Questions about ribs

XK150

Just got my large BGE a few weeks ago and have been trying out several recipes... Do need a bit of advice.

Big thing... are spare ribs, baby back ribs and St Louis style ribs cooked the same way on the egg? 

Does anyone have any advice on slow cooking boneless 1 inch thick pork chops? A recipe would be most helpful.

Thanks

td66snrf

As for the ribs, yes you cook them all the same way. Now how you cook them you'll receive a litany of how to. I cook them meat side up around 250 indirect for about 3hrs, then I foil them for 1hr, then I pull them out of the foil back on the grill and sauce for 30 minutes.  As for the chop I wouldn't go low/so I would go hot and fast. The chop has no fat it's too lean. You'll dry it out. IMHO

GaryLange

The best thing to do for those Chops is to grab a brine off the computer and brine them for about 3-4 hours then rinse them off and put them on the egg direct at about 450=500 for about 2-1/2 to 3 min. a side. Don't over cook them and they will be tender and juicy. You can put some seasoning on them also or just salt and pepper.

JNDATHP

You might want to think about braising the chops. 

vb4677

Do a search for "Turbo Ribs" and you'll be amazed.  What used to take 5-6 hours now will take you 1.5 -2 hours!  Basically, 350F indirect (with the platesetter in, legs up) and let 'er rip.  SO easy and SO good.  Done a wad of ribs the ol' low and slow way, and I'll never go back!

+1 for the quick, direct cook on the chop.

sumoconnell

@XK150 , I found two steps of "enlightenment" cooking  on the egg.  

Before the egg, I cooked by time.. 45 min per pound, etc. Now...

1. Cook to temp, not time.  Each piece of meat will take its own time to the finish line, and 195F is the pork pull temp finish line.

2. Cook to feel, not temp! Each dang piece of meat is different and doneness is different from animal to animal.  Wtf.

So, on ribs.. There is no easy way to probe the temp, it's thin and varies from edge ribs  to middle ribs.  Instead, you hear folks give feel advice.. The bend test, the toothpick test.. Both are feel tests..

In general, grab three ribs with tongs. If they bend 90 degrees, you are done.

Our, poke with a toothpick.  If it probes like soft butter... Finish line.

Notice, no time or temps  given.  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Lots of good advice on here. I'll just note real quick in case you are not familiar, but St. Louis style are actually spare ribs. You just trim the skirt and the rib tips off and square off the last few ribs where it tapers down. I usually buy spares and trim them down if I want to because I they are quite a bit cheaper. And you get a skirt steak and rib tips out of the deal as a chef's treat right off the egg.

caliking

sumoconnell said:

@XK150 , I found two steps of "enlightenment" cooking  on the egg.  

Before the egg, I cooked by time.. 45 min per pound, etc. Now...

1. Cook to temp, not time.  Each piece of meat will take its own time to the finish line, and 195F is the pork pull temp finish line.

2. Cook to feel, not temp! Each dang piece of meat is different and doneness is different from animal to animal.  Wtf.

So, on ribs.. There is no easy way to probe the temp, it's thin and varies from edge ribs  to middle ribs.  Instead, you hear folks give feel advice.. The bend test, the toothpick test.. Both are feel tests..

In general, grab three ribs with tongs. If they bend 90 degrees, you are done.

Our, poke with a toothpick.  If it probes like soft butter... Finish line.

Notice, no time or temps  given.  

This may be a typo, but you want to aim   for 140 or a little less for pork chops . The chops will come up a few more degree during the rest. And +1 for brining. Brined chops seem to cook faster for me. 

Everything else @sumoconnell mentioned is pretty sound advice. 

tonkaegger

Agree the most important thing with chops is not to go over 145 internal temp.  Usually marinate, which is a lot like brining, or use a robust dry rub with a little olive oil.  

gdenby

In general, spares take longer to cook than baby backs.

Almost everyone cooks bone side down, unless the ribs will spend time foiled in liquid. During that time they should be meat side down. At 1st I foiled, but eventually gave it up. Lots of fuss, not much more added flavor, tender, but sometimes mushy. Unfoiled, they may take a little longer, but its not likely to produce mushy flesh.

It is not hard to learn to trim spares. At this point, it takes me maybe 5 minutes to carver away the tips and chine bone, cut away the flap meat that cooks faster than the rest, and pull the membrane. Saves me over a buck a pound compared to what I'd have to pay the cutter at the market to do. The upside of St. Louis style is they cook more evenly.

My preference is not to do turbo unless I'm in a big time crunch. I have upped the dome temp to an average of 275.  I generally do dry ribs, and above 300 tends to char the surface a little. Also, the extra time in the smoke is desirable to me.

Have fun. It is hard to actually ruin ribs in the Egg. You will likely find that commercial offerings aren't worth it to you any longer. About a year ago, I was lazy, and went to a pit we used to get ribs from frequently. My wife told me to not do that again, if I wasn't cooking them, she'd rather not bother.

Hans61

St. Louis ribs take longer then loin backs 

reverse sear pork chops

lousubcap

Here's my rib take:
WRT ribs-all good info above and you will read different approaches to the cook.  All rib cooks are some variation around X-0-0 which translates into the following: 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 step -0- mentioned above. The sealed ribs are then returned to the cooker.  At the end of the "0" time-frame, the ribs are removed from the foil and then put back on the BGE for the final "0" time-frame.  This is when sauce is added if you desire.  X-X-X defines the cook cycle.  Those of us X-0-0 run without any of the above extras.  It's all in what you like.  FWIW-

BTW-welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.