Back Back Ribs Temp?

JM · September 2001

I'm smoking some back back ribs today. What meat temperature should these reach before pulling off the egg?
JM

davidm · September 2001

JM,[p]I've seen some very respected folks here say the optimum temp is 178 for pull-off-the-bone tenderness. I wait until the meat starts shrinking from the end of the bone; about a half-inch works for me, then I sauce them, wrap them in foil, and keep them warm for at least half an hour.[p]I hope this helps a little.[p]Cheers,[p]David

JM · September 2001

davidm,[p]Thanks for the info. I figured it would be similar to pull pork - 190*+.

char buddy · September 2001

JM,[p]i got my temps from TimM, and he says 178-180. I've tried'em Tim's way and they're unbelieveable, even without the the foil and all that timing stuff. I keep the egg at 255 or below four ot five hours and I get "to die for" ribs, just doing'em with an indirect set-up.

JM · September 2001

char buddy,
178-180 is what I will shoot for. I've be cooking indirect at 225 - 250*. I am in my 6th hour and my meat temp is only at 160*. Any suggestions.
JM

Nature Boy · September 2001

JM,
I'm sure this is a day late, but sounds like they have been in the plateau for long enough. Kick up your dome temp to 300 for the home stretch.[p]How did they come out?? What did you end up doing?
NB

JM · September 2001

Nature Boy,
A little late but I'm ready to try again. I thought the plateau was around 170*.[p]I kicked up the dome temp to 300* for another 2 hours before the meat temp finally got to 178*. This made the total cook time a whopping 8 1/2 hours. They turned out dry and did not pull from the bone very well.[p]This was my second attempt at ribs. The first time, two hours into the cook I wrapped in foil for about 1 1/2 hours. They turned out pretty good. Dome temp for that cook was 250-275*, meat temp 190* and total cook time was about 6 hours. I wanted to try this cook with no foil. [p]Throughout this last cook I noticed that the two times I opened the egg to turn the ribs on my rib rack, the meat temp dropped as much as 8* and it took a long time to recover. I know that you want to keep the lid closed as much as possible-but something else must have caused the repeated temp drop.[p]This has been a frustrating experience. In all my cooks on the egg, this one has been the most difficult.

Nature Boy · September 2001

JM,
Yeah. That is an awfully long time for bbacks. Knowing the internal temp can be helpful, but observing other things can help a lot. After the first six hours, when you said the internal temp was 160, did you try twisting one off? Or push a toothpick into the meat and see if it pulls out with very little resistance?? These are two visual ways of checking for doneness. [p]If the thermometer probe is touching a bone, the reading will be off. Using some visual aids is important for best results![p]Just a few thoughts. Keep at it. You will soon settle in on a method you are happy with.
NB

Nature Boy · September 2001

JM, one more thing. With your particular setup, cooking at 220, your cooking level temp was probably around 200 or so.....This might explain why the cooking times were so long, hence drying the meat. Experiment next with 250-275 dome, and see if that moves things along a bit more quickly. Even 300 will give you great results.[p]Have fun.
NB

Tim M · September 2001

JM,[p]""I kicked up the dome temp to 300* for another 2 hours before the meat temp finally got to 178*. This made the
total cook time a whopping 8 1/2 hours. They turned out dry and did not pull from the bone very well.""[p]That's way too long for baby backs. My guess is you went too long at a low temp and dried them out. Try raising the temp as you get closer to the end - like 275-300 deg for an hour.
I did a few racks like that a month ago when I cooked them indirect for 6 hrs. The meat temp never made it over the needed 175-180 mark and they were a bit dry. I should have cooked shorter and bumped the temp from 225 to 275 for the last hour. [p]""This was my second attempt at ribs. The first time, two hours into the cook I wrapped in foil for about 1 1/2 hours.
They turned out pretty good. Dome temp for that cook was 250-275*, meat temp 190* and total cook time was
about 6 hours.""[p]So this means you did 2-1.5-0 ribs. Try 3-1-1 or something like that. After the foil you need to go direct at 250 for an hour. That's when you add the sauce. This time direct will firm up the meat - they're yucky as they come out of the foil!! That last 1-1.5 hrs direct is important.[p]Tim

char buddy · September 2001

JM,[p]Sorry I missed your reply, but it looks like you're in good hands with NB and TimM. Not much more I can add.

JM · September 2001

Nature Boy,
Yes I did look at some other signs for doneness. I even cut off a piece (using a knife-not the twist) to sample a piece and they were not coming off the bone. I did this way to late. I think by this time they were already dead.[p]I had 3 different probes all at various locations and all 3 were reading within 5*. I also check to ensure that they were not too close to the bone.[p]This was only my second try and I know what to look for now.[p]JM

JM · September 2001

Tim M,
I think you are right with the low temp. I figured if it was good enough for pork butt that I would try to low cook with ribs--big mistake. Very dry. I will raise my temps next time.[p]The first time I cooked them I really did the 2 -1.5 - 1 method. I didn't metion in my original post that after the 1.5 hours in the foil, I cooked direct for another hour. During this last hour I added the sauce. Sorry for the confusion.[p]Can you make a successful rib cook without the foil? [p]JM

JM · September 2001

Nature Boy,
I think you are exactly right. The temp was really 200* when the ribs were.[p]Can you do a good batch of ribs without using the foil? How do you keep them from drying out? [p]JM

Nature Boy · September 2001

JM,
Oh yes. You can do some extremely fine ribs without foil. Seems like the key is to find a temp where they cook slowly...but fast enough to get through the plateau in a reasonable time (3-5 hours). Some of the best ribs I have done were big fat spares that went 6 hours at 250 over a dry drip pan. I have had good moist results cooking indirect at anywhere from 250 to 325. [p]Even JJ's and Cat's direct method at 225-250 for 3.5-4.5 hours yields some mighty fine ribs. They take more attention to move around with the hot spots, but it is a wonderful way to do ribs...with a whole different taste from the fat-on-coals as well as the added crusting. [p]Enjoy your adventures.
NB

JM · September 2001

Nature Boy,
Thanks for the info.

Back Back Ribs Temp?

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