1st attempt at baby back ribs

ashevilleegg

going to try ribs tomorrow.  i'm thinking cooking them at 250 w/ plate setter over pecan for 3 hrs.  rub is olive oil & herbs de provence.  any advice?

Hi54putty

Good set up. Plan on up to 5 hours. Worst mistake you can make is to undercook them.
I prefer mustard over oil as a binder but either work. Good luck.

bigguy136

+1 on the mustard. I go 5 hours at 250° on BB. Don't forget to pull the membrane.

ashevilleegg

I have a 3 pack from sam's & the rib rack i'm using is from my old grill, not a v-rack.  i usually cut the ribs in half to fit them all, but i noticed it doesn't look like many folks do this.... is that a mistake?

ashevilleegg

btw, thanks for the tip on the mustard, definitely going to use it.

bigguy136

ashevilleegg said:

I have a 3 pack from sam's & the rib rack i'm using is from my old grill, not a v-rack.  i usually cut the ribs in half to fit them all, but i noticed it doesn't look like many folks do this.... is that a mistake?

I normally just throw the three racks, bone side down without cutting them. Sauce 30 minutes before pulling.

Don't forget the photos.

Zick

Never cut them as it seems unnecessary. I too just either lay them down or if making a lot of racks place them in a rib rack. I have an xl so it can handle quite a bit. If you are cooking at 250 plan on5 hours as Big guy says. If you need the in three hours, adjust 350. At 350 I am done in 2 1/5 hours and they turn out great.

lousubcap

If you have done a search here (weak) or thru google you will get many options (like opinions-and we all know what those are worth:))  The predominant method revoloves around some sort of X-X-X method.  Basically ribs are cooked as usual (bone side down for me) for the first X hours. Then they are removed from the cooker and wrapped with liquid (Q sauce, some other liquid for flavoring etc) in a foil pouch with the meat side down. This becomes the second X  mentioned above. The sealed ribs are then returned to the cooker.  At the end of the second X time-frame, the ribs are removed from the foil and then put back on the BGE for the final "X" time-frame.  This is when sauce is added if your desire.  X-X-X defines the cook cycle.  There are those of us who run X-0-0  without any of the above extras.  It's all in what you like-experiment and enjoy the journey.  For a good first shot out of the gate - check out "Car-Wash Mike's method".  You could do a whole lot worse.  FWIW-

ashevilleegg

finished product.  5 hours on the button, mainly used car wash mike's.  don't think i'll use a rib rack next time, but loved the pecan flavor.  mustard helped, thanks to all....

henapple

Congrats..feels good doesn't it?

bertscampers

I did baby back ribs today and 1 rack was good at 3hrs and the second was over cooked.  This seems to be the norm for me.  Not sure why they are drying out.  The dome temp was 270.  Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

njl

I've always cut the racks in half (and used a rib rack) as I didn't believe 3 racks would fit in a LBGE without doing so.

I'm actually considering cutting the racks in 3rds next time, as that seems to be the usual single serving size for baby backs around here.  I found last time I did baby backs, after saucing them, that I could arrange the 6 half racks on the cooking grid without using the rib rack.  I may skip using the rib rack all together next time.  I figure cut in 3rds, it should be even easier to arrange the 9 1/3 racks on the grid.

texbagger

Last cook I did I cut in half and it made them tough!  LOL, not really.  The first cook I did I stood them up and did the bend test for doneness looking for those small "cracks" when lifting by the end.  I did notice when I cut them in half the bend test doesn't work so most likely I pulled them off too quick on that second cook but they tasted wonderful.  Just more chewy.  I will leave them whole next time and use the rack.  I like to cook 4 slabs, plate setter down, mustard, rub, and never open the lid til I think they are done. I like this website a lot for rib cookin info.

http://www.amazingribs.com/

johncrist

I failed to understand the need for the drip pan and ended up not using it. The Car Wash Mike recipe calls for one. Is it simply to keep the plate setter clean? I didn't follow the recipe exactly and improvised a bit here and there. Still, they turned out delicious -- this was a five-and-a-half-pound rack of St. Louis-style ribs -- and got rave reviews from everyone.