Over done baby back ribs

bwanadon

I am a relative newbie with my large BGE. Have done St Louis style ribs twice and they were excellent. Cooked them indirect at 300 for 4 hours (no foil wrap). Yesterday I did the baby backs the same way and they were over done. My first fail on the egg! Suggestions welcome!

Theophan

Most people here agree that time and temperature are NOT the way to determine whether ribs are done, but actually testing whether they are tender or not is.  Either pick one end of the rack up and hold it horizontal with tongs and see whether the rest of the rack is tender enough to bend to 90° (the "Bend Test"), or keep poking the meaty part with a toothpick (the "Toothpick Test") to see whether the toothpick goes in very, very easily or still has a lot of resistance.

I never wrap my ribs, either, and I love the way they turn out.  But it's not the number of hours that matters, or the dome temp.  It's actually testing how tender they are with one or both of those two tests.

saluki2007

Agree with everything Theo said.  My BB usually are done quicker than spare ribs as the BB are less fatty there for have less rendering to do.

lousubcap

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
@Theophan has the right approach above. Related, BB ribs will generally cook faster than St Louis spares at the same temp which is what you experienced.  FWIW-

fishlessman

spares are better, just cook spares

abtaylor260

Yeh I have overcooked a few racks along the way, especially baby backs. Basically on slow cooked pork or beef I use a toothpick now, and the bend test. After a few cooks you will get a good feel for what you are looking for. The downside is you have to check them more often.

bwanadon

Thank you all for the feedback. I think the toothpick and bend test will be my go to now. Love my egg.

abtaylor260

Of course it all depends on how you like your ribs, I like mine tender but not falling off the bone with a little bite to them. 

bigegger

beware of a certain brand where the package says "extra tender" on it whether it be baby backs or spare ribs.. it will reach desired tenderness sooner than expected

Raideregg

I have done several cooks like this, I would agree 4 hours uncovered at 300 degrees would be a recipe of overcook.  Try this, Cook for 2 hours at the same temp. Spritz with Apple juice every 30-40 min. Prepare heavy duty foil one sheet per rack so you can cover each rack with overlap.  One stick of butter per 3 racks, half cup of brown sugar per 3 racks, honey and cook over fire reducing the butter, brown sugar and honey down.  Pull each rack off, place on foil and paint both sides of the ribs with the butter sauce.  Wrap up with the foil and return back to the grill for 1 hour!  After the total of 3 hours, pull off the foiled ribs make sure they are flat so you don't mess up the au juis you are making within the foil.  Place the ribs flat side in a ice chest with no ice, let sit for 40-45 min, the ribs will cook inside the cooler.  Take each one out, carefully un-foil to collect the juice, pour the collected juice into a bowl. Cut with a electric knife, paint the collected juice on the ribs and enjoy! They should be perfect.  One last thing, make sure you have a pan under your cook with beer or Apple Juice.  See photos

YukonRon

fishlessman said:

spares are better, just cook spares

This