To foil or not to foil ...

Jeepster47

Loaded up the egg again with Rockwood lump and fired it off.  Added the DigiQ as soon as the lump was started and set it to 225.  Installed the woo, plate setter, drip pan, and grill; then went in to prep the ribs.  The plate setter was installed with one of the legs pointing forward towards the handle ... in this configuration the dome thermometer will read a more indirect temperature during the low-and-slow.

Smeared a St Louis cut spare rib rack with a very light coating of Dukes mayo and and a nice heavy coating of Oakridge BBQ Dominator rub.  Then cut the rack in half ... one half was to be cooked "naked" for six hours and the other one was to be cooked 3-2-1 style.  Checked the egg and it was perking along at 225 ... threw in a handful of pecan chunks and upped the DigiQ to 250.  As soon as the smoke cleared, in went the ribs meat side up.

Checked after 3.3 hours and everything looked good, so the half-racks were rotated on the grill and one of them was foiled.  At 5.2 hours the foil was removed ... lots of grease in the foil. Coated the meat with Red Mud sauce a couple of times and pulled at 5.8 hours.  A toothpick almost fell through the foiled ribs and had a slight resistance in the naked ribs.  The half-rack on the right in the following picture was the foiled half.



The obligatory plated picture, with the foiled rib on the bottom.



The Dominator rub continued to be a hit with the missus.  She liked the foiled ribs a little more than the non-foiled ribs ... hmmm.  They had a little different taste, definitely a different texture, but both were, as @SGH would say, two of my favorites ... I'd eat either one. Will have to experiment a little more with foiling since the meat almost fell off the bone with just short of two hours in the foil.  Maybe a 3.5-1.5-1 cook next time.

The DigiQ worked faultlessly for this cook.  The dome, Maverick and DigiQ measured temps tracked each other within about ten degrees for the entire six hours.  At the end of the cook, the fire had moved towards the front of the egg again, only off to the left side a little ... right under the plate setter opening between two of the legs.  Definitely will be aligning a plate setter leg under the dome thermometer for low-and-slows in the future.

KennyLee

Great synopsis and comparison.....thanks for sharing.  I know I used to do 2-2-1 for baby backs, but after some experimentation have found that cutting the foil time down to an hour to an hour and a half is about perfect.  Went 3-1-1 last time and they were superb. 

pgprescott

Nice study. Keep us posted. Type foiled protein will cook dramatically quicker.

cook861

Nice rib dinner

Ozzie_Isaac

I'm disappointed you had a draw in your fire or was it a fade? I get my right and left confused.

I pack my lump so it always, and I mean everytime, burns directly down the center. Never off into the rough.

I will say though, the neked rib looks more appealing to me, but I like some tug in my meat.

henapple

I like some tug in my meat.....really?

Ozzie_Isaac

henapple said:

I like some tug in my meat.....really?

Yeah well ... ummm ... yeah lets just agree that come out wrong. At least he didn't cook some pork shoulders.

grege345

Depending on company I sometimes have to foil. Some people equate good ribs with mush

Jeepster47

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I'm disappointed you had a draw in your fire or was it a fade? I get my right and left confused. I pack my lump so it always, and I mean everytime, burns directly down the center. Never off into the rough. I will say though, the neked rib looks more appealing to me, but I like some tug in my meat.

@Ozzie_Isaac ... you don't have a BGE plate setter, so the air can flow evenly all around your spider and stone.  I think the open spaces on a BGE plate setter tend to draw the fire, on a low-and-slow, towards one of the forward facing spaces ... maybe only when using a controller and pit fan.  I've only checked on the last two and both moved towards one of the forward facing spaces.

Roll up your sleeves, I'll let you play Tetris with the fill on my next low-and-slow.

bboulier

Nice experiment. I have done many of the same tests and have concluded that "high heat" and no foil best fits my palate and those of my family.  While foiled ribs are OK, everyone (without exception)  prefers the no-foil versions.

tisoypops

Thanks @Jeepster47‌. I may have to try the same next time I do ribs. Have done ribs twice and didn't use foil either time, but maybe I'll give her a try. Where does one acquire that Dominator rub?

Jeepster47

@tisoypops ... my son gave me some for Christmas since he'd heard good things about it.  He also bought some for himself. 

Google Oakridge BBQ (www.oakridgebbq.com) to find their homepage.  Their home page says they are currently experiencing a four day delay on shipping due to current sales volume.  Also noticed that it's sold on Amazon.com.  Try their sample packs ... good chance to try something without spending the kids inheritance.

tisoypops

Awesome thanks sir!

Ladeback69

@Jeepster47‌, they look good, but I will never cook ribs for 5 to 6 hours when I can get the same great taste and texture in 3 - 4 hours at 250 - 275. My wife too likes when I foil the ribs and add brown sugar, honey and apple juice. I think it's time for me to cook some ribs and do a side by side like this, but in about half the time. Again nice job and now I'm hungry.

RRP

Good job, Tom! As I always try to say - cook your food "to and the way" that you and yours like! I wish you speed getting to that point! See? I didn't even pimp you about using pecan to mess with your new love of bland Rockwood!

Jeepster47

@RRP ... that's one of the hidden costs with using Rockwood ... you've got to add wood for smoke flavor.

NO ... NO ... don't want to hurry to the final choice of what we like ... the journey is a blast.