what could i POSSIBLY have done wrong???

Unknown · May 2006

ok, I get a new egg. First I try a whole chicken, and while edible it hardly holds a candle to the rotisserie at my local grocery. Some nice folks here tell me to toss the egg book and throw out some tips.
I try another chicken, really no better.[p]Now today I tried spare ribs. asked for advice, and followed the 3-1-1 approach. used a light rub, 3 hours at 250, then 1 hour in foil w a little beer, then about 45 minutes to finish them off. I even commented to my wife they seemed dry when I moved them in and out of the foil. dry? It was !@$^$@#@ rib jerky. inedible. If I still had my dog, he;d have had a helluva time trying to chew it.[p]What am I doing so wrong? I am one more weekend of inedible food away from this damn thing hitting Ebay. .... for what it's worth to anyone looking for a SLIGHTLY used egg.[p]
I just don't get it . I lived in Texas and loved the bbq. If I could get even close it'd be heaven, but right now I have to go make pb&J's for the family.... we gotta eat dinner.....

Chuck · May 2006

you only live twice,[p]Have you calibrated your thermometer? Your temps could be off if you haven't.[p]You'll love your egg I am sure.[p]Chuck

Darnoc · May 2006

you only live twice,
Calm down. Did you cook indirect? you shortend the last leg of the cook by 15 min.If you cooked direct on grill it could have dried out the ribs.

drbbq · May 2006

you only live twice,[p]Are you using a plate setter? Sometimes we forget that new guys don't know things that are obvious to us. Spare ribs are best cooked indirect.

Unknown · May 2006

thanks....
I did calibrate it, in fact I didn't have to adjust at all, it was dead on.
here is exactly what I did. got the egg going w/ the top open, closed it and stabilized it at 250. flipped the plate setter feet up, put that in first. then a drip pan on it. then the grid, then a rib rack , then the ribs. they were not stacked, they nicely covered each side of the rack.
it was dead on 250 for three hours.
then opened it, took them out, put them in foil, added a little beer, wrapped them up and back on the rack. the temp did drift up to 300 for about 15 minutes, and then dropped back to maybe 260 for the balance of that hour.
after 1 hour in the foil, took them out, back on the rack. there was quite a bit of steam at that point (out of the foil) but the ribs were solid, I mean no risk of them coming apart or anything. in fact theye were that hard after 3 hours at a dead on 250.
the last hour was again dead on 250.
took them out and my wife almost hurt our son trying to cut them they were so hard. I am not kidding it took a good bit of strength to pull two apart.[p]I do hope to enjoy this thing someday, but in the meantime as the cook in the family I at least have to return to edible meals (or backup plans I suppose).[p]You are all very kind, and thanks for letting me vent here.[p]As an aside, the cook times in the BGE book are very similar to standard cook times. Is that product so inferior to what I was attempting to do... that people are saying trash the book in favor of these recipes??

Unknown · May 2006

you only live twice,
I have found the best way for chicken is a spatchcock chicken. My wife who doesn't even like chicken WILL eat chicken when I cook it this way. It seems to really hold the juices in and is the closest thing we have been to the rotisserie. [p]
On ribs, I cooked using the same method and they came out a little chewy. I think there were 2 things I did wrong. One I didn't get the membrane off as good as I should have. I have not been able to figure out the way to get it off easily. The 2nd thing is that my wife wanted FALL OFF THE BONE RIBS. Well I have discovered via this forum that if they are falling off the bone they are overcooked. So I think I just need to cook them longer so they fall off the bone and my wife is happy. So I'll just overcook the damn things so they fall off. :-)[p]But I just cooked 2 pork butts today and they taste GREAT. I have neighbors that won't eat pork from any of the local restaurants any longer. [p]So don't give up on the egg.

Darnoc · May 2006

you only live twice,
No doubt about it,burn the egg cook book.Not good enough for a boy scout cook out.

drbbq · May 2006

you only live twice,[p]In that case I'd say they just needed to cook longer. If they were whole spare ribs the 3-1-1 is kind of short. How much lump did you start with?

Unknown · May 2006

thanks again,[p]I started with the firebox full. the therm was dead on when I tested it, and I just tested it again. I don't see how cooking them any longer could have helped though, they were literally like jerky, only a lot tougher.
there was barely any moisture left in them at all. [p]I thought for a moment maybe the ribs were bad... but I don't see how it could be biologically possible for that to be the cause, just how bad could they be? It had to be the cooking that dried them out so bad. I also did use salt in the rub, but every recipe I looked at calls for it, so that could that have mattered??[p]I thought the egg was supposed to retain moisture, but after three cooks everything has been inferior to the good ol' oven. The smokey flavor has been good with the egg, but not enough to compensate for the lost moisture....

Unknown · May 2006

you only live twice,[p]Everything sounds like the correct way, any chance you just got a bad batch of ribs??

Darnoc · May 2006

you only live twice,
How much salt and what kind did you use in your rub mixture.Table salt and kosher salt there is a big difference.

drbbq · May 2006

you only live twice,[p]No, the salt is not an issue. I cook my ribs at 300 on the dome thermometer and I'd still cook whole spares at least as long as you did. I don't see how they could have been overcooked in that time at that temp, so I still think they were undercooked. Undercooked BBQ can have seem dry before the meat begins to break down. Next time try cooking at 300 dome and leave them in the foil until they are tender. They'll get there.

drbbq · May 2006

darnoc,[p]I thought you were new?

Darnoc · May 2006

drbbq,
Secret desire was to be a cook.Hours are to darn long.Since I logged on to this site my wife says I am acting funny.Tried to find your second book in Baltimore area,any comments.First one FIRST CLASS.

Brobear · May 2006

My 74 year old mother had no problems cooking on her new egg. I appologize if you really have an issue, but it is hard to screw up chicken.

drbbq · May 2006

darnoc,[p]Thanks.
Where'd you look? It should be in all the stores. If not Amazon has it and so does Hawgeyes. They have a link on my site at www.drbbq.com

Darnoc · May 2006

drbbq,
Tried locals,will go on line.Try fried tomatoes as I mentioned.Far less fat than with cdorn meal.Juat make sure they are FIRM (notice caps) prior comment.Never had green as in your book,but dead ripe and firm works.Not to much excess liquid. Beers.

Darnoc · May 2006

drbbq,
Local stores did not have it will go on line.Try my version of fried tomatoes,Ithink you will enjoy.

CyberDawg · May 2006

you only live twice,[p]I'm perplexed, cause what you describe almost seems to defy the laws of nature. :-)[p]May I suggest that you start taking photographs of your setup during the cook. That way, we might spot something.[p]I've cooked a lot of stuff on ceramic and I've NEVER had anything inedible.

Unknown · May 2006

darnoc,
Hi, i used kosher salt. Never thought it'd matter. was that the wrong choice?[p]thanks for all the help....

Darnoc · May 2006

you only live twice,
Kosher salt seems to be the # 1 salt to use,Dont have to use as much,better for your heart and has the bite to please your palate.

stike · May 2006

you only live twice,
if they were whole spares, they were most likely underdone, believe it or not.[p]here's the thing.
the most tender rib/porkbutt meat actually goes thru a period where it is ridiculously overcooked.[p]if you cook a pork chop to 150 or 160, it'll be dry and hard. if you keep cooking it, to 200 (which is when ribs and butt usually come off), it'll be drier and harder.[p]if you cook ribs or butt to 160 it'll also be dryish and chewy. so why cook it longer?[p]the difference between chops and ribs is that the ribs are tough (shoulder too). lots of work and lots of connective tissue.[p]but connective tissue is filled with collagen. sheathed around the muscle fibers. what is actually happening is quite counter intuitive. if you cook cheap tough cuts til they are only 140/150, they'll be safe and edible, but tough like the cheap cut they are.[p]but if it goes slooow, and is allowed to literally way overcook, something else happens. the collagen, which sits now in the middle of overcooked pork (yes, overcooked by other standards) starts to breakdown. it needs time to do it. but when it is done, that piece of meat (which was dry and tough at 140/150 eight or ten hours before) is now swimming literally in gelatin. unflavored jello. that is exactly what everyone thinks is 'moisture' in pulled pork.[p]as an analogy, take an overcooked porkchop. tough and dry. shred the heck out of it and then swim it in dissolved knox gelatin. smash it around. that slippery moist perfection is an illusion.[p]really, you pulled the ribs off probably too early... when they were overcooked by porkchop standards, but not nearly done breaking down the collagen by rib standards.[p]the reason you can't do the same with chops, filets, good cuts, etc. is because it has very little collagen by comparison. that and it needs no such transformation in order to taste great and be tender. which is why those cuts are more expensive.

tach18k · May 2006

you only live twice, Just a note, I saw salt mentioned. Pork needs very little salt if any, too much and the ribs will taste like ham, also ribs that have been brined. Keep trying, there maybe a local Egger to help ya out near by. I do a whole chicken in 1.5 hours at 300. Comes out great. BTW what kind of lump are you using?

Dublin Dawg · May 2006

WVU_Egg,
The best way I have found to pull the membrane off of ribs is use a pair of catfish pliers - They work GREAT! You can get them for a couple of bucks at Wal-Mart. Try it!

Gerard · May 2006

I'm not half the cook most of these people are, but I'm going to play devil's advocate, I think you overcooked them. My spares are hard and dry when I overcook. They're chewy and darn tough to bite off when undercooked. When I overcook, it's almost always that I let the fire get away from me in the first 30 minutes of lighting and setting up.[p]Just in case I'm right, make certain that you do not let the fire get out of hand before you set up... just start it in a single good central location, and once the starter is consumed and you verify you have charcoal burning, quickly (cause all that time with the dome open can let the fire start blazing) set up your indirect system and put your meat on... then worry about pegging the right temp on the way up, cause once it's too hot, it's a b*tch to recover a good smoking temp, and if the meat is on it, you'll end up with hard, dry ribs.[p]And, just in case I'm right (or even if I'm wrong), stick a Polder of comparable thermometer in the meatiest part of the rib (make sure the tip is buried in meat) and leave it there and monitor it closely. Pull the ribs at 190 to 200 regardless of where you are in your 3:1:1 cook.[p]And whoever mentioned pulling the membrane off... they're right... make sure you're doing that.

mollyshark · May 2006

you only live twice,[p]You near any up and coming fest?? There's a lot of good advice here, but I don't think anything comes close to going to a fest and actually watching and asking questions. As close as you can come to a university degree in egging as you will get.[p]mShark

BajaTom · May 2006

you only live twice,
I only foil the ends of the ribs so they won't burn. I have cooked many slabs of ribs. Some have come out dry and some have been over cooked but none were inedible. With everything you have said I would take a long hard look at where you are buying your meat. Almost 100% of the people who use the 3-1-1 method report great success. It is either the meat or the process. LOL, Tom

what could i POSSIBLY have done wrong???

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