that's why I don't eat salad. =))

    Houston, TX - Buddy LBGE, Don SBGE, Tiny Mini & Shiny Momma Pitts n Spitts

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Nitrates don't cause cancer, but when you heat them up or char them they react with amino acids and oxidize into nitrosoamines, which do cause cancer.  They found that ascorbic acid inhibits the nitrosoamine conversion and stomach cancer rates have since dropped after they started to add antioxidants to nitrate/nitrite cured foods that are charred, like bacon and ham.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    ok. you're right.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I'm a chemist and foodie and, therefore, a geek - sorry!

    Not to stir the pot, but I think the statement 'smoke being only absorbed in the first hour' is patently wrong.  However, the cooler the food (meat, whatever) is, the better it is at condensing volatilized compounds in the smoke and gas coming off the coals.  If the surface of the food is lower than the boiling point of any given compound, it will condense and add to the bark.  Most of these compounds have really high boiling points so you get condensation through the whole cook, but the relative composition will change based on the food temperature, and the source of the smoke (chunks, green wood, lump, etc.)
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • bbqlearner
    bbqlearner Posts: 760
    Ok so nola, in simple terms please? I get headaches when I see all these non-BBQ terms. Just saying - I lost you at "condensing volatilized compounds." Trying to churn my brain but it's not working :-? Probably because of all the meat I ate. 

    Houston, TX - Buddy LBGE, Don SBGE, Tiny Mini & Shiny Momma Pitts n Spitts

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Here is an explanation that shouldn't give you a headache. 

    Boil some water on the stove.  Hold a coffee mug with ice in it over the boiling water.  Notice how the water, which is in gas (steam, vapor) form condenses back in to liquid form on the surface of the mug.  It'll be dripping copiously off the mug.

    Next hold a coffee mug of hot coffee over the boiling water.  Little, if any water will condense.

    Next imagine that mug when cold is a pork butt at the beginning of a low-n-slow, and the hot mug is at the end.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    And the boiling water is all the gases, boiling grease and combustion byproducts from the fire that make BBQ over wood unique tasting and different from a gas BBQ.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    @ nolaegghead-with that good explanation of why you can get smoke adherence as long as you have the smoke and meat and temperature differential any thoughts on the reasons why you generally only get smoke ring development up to around 140*F-I'm sure it is all chemical reactions but curious....
    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.
  • bbqlearner
    bbqlearner Posts: 760

    Got it! Thanks.

    Houston, TX - Buddy LBGE, Don SBGE, Tiny Mini & Shiny Momma Pitts n Spitts

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I might be wrong, but I always thought the smoke ring is from carbon monoxide (CO) binding with hemoglobin and forming carboxyhemoglobin.  CO binds really well, better than oxygen, which is why CO poisoning is additive.  You don't have much CO in a gasser, and you don't have much CO in an electric smoker, or smoker that doesn't seal up well.  I believe butchers treat the surface of meat with CO or some similar binder to make it redder.  I can't count the times I've opened a pack of burger meat that was nice and red on the outside, but grey and ugly inside. 
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Ok, the CO is not the main culprit in the smoke ring.  It's the Nitrogen dioxide from combustion reacting with the pigment myoglobin in the muscle tissue.  Similar reaction to curing salts reacting to the myoglobin.

    http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what is the smoke ring?&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CHYQFjAF&url=http://www.smokingpit.com/Info/SmokeRing.pdf&ei=1AQPUJeRHMzbiwKd9IH4CA&usg=AFQjCNFdIoXFPFFT80sB5YssrpVtVt97ng&cad=rja
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..