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Help!! Tough ribs last night

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Weekend Egger
Weekend Egger Posts: 14
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Did ribs last night,3 racks,cooked 3 indirect,1in foil,and onemore hour direct some of time in foil cause they were just not tender enough .finally pulled off cause crowd was hungry and we just gnawed the me off the bone. What should I try to ensure they turn out better.2ndattempt at this was better and I didn't have plate setter just cooked 3-1-1 direct should I do this again??
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  • bubba tim
    bubba tim Posts: 3,216
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    I am not a fan of 3-1-1 or any method of foil brasing. 215-225 indirect, for 4 - 6 hours depending on the thickness. Use a toothpick to tell when they are done... :woohoo:
    SEE YOU IN FLORIDA, March 14th and 15th 2014 http://www.sunshinestateeggfest.com You must master temp, smoke, and time to achive moisture, taste, and texture! Visit www.bubbatim.com for BRISKET HELP
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  • op2k
    op2k Posts: 62
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    What bubba tim said. 3-1-1 did not work out well for me, but 4 hours at 225-250 indirect did. Also, I spritzed them every hour with apple cider and apple juice. Keep trying, it gets better!!!
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  • Weekend Egger
    Weekend Egger Posts: 14
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    I had spare ribs not baby back so longer cook time I guess right?also by doin them indirect at 250, they seemed to take forever
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    back ribs? spares?

    a tough rib is an undercooked rib. just needed more time.

    the foiling method should have gotten you real close. i'm thinking they were maybe meatier spares?

    when i do spares, for what it's worth, it's at 250 for at least 6, sometimes as long as 8 hours, indirect of course
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  • Weekend Egger
    Weekend Egger Posts: 14
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    Yeah I knew they were gettin there but time was tickin. Plus I was scared to keep e
    there longer thinking they would turn to shoe leather
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  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
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    Did you add any liquid during the hour in foil?

    A common mistake with the 3-1-1 method is people add cold juice or other liquid straight out of the fridge. This cools the ribs a bit and takes time to get the liquid steaming and doing what it is supposed to in the foil. Give your liquid a quick zap in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to get it hot before you add it to the foil. Also, spares need to go at least 90-120 minutes longer than baby backs (all other variables being equal). If you want to foil spares try a 4.5-1-1 for better results.

    That said, I agree your ribs likely weren't done and should have cooked a bit longer. You can cook ribs direct, but an egg at 250 will have some spots hotter than others cooking direct, so be sure to spin the grid every 30-45 minutes or so to get even cooking. They are best done indirect, but in a pinch you can do them direct just fine.
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    can't simultaneuously be underone and overcooked ;)

    the best ribs i ever had went on accidentally (dont ask, but yeah, alcohol was involved) at 10pm along with a butt. i let them go until about 7 am when i realized the mistake. expecting dried leather, i found the best ever spares.

    it is very difficult to overcook ribs. for one thing, they would need to go WAY past the overly tender ('falling off the bone') state by a few hours. anyone that missed THAT would deserve dried ribs.

    takes a while to learn that bbq doesn't pay attention to the clock. under basically the same situation, you can cook a butt in as little as 9 hours or as long as 20+. had it happen to me.
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  • Cactus Doug
    Cactus Doug Posts: 341
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    Did you add some liquid to the foil packets? For the braise to work there needs to be liquid. Usually with 3-1-1 the slabs are falling apart. I used to do 3-1-1 but have now switched to a method similar to the carwash mike method. Still gives good results and easy.
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  • Weekend Egger
    Weekend Egger Posts: 14
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    Yeah I put some room temp juice in foil,I think the method would have worked but these ribs were meaty and maybe 5 hours wasn't enough to get them where I wanted them to be.think I should have left them in foil longer
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  • BUILDER
    BUILDER Posts: 45
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    Did you remove the silver skin from the back side of the ribs? If you don't sometimes that can make them a little tougher than need be. Just thinking out loud.
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  • BUILDER
    BUILDER Posts: 45
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    Did you remove the silver skin from the back side of the ribs? If you don't sometimes that can make them a little tougher than need be. Just thinking out loud.
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  • Weekend Egger
    Weekend Egger Posts: 14
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    Thank you builder ,I did remove the membrane from back side.This is only third attempt on ribs,just hoping to get better as time goes.I believe I got the pork butt down,hoping ribs are there soon!
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