Trying to keep ribs on the bone...

Black_Badger · July 2015

Hello All,
I wanted to seek some guidance from all my fellow eggheads about how to improve my rib results. Yesterday I did three racks of St Louis cut spares that I got from Costco for a small birthday gathering. The end product tasted great, and actually had a really nice texture (tender without being at all mushy), but the bones were just falling out. I know lots of people like their ribs cooked that way, but I'd like to get closer to a competition style cook. Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated. Here's what I did:

1) Trimmed ribs and pulled membrane from the back
2) Rubbed them heavily with Johnny Trigg meat seasoning that came as part of my 2015 R&S exchange package from @Proser
3) Onto the egg at 230 F for about 4 hrs (4 big chunks of apple wood)
4) Mopped with a sauce/AC vinegar/butter blend
5) Double wrapped in foil
6) Bump egg to 280 and back on the heat for ~1 hr
7) FTC

Like I said above, texture of the meat was great; firm and juicy, but the bones just fell out with no resistance. I was also really happy with the flavor and the guests thought they were delicious. Any thoughts on what I might tweak to get a similar taste and texture result without the bones just falling out?

Cheers all -
B_B

lousubcap · July 2015

In my experience, the falling off the bone is largely linked to the foil wrap part of the cook. If you lose that step, while you may have to cook a little longer you should end up with the slight tug to get the meat off the bone. YMMV-

buzd504 · July 2015

Yep, don't wrap them.

Ladeback69 · July 2015

You can foil wrap and still have them not fall of the bone. If you want to foil, smoke them for 2 hours, in foil for an hour and then back on the grate out of the foil to firm them back up. It's called a 2-1-1. I did a 3-1-1 on baby backs lately and they were fall off like you said. I like either the 2-1-1 method or just 3 to 4 hours tell they are done at 250 to 275. I foil to add apple juice, brown sugar, butter and honey for a different profile. SWMBO likes them full off the bone, me and my son them when you can bite clean and they don't fall off.

Here is my rib cook doing 2-1-1 method.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1181280/my-rib-cook-new-finishing-sauce#latest

WeberWho · July 2015

250 degrees with 3-2-1 method. Bend test the last 45 minutes of the cook. The last hour is really more like 30-40 minutes. If you go the whole last hour they can start to fall off the bone

DaveRichardson · July 2015

I've had the same problem with baby backs going 2-2-1. I think I'll cut my foil time back to 1 hour on the next one like @Ladeback69 said.

Egg On!

bweekes · July 2015

Ladeback69 said:

You can foil wrap and still have them not fall of the bone. If you want to foil, smoke them for 2 hours, in foil for an hour and then back on the grate out of the foil to firm them back up. It's called a 2-1-1. I did a 3-1-1 on baby backs lately and they were fall off like you said. I like either the 2-1-1 method or just 3 to 4 hours tell they are done at 250 to 275. I foil to add apple juice, brown sugar, butter and honey for a different profile. SWMBO likes them full off the bone, me and my son them when you can bite clean and they don't fall off.

Here is my rib cook doing 2-1-1 method.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1181280/my-rib-cook-new-finishing-sauce#latest

+1. I went into a rib slump for a couple years. Cut back my foil time and I've been golden ever since. I also cut back on the amount of liquid in the foil step. In fact, I've cut out apple juice altogether now (just use, honey, squeeze butter, and duck fat). For me, fall off the bone represents a failed rib cook (but that's just based on my personal preference). I think you should be able to bite cleanly through the meat with little pull, but not have it fall off the bone. Just my opinion.

Black_Badger · July 2015

Thanks guys. Ribs are the only thing I use foil on, so I don't get much practice with it. Will cut back (or maybe eliminate) cook time for the foil step. To be honest I was pretty shocked these had as good a texture as they did given the bone issue, but I try not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

One more shout out to @Proser for the Johnny Trigg meat rub, it was aces!

Cheers all -
B_B

mahenryak · July 2015

@Black_Badger I am joining this thread late but another option you may wish to consider is wrapping with paper instead of foil.

Proser · July 2015

Thanks @Black_Badger for the update on the rub. Glad you like it.

loveTheEgg · July 2015

Try 240 for 5 hours. Sauce last 30 mins of cook. This is how I do BB every time and they are awesome!

Trying to keep ribs on the bone...

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