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Rib Help!

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Hercflyer
Hercflyer Posts: 1
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
For the second time now, I've messed up ribs smoking them on the BGE. I've tried the following:

1. Removing the membrane on the back
2. Smoking with hickory
3. A nice rub
4. Room temperature to start them
5. Plate setter...legs up
6. Pan of water and apple juice between the legs of the plate setter.
7. Temp set on 225-250F for the time
8. Smoked for 4 hours

Now what have I done wrong. The ribs are tough, not tender and juicy. Do they need a higher temp? Longer time?

Please your comments on good rib workup is appreciated



Regards,

HercFlyer
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Comments

  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
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    Longer time...they are done when you pick em up with tongs from the middle and they "bend" sometimes as much as 90 degree bend....spares take longer than babybacks but I cook BB ribs for 5 hours minimum..keep tryin and find the method you like best..there is no wrong way to cook ribs
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  • florida Nick
    florida Nick Posts: 101
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    Hercflyer,
    Alot of people have luck using the 3-1-1 method.
    Same set-up except you dont really need water/apple juice in the drip pan.
    3 hours smoking the ribs on the grate or in rib rack.
    Then wrap the ribs in foil with some brown sugar and/or some applejuice and honey. Back on the egg for 1 hour.
    Then unwrap the ribs from the foil, then back on the egg for up to an hour while saucing the ribs with whatever bbq sauce you like. (some suggest doing direct for the last hour or you can raise the temp and keep it indirect)
    Do a search for 3-1-1 and you can see people's various ways of doing the 3-1-1 method.
    Goodluck
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  • Spray97
    Spray97 Posts: 12
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    Have you calibrated your temp gauge. Every thing else looks ok I don't need the pan of juice but that is personal preference. I don't cook to time just use the bend test and start checking after 4 or 5 hours. Are the ribs you are cooking spare or baby back spares will take longer to cook closer to 6 hour.
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  • Capt Frank
    Capt Frank Posts: 2,578
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    Cook to temp, not time, is a by-word around here. I realize that ribs are tough to cook to temp, but there are other keys, the meat pulls away from the bone, you pick them up in the middle and they bend over like a corpse [sorry, I couldn't come up with another analogy quick enough]. I prefer spares and they take an hour or two more than BB's. I figure 4 1/2 to 5hrs for BB's and maybe 7 for spares, but do the tests for doneness]!

    You need 250 dome for the cook, and I like to brush on a little apple juice/vinegar mixture the last hour or so of the cook. Your water pan is probably not helping you much with an egg, Weber yes, BGE no.
    just my 2cts. Others will differ B)

    Capt Frank
    Homosassa, FL
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    After three hours of cooking as you described, I wrap in aluminum foil and cook for another hour. Then I unwrap and test them by grabbing mid-rack to see if they are so tender that the rack is about to break.

    If not ready, I put the unwrapped ribs back on, indirect still, and cook them longer. But 3 hr unwrapped plus one hour in foil usually puts them very close to being ready as I like them.
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  • EatMoeQ
    EatMoeQ Posts: 18
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    What you described sounds fine though you could get away with cooking without the water pan on the indirect setup.
    Try increasing the heat or increasing the cooking time. When the meat begins to pull away from the bone, they are done or close to it.
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  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,677
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    Toss the waterpan and give them another hour or so. Like others have said when they pass the bend test they are done. If your looking for fall off the bone (not my preference) then you'll have to foil.
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  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
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    Good suggestions above.

    1) With an Egg, a water pan is not needed unless you think you are getting some flavor from the apple juice, but the whole point of a ceramic cooker is the fantastic moisture-retention properties.

    2) You also do not need to soak any wood chips or chunks, like you would in a gasser or Weber. Dry chips will smolder and smoke in an egg and will release a lot of steam if soaked - something you don't need.

    For Baby backs, one of the highly recommended links is Carwash Mike's BB Class:

    http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/06/baby-back-rib-class.html

    Good luck....
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  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
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    You can't pick up a slab of ribs after an hour in foil without them falling apart..which is the whole reason for putting them back on the egg for 45 minutes to an hour..to firm them back up...
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  • Joe Willie
    Joe Willie Posts: 10
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    Great advice on the bend test and increased time. In my experience, hickory is also a little too strong for a rib cook if you are not really careful with it. I have had good luck with milder woods like pecan with a little more room for error. May just be my taste though.
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