Rib question

Maiello

First off new to Forum and Bge. I have a large size I have cooked a couple things on the egg over the 4th I did 3 racks of st.louis style ribs flavor was great however they fell completely apart . 250 grill temp attempted 2 2 1 method I read on here . What can I do so they are not as done . 

tonyled

i dont foil mine and just take them off rest them a few minutes then dive in.  they are almost always perfect texture wise.

JRWhitee

Don't foil them, 250 for 4.5-5 hours for st. louis is all  you need, 4-4.5 for baby backs. Do the bend test, pick them up with tongs and if they bend in half about 45 degrees angle they are done. Oh yeah, welcome to the group.

fishlessman

the foil stage is inconsistent, you need to check them starting at the first hour, then every 15 or so minutes. i dont foil anymore and just start checking early

gdenby

The method started as 3-1-1, and got turned to 3-2-1, probably because that string of numbers stuck in peoples' minds easier.

2-2-1, with 2 hours in the foil will, as you experienced, cause the meat to disintegrate. Even turn to mush. No more than 1 hour. The biggest benefit of foiling as far as I can tell is that the meat can be infused with the sauce-like liquid put into the foil.

Foiling isn't necessary for tender, it just makes it easier in a limited time frame. Spares generally take me about 6 hours unfoiled, loin backs, about 5, dome 250.  They will end up just as tender and moist as foiled, without as much fuss.

ColtsFan

I'm a fan of the bend test as previously stated. I start checking around the 3:30 hour mark. 

toneloceasyegg

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

tonyled

agree, sounds like a nice smoke ring 

Foghorn

@toneloceasyegg, I agree with @tonyled.  Sounds like a smoke ring - and those ribs sound great.  I'd have eaten whatever you and your son didn't beat me to. 

And welcome aboard to the new posters.

Darby_Crenshaw

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

i had this conversation with someone the other day.  they thought the red ring was underdone meat. i asked how it was possible to cook something so long, have it underdone on the outside and yet cooked in the middle?

xiphoid007

I just take st louis 5.5-6hrs straight, smoking at 225. No mess or fuss. Perfect every time. I usually sauce for the last 30 min. I only open the grill once to rotate ribs. Perfect and easy!

fishlessman

Darby_Crenshaw said:

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

i had this conversation with someone the other day.  they thought the red ring was underdone meat. i asked how it was possible to cook something so long, have it underdone on the outside and yet cooked in the middle?

did you cook the middle first in the microwave

Ladeback69

I have cooked ribs straight through for 4 to 5 hours and they were good, but going 2-1-1 at 225 to 250 has made them great.  Now the rub and finishing glaze has something to do with it as well.  I go with apple wood and pecan wood at 225-250 for 2 hours, wrap in foil with squeeze butter, honey, brown sugar and some apple juice for an hour.  In the last hour put them back on for 30 minutes then on the last 30 minutes brush on my honey glaze I got from Q39.  

OhioEgger

Don't worry about it. Plenty of people don't understand about smoke rings -- they just need to have it explained to them. I'll be willing to bet there's none left and you're still alive, right?

blind99

fishlessman said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

i had this conversation with someone the other day.  they thought the red ring was underdone meat. i asked how it was possible to cook something so long, have it underdone on the outside and yet cooked in the middle?

did you cook the middle first in the microwave

I like cook mine in the exact middle of the egg.  the parabolic shape focuses the heat to the inside of the pork butt, so sometimes the outside is still bleeding.  it's the ultimate reverse sear.

Ladeback69

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

Are talking about the outside?  Pork ribs are going to change to a red color on the outside same with sausage.  Here are some I did on the 3rd before glazing.

Darby_Crenshaw

fishlessman said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

i had this conversation with someone the other day.  they thought the red ring was underdone meat. i asked how it was possible to cook something so long, have it underdone on the outside and yet cooked in the middle?

did you cook the middle first in the microwave

myth!  microwave cooks from the outside in.

cook a chicken breast sometime halfway. 

fishlessman

Darby_Crenshaw said:

fishlessman said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

i had this conversation with someone the other day.  they thought the red ring was underdone meat. i asked how it was possible to cook something so long, have it underdone on the outside and yet cooked in the middle?

did you cook the middle first in the microwave

myth!  microwave cooks from the outside in.

cook a chicken breast sometime halfway. 

was just thinking that would be your friends response to your question

fishlessman

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

wait til thanksgiving and theres red meat around the bones of a perfectly cooked turkey

Brisket_Fanatic

Darby_Crenshaw said:

fishlessman said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

i had this conversation with someone the other day.  they thought the red ring was underdone meat. i asked how it was possible to cook something so long, have it underdone on the outside and yet cooked in the middle?

did you cook the middle first in the microwave

myth!  microwave cooks from the outside in.

cook a chicken breast sometime halfway. 

100% Agree, That is why the QT Burrito is hot on the outside and still frozen in the middle.

gdenby

Brisket_Fanatic said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

fishlessman said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

toneloceasyegg said:

I have smoked pork butts twice and they were great.  Sunday I smoked one rack of spare ribs.  My first.  I put rub on them the night before.  I smoked the ribs for 3hrs at 250 dome temp.  Foiled with some butter and apple cider and cooked another hour.  At that point, they seemed to be limber.  Then, I took off the foil, added some sauce and cooked for 20mins.  While they were tender, they also looked too red.  My wife would not eat them.  At that point (after 5 hrs) I was going to eat them even if I died.  My son who has smoked a lot of ribs says that was just a smoke ring.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

i had this conversation with someone the other day.  they thought the red ring was underdone meat. i asked how it was possible to cook something so long, have it underdone on the outside and yet cooked in the middle?

did you cook the middle first in the microwave

myth!  microwave cooks from the outside in.

cook a chicken breast sometime halfway. 

100% Agree, That is why the QT Burrito is hot on the outside and still frozen in the middle.

To get ridiculously detailed, see this.

Note that the article mentions continuously rotating the food. This prevents internal hot spots. The result is that the outside of the food that is the same thickness as the width of the wave gets most of the energy. W. thick items, mostly the outside is heated by the waves, and the inside is heated by convection, same as any oven. Items small than the waves are heated less, because they don't get a full flux, and cook slower.

And to the OP, that was one of those situations where you could have posted a pic of the too red ribs, and people would have responded "Definitely dangerous, ship them to me for proper disposal."