Butcher paper and Ribs

Mark_B_Good

Yeah, you can't have them in foil for 2h ... I do a 2.5 smoke, 1 to 1.5h in foil, 20 - 30 min open foil and baste, all at 250F to 270F.

Another thing I've learned ... ribs need to rest at LEAST 10 to 15 min before picking them up ... a chef taught me this. It causes the meat to tighten around the bones, so they don't fall apart when you handle them. I'm still gentle with them ... but it helps a lot to let them rest those 10 to 15 min.

StillH2OEgger

Assuming this already took place, how did they turn out? I also did ribs on Sunday and use foil but never for more than an 1 hour or 1:15. Everybody likes what they like, but for me the sweet spot is tender without turning them mushy.

DieselkW

StillH2OEgger said:

Assuming this already took place, how did they turn out? I also did ribs on Sunday and use foil but never for more than an 1 hour or 1:15. Everybody likes what they like, but for me the sweet spot is tender without turning them mushy.

They're still on the egg, I cut them in half and wrapped one in foil, one in paper, and the other naked. I'll keep track of which is which and see what we like best. t

probe near the bone at 180º - they've been wrapped for 1.5 hours now. Will start mopping soon - dinner's at 6pm EDT.

DieselkW

Another half hour until I pull them, and I'll rest them for 30 minutes while the cornbread warms up.

The ones that were wrapped in either paper or foil pulled back from the bone more than the ones that were left naked.

In the picture, paper wrapped closest, then naked, then foil wrapped in the back.

The naked ones looked the best before sauce, a nice mahogany color that I expected. The wrapped ones looked a bit "pale" in comparison - but the sauce made them all equal.

Dinner in an hour:

lousubcap

Toothpick test for the win with ribs.  

DieselkW

The verdict is, by overwhelming majority, 321 foil wrapped ribs. The naked ribs and the butcher paper wrapped ribs were still very good, but the foil wrapped rack really was the crowd favorite. 

I thought the naked rack and the paper wrapped rack were the same - not "fall off" tender, but really tasty and had a bit of "chew" at the bone. 

Botch

Thank you for the side-by-side.  Ribs are my bugaboo, and I'll be trying a new recipe for the second time in the next couple days, with wrap (which I've never bothered with before).  

StillH2OEgger

That looks like quite the feast! Congrats on pulling it off -- and it's always good to have some other taste testers to offer their thoughts. Of the relatively common BGE cooks, I've probably done more experimenting with ribs than anything else and there's lots of ways to get there.

Mark_B_Good

Nice experiment!  How long did you foil wrap for? The trick is not too long ... 1h to 1h30 min MAX, MAX, MAX.

DieselkW

Mark_B_Good said:

Nice experiment!  How long did you foil wrap for? The trick is not too long ... 1h to 1h30 min MAX, MAX, MAX.

I had been an advocate of 3-2-1 for 10 years now. 

I know the foil wrapped rack got a bit overheated, as you can see by the bones - but most of my crowd likes "fall off" fully cooked (which some call "overcooked") and there's no arguing with a consensus like that. 

I think next time I'll not wrap them at all - I liked the naked rack samples I had, and for sh*ts and giggles, the butcher paper rack was indistinguishable from the naked rack except I got a sheet of mighty fine firestarter out of that paper.