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First ribs on LBGE

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Dragonwmatches
Dragonwmatches Posts: 221
in EggHead Forum
Ok, about an hour into my first smoke on my LBGE-it's everything I can do to not peek! So far so good-caught the temp on the way up and have stabilised at around 260. Hickory chips on with BGE lump. Very simple rub from Franklin Rib video. Left a couple without rub because me daughter hates peppery stuff (she's 8).

It's an obsession, but it's pleasin'
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  • Dragonwmatches
    Dragonwmatches Posts: 221
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    Two hours in and it's not as far along as I would have thought. Nothing wrong, just bumping the heat closer to 300 for a little while. Smells really good!
    It's an obsession, but it's pleasin'
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  • Terrebandit
    Terrebandit Posts: 1,750
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    Patience grasshopper, patience. ;)
    Dave - Austin, TX
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  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
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    Keep the temp around 250, resist the urge to look until 3.5 hours.  Probably will take 4.

    Just did them that way, and they turned out great.

    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

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  • Dragonwmatches
    Dragonwmatches Posts: 221
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    Well, good news/bad news. Bad news-probably needed to leave them on a little longer. I did test the IT and it got up around 185. The thinner end away from the breast bone was good, but not enough fat rendered out on the breast bone end. Good news-it wasn't hard, and it was close, and now I want to try it again this weekend to get it right!

    I'm a bit ignorant of this meat-I ended up having to cut through a bone or something else hard on the breast bone side, on the middle ribs only. I thought I got all the breast bone part trimmed off, took off the membrane, etc. But it took some hacking that I didn't expect. Was that stuff that should have been trimmed, a bad piece of meat (Kroger) or simply what's on there?

    Here's the final product-very little rub, and left off one end for my daughter's sake.
    It's an obsession, but it's pleasin'
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  • Wolfpack
    Wolfpack Posts: 3,551
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    Probably could have cooked another 45 min or so- i tend to watch for the meat pulling back off the bones as a good indicator.  To me the bend test is still the best method for determining when they are ready to come off.  Nice work for your first attempt- keep it up

    Greensboro, NC
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  • SLOandSteady
    SLOandSteady Posts: 210
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    Wolfpack said:

    Probably could have cooked another 45 min or so- i tend to watch for the meat pulling back off the bones as a good indicator.  To me the bend test is still the best method for determining when they are ready to come off.  Nice work for your first attempt- keep it up

    +1 on using the bend test. You may also want to try foiling your ribs at some point during the cook.
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  • Dragonwmatches
    Dragonwmatches Posts: 221
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    Good advice - I did really well for a while, but probably didn't need to mess with it until at least 3 hours in - I opened at 2hrs and started to spritz it a bit, then sauced lightly in the last hour.  It did need probably another 30-60 minutes.  I purposely left the foil off first time to see what the finished product would be without it.  I will definitely try foiling on another attempt and compare results. 

    One big surprise this morning is seeing how much of the charcoal and hickory chips is left in the bowl - low and slow didn't use a lot of fuel!

    It's an obsession, but it's pleasin'
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  • td66snrf
    td66snrf Posts: 1,822
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    You have spare ribs. If you don't want to "hack through" the cartilage in the tips buy St. Louis style. They're the same ribs with that portion removed. And remember IF YOU'RE LOOKIN' IT AIN'T COOKIN'
    XLBGE, LBGE, MBGE, SMALL, MINI, 2 Kubs, Fire Magic Gasser
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    Another good finish test (especially if you cut the rack) is the toothpick test-insert into the thickest meat section on the ribs-no resistance in or out and they are finished.

    WRT the spares, you can trim them St Louis style quite easily (google it and you will find several videos). 

    If you want "fall-off-the bone" ribs then you will have to foil to get there-personal choice.  Nice job on your first ribs.   

    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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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    Yes, for a first attempt, quite good. While the smell can become very enticing, at low temps, dome around 250, spares can easily go 6 hours, and be tremendous. Don't open the dome till at least 4 hours, and don't bother w. spritzing unless there's been a big temp jump, and the meat surface is visibly dry. Spritzing, mopping, etc. does very little for meat cooked in the Egg except to slow the cooking down.

    As @td66snrf said, you bought untrimmed spares. Trimming is not necessary, but gives more control over how portions cook. I've got the trimming routine down to about 3 minutes a slab, and that saves me about .80/lb over what the market charges.

    The St. Louis trim helps every part cook evenly, and the slab will bend very easily when done.

    I save the tip trimmings for cooking by themselves. They usually go a little quicker. I save the bone chunk till I have 4, and use them for stock and stew.
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  • Dragonwmatches
    Dragonwmatches Posts: 221
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    Thanks again guys-this was my first rib cook of any kind, so I'm not familiar with the meat. To be honest, I'm learning the Egg and meat cooking at the same time. I've done quite a bit of braising for soups/stews and some cuts in a cast iron skillet, but not a lot of grilling and no smoking. I did trim up the spares, but must not have gotten as much of the breast bone side stuff to get it to St Louis style. Is there a particular benefit to spare vs STL style in flavor? I just bought another rack of spare ribs @ Kroger-very cheap right now. I'll either give it another try today or this weekend. I think I'll foil this time, but when is best-middle or late in the cook?
    It's an obsession, but it's pleasin'
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    Rib cooks frequently are mentioned as X-X-X for the cook cycle.  First "X" is time on the BGE with dry rub, bone-side down.  Second "X" is time wrapped in foil usually with some liquid.  Third "X" is time back out of the foil and on the BGE with sauce applied.  Some of us run X-0-0 meaning no foil, no sauce-just on the BGE for the duration of the cook. 

    Check out the pork recipe section of the below link for some great info:

    http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/02/recipes.html 

    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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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    When I foiled pork ribs, it was to ensure a more tender meat. But just about every recipe I read recommended placing the ribs meat side down in various sweet mixtures. Honey and apple juice, for instance. The meat would become super tender, but also infused w. the sugary liquid. I stopped when I over cooked a slab, and the sugar infused side became sort of a pork taffy.

    Tender is not dependent on foiling, just a little more certain.

    But lots of people have much better results than I had. Wait 3 hours before foiling.

    There is no flavor advantage I know about to trimming. But the tip portion w. the bone cooks at a different speed than the SLou trim portion. Not enough that anything will be inedible, but some pieces around the big bone hunk might be overcooked, truly dry. Likewise, portions of the flap meat. And, portions of the tips may still be too fatty.

    I'd recommend eventually learning to trim the spares.

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  • WalrusBBQ
    WalrusBBQ Posts: 153
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    Good looking ribs and great time to break in that sparkly new PS
    ------------
    Beers & BBQ

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  • Dragonwmatches
    Dragonwmatches Posts: 221
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    I think I'll give this new set of spares the same trim as before-I want to try to get that right before I go with the easier cut (STL), as long as I'm experimenting anyways. Will foiling help the spares (not STL) cook more evenly in the end? I'd kinda like to skip foiling until I see how the well cooked, non-foiled spares are.
    It's an obsession, but it's pleasin'
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  • WiltOnTilt
    WiltOnTilt Posts: 102
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    When you guys cut the spares STL style, what's your preferred method of cooking the meat you cut off? Anything special?
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  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
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    lousubcap said:

    Rib cooks frequently are mentioned as X-X-X for the cook cycle.  First "X" is time on the BGE with dry rub, bone-side down.  Second "X" is time wrapped in foil usually with some liquid.  Third "X" is time back out of the foil and on the BGE with sauce applied.  Some of us run X-0-0 meaning no foil, no sauce-just on the BGE for the duration of the cook. 

    Check out the pork recipe section of the below link for some great info:

    http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/02/recipes.html 

    Great explanation of the X-X-X method @lousubcap.  I'm strongly in the no foiling camp, but my son who is in his first summer of Egging loves to pick up a rib and  have the bone pull out.
     I showed him how to foil and he thinks it is THE only way to do ribs.  To me the bark and texture is just so much better if you don't "steam" ribs, but I fully understand the people who prefer them like this.
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