2nd try at baby backs tomorrow

blakeas

wanted to get opinions - I want fall of the rib baby backs.  I love just having dry rub as well

I tried car wash mike's recipe a few's ago and came away not happy.  after hour 4 1/2, the meat had not pulled 1 1/2 away from the bone so I left them on another hour.  took them off and they tasted dry and while the flavor was good I really didn't like eating them since they were not juicy and fall of the bone.

So this time around I was going to do the 3 hours at 250, 1 in foil and 1.5 on indirect out of the foil to finish.  Suggestions? 

GASGUY

You will find out everyone has their own way to do BBR. Often you will see they put rub on, then smoke for a while, then wrap in foil for a few hours, then back on grill.

Honestly, I recommend experimenting and see what works best for your taste, but you will find a lot of different ways to do it here.....good luck.

JRWhitee

If you want fall off the bone your plan sounds good, that is the way I did them for years and they always fell off the bone. You many not need the 1.5 at the end though that may be 30 minutes too long.

robnybbq

here is how I have made them come out good.

Pull membrane and apply rub and put back in fridge for a few hours

Egg at 250-275 with apple/cherry chips/chunks

I cook for ~2.5-3 hours.

I then double foil the ribs with some apple juice (1/2 cup)

Cook for 1 hour

Then remove the foil and put back on the egg for 30 minutes - coat with BBQ sauce for 15 more minutes

They come out tender this way for me.

blakeas

I have four slabs I am making tomorrow - when I foil can I just put them in the alum foil tray and cover tightly with alum foil?  or do I need to do each one individually?  And in either way, Meat side is down?

blakeas

Also, I was thinking about applying the rub and let them sit in the fridge overnight?  Is that an added benefit?  or does it not matter?

robnybbq

Not sure - I have only done a few hours.  And the last batch was using Pineapple Head rub and pineapple juice that was awesome.

Not sure of whole tray but it may work the same as "Steaming" the ribs a little.

Brisket_Fanatic

I can get fall off the bone baby backs at 250 dome indirect rubbed down with olive oil and your favorite rub. Put the ribs bone side down and dont touch or look at them for 6 hours. Pull off and enjoy, if someone want a lttle sauce on them add that the last 30 minutes.

blakeas

did a half slab test batch yesterday afternoon.  Mustard on back, dizzy dust for rub.  3 hours on 250, 1 hour in foil and 30 minutes back on indirect.  They were still not fall off the bone.  I used a cherry wood chunk, Green egg natural charcoal and apple wood chips.  Out of all the ribs I have done, they definitely had the best flavor but just don't juicy enough in my opinion.  Not enough of "fall of the bone".  I used apple juice, honey and sprinkled the brown sugar in the foil.

Do I put in the foil for 1.5 hours?

SGH

@blakeas‌
If you want them to fall off the bone the trick is to cook them until they reach that point. Wrapping or not wrapping it doesn't matter you just have to take them to that point. Wrapping does make it easier. Try this. Cook your ribs at 275 degrees for 2 and 1/2 hours. Then wrap with the liquid of your choice. Cook another 2 hours wrapped. Start checking them at this point. If they are not falling off the bone then keep cooking until they do. But at the above time and temp they should be getting real close.

Egghead_Daron

I would follow your same plan but go longer wrapped in the foil. Maybe go closer to 2 hours in foil. As others have stated it will get to that point any way you do it but the foil wrap will speed that process up. And it keeps that moisture close to the meat.

paqman

@blakeas‌ - I never had success with fall off the bone back ribs on the egg until last week. I thought that foil was the key to great ribs but I was lazy and just cooking for myself so I ended up cooking a rack with dry rub @ 225F for about 3 hours and then slowly raised the temp to 300F for the last hour. They were perfect!? I cooked ribs that way before and they were not that good. I usually get my ribs from costco but this time I purchased them from my butcher. I'll talk to him today. I think he may be brining them. It may be the key?

Wolfpack

If you really want fall off the bone you will need to foil wrap for at least 1.5 hrs with a little liquid in the foil. You will basically be braising.

xiphoid007

They pull off the bone cleanly of you just plain smoke them at 250°. For St. Louis style I go 6 hrs, but you'd probably only need 5 hrs for BB. I just put on the rub, throw them on the grill, and nothing else. A couple chunks of cherry wood is all. If u have enough slabs to have 2 layers on my AR, I rotate halfway through. I check hr bend test, and sauce for the last half hour if you want to sauce. I've messed 3-2-1 and turbo and I find these are the best.

gdenby

The problem I have w. foiling, aside from all the fuss, is that it is as good at making mushy meat ribs as it does bone falling out ribs.

All the steam in the pouch can turn the meat into goo. Very tender, but ultimately dry.

Just lay the ribs flat, meat side up. Cook at a steady temp. I prefer 275-ish, but up to 350F is OK if you pay attention to not charring the outside.

The meat does not always draw back from the bone. Usually, but not always. After a few hours, see if the surface is drying out. If so, do a quick mop or spray. The meat is done when the slab begins to fold over under its own weight. Protruding bones will be dry or almost dry.

I prefer spares to BBs. The BBs start w. more tender meat, but have less fat and collagen than spares. Its the fat and collagen that gives the succulent mouthfeel once the meat is Q'd.

henapple

I must have magic ribs. It doesn't take that long. I always egg St Louis style.

Leave membrane
300 dome
No mustard. I've found that the rib adheres and the bark stays on better.
Bone down till the meat pulls a little.
Honey on the foil.
Meat down
Check and pull when they're done.
Sauce and flip till sticky and a little black.

If each cut is different then each will egg differently. I smoke by look rather than time but 3 hrs is the average.

paqman

Side and baby back arebtwo different beasts. I have no problem with side ribs, my challenge is with baby backs. Same as OP. Just spoke to my butcher and he says he doesn't brine them... I am puzzled!?

I am home alone for the weekend so I just bought 2 racks. Will try again this afternoon and tomorrow.

StillSmoken

@blakeas‌ I think you should try a 2-2-1 method. Make a log and take notes of your cooks. You'll nail them soon enough. It takes time.

boochsr71

250-275 bone down for 5-6 hours..... spritz if needed

gdenby

paqman said:

Just spoke to my butcher and he says he doesn't brine them... I am puzzled!? I am home alone for the weekend so I just bought 2 racks. Will try again this afternoon and tomorrow.

All meats can benefit from brining, but the fatter the cut, the less effective. The brine doesn't get thru the fat. Also, if there's lots of fat and connective tissue, there is less need to pull extra water into the meat.

paqman

@gdenby - I am with you about the benefits or brining. When I first purchased my egg, I was looking into reproducing the texture and taste of ribs that we get from a smokehouse. Tender, juicy, smoky and falling off the bone but not falling apart. I was also trying to avoid foil. With all the experiments that I have done, I came to the conclusion that it was not possible to achieve this without foil... Until last week. I was lazy, cooking for myself so I just cooked a rack of BB on the egg with a simple dry rub. 225-300 for 4 hours. They were perfect. The only variable is that I uusually get my ribs from Costco and this time I got them from my butcher.

blakeas

ok - did 4 racks yesterday for our neighborhood party.  REally the problem was finding space on my LBGE to put all the racks!  I cut them into half racks and put them on the inverted rack.   And I still had 2 extra half slabs so I put them on the side of the V-rack.  I did 3 hours on 250 and 2 hours in the foil.  I did 3 half racks in the foil pan with foil tightly on top with apple juice, honey and sprinkled with brown sugar.  Then the rest in their own foil.  The ones in the foil rack were perfect!  fall off the bone!  All racks had dizzy dust with mustard on meat side.  I really love the dizzy dust!

Anyway, the way I like them I guess needs to have the foil pan but then I can only really have 2 racks in there.  So I guess I am going with the 3-2 method.

paqman

Pictures?

I did 4 hours @ 250F yesterday with a dry rub and they were almost as good as last week.

tridogdude

Some good posts here but all the different opinions gets one confused. Sounds like one would be best off experimenting on their own to see what works best.