First babybacks

njl

I just put my first attempt at baby back ribs on the egg.  It's a "Farmland" 3 slab pack from Costco...which I applied American Test Kitchen rub to last night.  I also cut each slab in half, because I didn't think there was any way they'd all fit a LBGE.  So, I've got 6 half slabs standing in a rib rack over a drip pan (on the plate setter) in which I put some apple juice and water.

My wife would really prefer these be "fall off the bone" style.  Will doing a 3-1-1 at about 250F do that?

Some googling found a site suggesting 3-2 (the 2 being 2 hours of foiled cooking with sauce).  http://necessaryindulgences.com/2010/04/baby-back-ribs/

alexwolf1216

I looked at those at Costco also, I would be interested to see what you think of them.

lousubcap

Those Costco 3 packs are excellent ribs-I'm not gonna suggest the X-X-X factors for your cook as there are as many variables as cooks.  But use the toothpick test for doneness-slides in and out with no resistance=done.

Hers's a great rib reference- http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/02/recipes.html Enjoy.

njl

BTW, when prepping these last night, I was pleasantly surprised to find the membrane already removed.

tybish

What's the target temp on the ribs?

lousubcap

Target temp on ribs is a crap-shoot-too much bone to meat ratio.  Go with the bend or toothpick test and they will be great.

njl

When I did spares, I used the food probe on the ET-732, and sauced them at around 165-170F and gave them another hour.  This time, I didn't even bother with the food probe.  I'm only using the grid probe to cut down on the walking in/out to check the egg.

BTW, when I lit the egg just after noon, it seemed to be going slow.  I closed the lid, left the vents wide open, and went across the back yard to talk to a neighbor (he used to do competition BBQ, and I figured I'd see if he had any last minute pointers).  After a few minutes of chatting, I went back to check my fire, and found the needle bottomed out...and thought maybe the fire went out.  I carefully opened the lid and found the opposite...it'd gone around to 700F and beyond!  ARGH!!!  So I shut the vents and occasionally opened the lid to let some heat out.  About an hour later, it was ready to start cooking the ribs (dome temp 250F).  I've had more trouble than usual stabilizing the temp on this cook...after going volcanic, I overshot the cooldown, had grid temps as low as the 190s, then overshot heating it back up, grid temp up to 280F.  Now (2 hours into the cook), I think I have it reasonably stable at 265F dome / 275F grid).

nijmeije

Doing baby backs for the first time as well.  Just threw them on (on the west coast here), so they should be done around 5'ish.  Grid temp stabilized at 230 after about 30 mins. Mainly following this recipe - just planning to skip the honey, or maybe substitute with BBQ sauce basting.

First post for me on the forum.  Been lurking for a while after I bought the egg about 3 weeks ago. Learned a lot already, and looking forward to keep on learning!

fish8503

I've got a brisket on right now and I have had my egg for a little over a week and I have trouble getting mine under 300. Brisket has been on for an hour now and after only having the daisy wheel little holes half closed and the bottom only a 1/2 inch open it is at 190 dome temp. 

lousubcap

@ fish8503- they (BGE) probably never told you that with indirect cooks, the dome temp will be a good 20-40+*F hotter than the cooking grid when you start out on the low&slow and obviously the gap narrows the longer the dome is shut.  That said, 190 on the dome will never get your brisket to the finish line.  Don't know packer or flat but regardless briskets aren't even ready to "declare victory" til the 185-205 range.  When a probe "goes in and out of the thickest part of the flat with no resistance" you are at the finish-line.  There are others who wll help with this cook-as will I til the Sunday beverage consumption  wins >-

nijmeije

Fish, to stay that low, I have the bottom slide only open enough to fit in a credit card.  Give that a try?

fish8503

its a small brisket about 6 pounds. did not want to mess up a nice one on my first try on the bge. after 2 hrs at this temp in the picture the meat is at 165.

lousubcap

Welcome to the plateau-quite a ride!

njl

Ribs turned out ok.  Wife likes them (I think).  I think they're a little dry.  They're not "fall off the bone", but I could easily pull a slab apart by the bones and with just a little tug, the bulk of the meat cleanly came off the bones.

I ended up doing a 3.3:1:1, cutting the grass during the last 1.

Now, during the clean out burn, it's just started raining.  I hope that doesn't cause issues for my plate setter.

njl

I just went out and looked.  It's really pouring...and it looks like the rain water hitting the dome is boiling off.   There's a cloud of steam around the dome.  I may run out and put the rain cap on.