Turbo St Louis Ribs not so great - ideas needed

run53

I turbo'd 2 slabs of STL's last night and they were just ok. 350 dome for about 2 hours. Nothing but dry rub (Bad Byron's). To be honest, I probably should have pulled them at 1:45 as they passed the toothpick test. So that was first mistake. I rested them for 15 minutes in foil. The thin end was very tough and dry. The rest was decent but not my best. 

The other issue:
Protecting the ends (especially the thin end). Even the thicker ends which I placed in the back of the Egg were very dark). I didn't cut them and some of the slab was over direct heat as they overhung the platesetter. Is there a fix for this? I guess the easy fix is to cut them is half, but that wouldn't work if I wanted to do 4 or 5 slabs. I would need each rack position for a full slab. Are there other tricks to protect the ends of a full slab?

fishlessman

i have not done a hotter cook with ribs in a long time but what i had luck with was cutting them in half and standing them up in a rib rack. flipping them end to end and rotating them during the cook. i dont cook them like that anymore, just prefer low and slow.

lkapigian

If the rest were OK, just better protection I assume---Never done Turbo Ribs ( On purpose) I enjoy the relaxing Sunday

gdenby

The ends over direct heat can be wrapped in foil. Doing turbo and having anything in direct line w. the lump greatly increases the chance of desiccation and burning.

run53

gdenby said:

The ends over direct heat can be wrapped in foil. Doing turbo and having anything in direct line w. the lump greatly increases the chance of desiccation and burning.

Hmmmm....didn't think of foiling just the ends. I will give that a try for sure next time.

JRWhitee

I have not had much luck with turbo either.

Foghorn

1) For turbo cooks the window "done - but not overcooked" is definitely shorter due to the higher temp.
2) As you have identified, the issue of rising heat is also potentially more of a concern.

I address #2 by adding an additional layer of protection from the rising heat.  Based on a recommendation I read here, I fashion some aluminum foil on top of the platesetter (actually I first wad up a few foil balls to create an air gap between the platesetter and the foil) to create a drip pan that completely covers the silhouette of the meat I'm cooking so that no hot air directly rises onto it.

In addition to that, if I notice that the ribs on the ends are cooking faster than the ribs in the middle, I will sometimes cut the rack in half in the middle of the cook and reposition the ribs with the more cooked ribs toward the center.  And if the end ribs are done, I'll cut of 3 or so and wrap them in foil and FTC them while the rest stay on the grill.  It hurts the presentation a little, but if you don't care if you present full racks this works well.

Here are some pics of ribs cooked with the foil pan taking up almost all of the space in the grill with just some small spaces for hot air to rise - and pics of the finished product.  The ends are a little more done than the middle, but I was still very happy with the product.

YukonRon

I have never been able to justify turbo anything, when Low and slow provide me with the best results on food, ever.

I am Lazy. I know it. But I also plan ahead too.

run53

Foghorn said:

1) For turbo cooks the window "done - but not overcooked" is definitely shorter due to the higher temp.
2) As you have identified, the issue of rising heat is also potentially more of a concern.

I think #1 is the main problem for turbo. I'm pretty sure I missed the window between done and overdone. Even the middle was a bit dried out. I'll either have to pay closer attention on Turbos or move back to low and slows.

Foghorn

run53 said:

Foghorn said:

1) For turbo cooks the window "done - but not overcooked" is definitely shorter due to the higher temp.
2) As you have identified, the issue of rising heat is also potentially more of a concern.

I think #1 is the main problem for turbo. I'm pretty sure I missed the window between done and overdone. Even the middle was a bit dried out. I'll either have to pay closer attention on Turbos or move back to low and slows.

Yeah, I think of it as being a 5-10 minute window on a turbo cook - and probably 30 minutes when cooking at 250.  You can extrapolate for temperatures between the two. 

gonepostal

YukonRon said:

I have never been able to justify turbo anything, when Low and slow provide me with the best results on food, ever.

I am Lazy. I know it. But I also plan ahead too.

I'm with you there! I plan my long cooks around my off days. Setting up for a low n slow with the music blaring and the cooler full...that's how i like to get to the finish line.

That being said...i don't have t-ball games to get to or dance recitals etc. We don't have kids so time is not an issue in my household...

JRWhitee

Low and slow provides more drinking time IMHO