Ribs Insane Round 2

Mark_B_Good

Ok, so this time, I applied rub and let it permeate for about 1h, then 275F indirect smoke for 3h. After that I wrapped them in Montreal steak spice, balsamic vinegar glaze, lemon juice, apple juice, and bbq sauce, and put them back in for 2h at 275F. They passed the bend test.

After that took off the ribs, cranked the fire to 500F, re-basted with bbq sauce, and seared them on direct fire for around 1 min per side (max).

These turned out delicious!!

Here's a few pictures, stepping through the process.

Foghorn

Dude.   Those ribs look awesome.  Where are you located?  I may want to stop by for some the next time you cook them.

Mark_B_Good

Lol. Toronto, Canada

johnmitchell

Looks awesome 👏 Shouldn’t the napkin/serviette be under the fork though😂😂😂 Seriously looks like you have ribs waxed👍

GrateEggspectations

johnmitchell said:

Looks awesome 👏 Shouldn’t the napkin/serviette be under the fork though😂😂😂 Seriously looks like you have ribs waxed👍

Translation: Your plating game is weak. lol. 

From a fellow Canuck (Ottawa), I can say that it’s a great looking cook. Keep it up. 

Mark_B_Good

johnmitchell said:

Looks awesome 👏 Shouldn’t the napkin/serviette be under the fork though😂😂😂 Seriously looks like you have ribs waxed👍

LOL, yup, you are correct ... but my wife said put the knife on the napkin ... so I had a choice ... listen to here, or be right. We've been married for almost 22 years...

Mark_B_Good

I have to say one thing that was interesting. I used up my bag of Green Egg US Charcoal (I think it was hickory).  So I tried for the first time the Canadian Hardwood.  Pieces were smaller, and man it was hard to keep the temperature down. I managed eventually to get it down to 275F - 280F, but it easily overshot when I opened the grill and took forever to come down. I lost an hour of cooking because of that.

Last time I'm buying the Canadian stuff ... it's too small, burns too easy.

Do any of you guys have tricks to cool the egg faster when it does overshoot. Read of another guy on the forum that throws a few ice cubes into the fire to cool it down ... does that work?

Canugghead

For low temp cook, I light the lump in one spot.

Mark_B_Good

Canugghead said:

For low temp cook, I light the lump in one spot.

I did that too, but I think because the Canadian stuff was smaller pieces, it runs hotter. The theory is the smaller pieces have more surface area, so more coal in contact with oxygen ... more flame.

Maybe I just got a crap bag with smaller pieces?

Mark_B_Good

Well it's been a while since I've done ribs. Got the backyard ready for summer and now I'm into my long cooks again ... nice weekend to do it too!

Seasoned two side racks with Weber's KC BBQ Rub, and left for 24h in fridge.

I'm about halfway into this cook. Controlled dome at 250F, smoke unwrapped for 2.5h. Sauced them up and wrapped, now going in for 1.5h. Dressed with Stubs BBQ sauce, balsamic vinegar glaze, and seasoned with brown sugar, then added a few slices of butter.

After I cook wrapped for 1.5h, I then plan to unwrap and glaze for max 30 minutes towards end, all while keeping dome at 250F.

Will post final results in a bit. Here's some pictures so long.

gmanrva

looking good

Mark_B_Good

Ok so foil wrap done after 1.5h at 250F.

Opened foil, but did not remove ribs. Basted tops with Stubs BBQ sauce, balsamic glaze and honey, then left to cook 10 min indirect at 250F. Re applied basting, and again cooked for 10 minutes (foil open at top, robs top side up, through this process).

After 2nd basting was glazed on at the 2p minute mark, sprinkled some Keg seasoning onto them to give it a bit of that salt (savory) flavor, and took off immediately. 

Closed the foil back up (loosely, so as not to ruin tbe basting) and let sit for 15 minutes to get meat to tighten up, before serving.

Will post final presentation in a few minutes.

Mark_B_Good

Mark_B_Good

OH MY GOODNESS! YUM!

loco_engr

I forget who the OP was, his trick for lowing temps was to add a few bricks
HTH

Mikee

Mark_B_Good said:

Canugghead said:

For low temp cook, I light the lump in one spot.

I did that too, but I think because the Canadian stuff was smaller pieces, it runs hotter. The theory is the smaller pieces have more surface area, so more coal in contact with oxygen ... more flame.

Maybe I just got a crap bag with smaller pieces?

Big or small pieces; it doesn't matter that much. If the limiting factor is the oxygen you allow in, then that will dictate how much lump will burn. 

Mark_B_Good

OK, so I did this recipe once again this weekend ... except .... I decided to do it in my Napoleon Prestige Pro 665 gasser, instead of the BGE ... I was lazy.

Everything went well, maintained temp pretty much at 250F the entire time. 2.5h indirect smoked with applewood pellets (my BBQ has a pellet loading tube that I can reload without opening the BBQ lid) ... and then wrapped with sauces, etc, for 1.5h, then unwrapped and glazed for another 0.5h.

That recipe on the BGE makes a tender, fall off the bone type rib.  The ribs yesterday were not that tender ... they weren't bad, but definitely not fall off the bone.  The taste on the other hand was OUTSTANDING ... I couldn't believe how well the smoke penetrated, and how well all the flavors caramelized nicely. Really, one of the best tasting ribs I've had.

So ... question is, why didn't the 1.5h wrap tenderize those ribs??? Did the natural gas BBQ have anything to do with it?

JohnInCarolina

Mark_B_Good said:

OK, so I did this recipe once again this weekend ... except .... I decided to do it in my Napoleon Prestige Pro 665 gasser, instead of the BGE ... I was lazy.

Everything went well, maintained temp pretty much at 250F the entire time. 2.5h indirect smoked with applewood pellets (my BBQ has a pellet loading tube that I can reload without opening the BBQ lid) ... and then wrapped with sauces, etc, for 1.5h, then unwrapped and glazed for another 0.5h.

That recipe on the BGE makes a tender, fall off the bone type rib.  The ribs yesterday were not that tender ... they weren't bad, but definitely not fall off the bone.  The taste on the other hand was OUTSTANDING ... I couldn't believe how well the smoke penetrated, and how well all the flavors caramelized nicely. Really, one of the best tasting ribs I've had.

So ... question is, why didn't the 1.5h wrap tenderize those ribs??? Did the natural gas BBQ have anything to do with it?

It probably did tenderize them, just not as much as the last set you did.

Ribs can be fickle.  One of the things I’ve learned is that a recipe is at most a guide.  You can do five different racks following the exact same process and end up with five different outcomes.  You really do have to learn to adjust based on what they’re doing during the cook.

StillH2OEgger

How did you determine they were finished? Time or toothpick test? Any chance they were undercooked?

Mark_B_Good

StillH2OEgger said:

How did you determine they were finished? Time or toothpick test? Any chance they were undercooked?

Time ... on the egg, I've got the time down, that I repeat, repeat, repeat the same good outcome (in terms of tenderness), and I just assumed it would be the same in the gasser .... because they were wrapped at that point, and temp is temp ... if I keep it at 250F in the gasser or BGE it's the same, right?

So, I didn't do the toothpick or bend test ...

Now, after we bit into them ... it's possible they were undercooked. Now that I think about it ... they were cooked but slightly pink meat around the bones ... so now you got me thinking ... (a) these were whole ribs ... and THICK parts to them.  (b) maybe my gasser temperature gauge isn't accurate, or perhaps the heat isn't even in the dome ... I had the ribs off to the left of the grill, and lit the two burners on the right to maintain the temperature at 250F. So the heat source may have been too far from the ribs.

So, learning points ... probably best to use a thermal probe closer to the meat to determine the ambient temperature, and use that instead of the BBQ thermometer.

Second ... ALWAYS check with a toothpick before calling the cook over.

Mark_B_Good

I'm also thinking ... for only when I do this in the gasser ... Perhaps only smoke them for the first 2.5h in the BBQ, then wrap and put them in the convection oven ... temperature and ambient consistency will be FAR better in the oven ... and at that stage, once I've wrapped them, the BBQ or OVEN aren't really impacting flavor anymore ... it's all just about tenderizing with time/temp at that stage.

Foghorn

Yes.  The gas grill probably has a pretty notable temperature gradient when it is set up how you describe.  Gradients like that used to frustrate me until I was cooking several different things on a grill at once and I just placed the various items in the places where they would get exposed to the optimal temperatures - and everything came out great.  Since that day I've decided that for each grill you have to learn the gradients/hot spots/airflow/etc to know how to optimally cook on it.

When you did your ribs on the gasser, it was probably 300 degrees over the burners and 220 where you had your ribs - or something like that.

With that said, you are right about the oven being a good option for the ribs once they are in foil...

StillH2OEgger

1 1/2 hours should definitely be long enough in foil to get tender ribs. I think you're right that the ribs were not getting 250 degrees of heat for the duration and maybe just needed to go a little longer. I also have a gasser and have cooked indirectly with it, but it is different than with the radiant heat coming from all sides with a BGE.

Mark_B_Good

StillH2OEgger said:

1 1/2 hours should definitely be long enough in foil to get tender ribs. I think you're right that the ribs were not getting 250 degrees of heat for the duration and maybe just needed to go a little longer. I also have a gasser and have cooked indirectly with it, but it is different than with the radiant heat coming from all sides with a BGE.

No doubt, the BGE has proven on this cook to be the WAY more efficient oven.

Next time when I use the gasser, I'm going to wrap them and put them in our convection oven, to be more precise with the ambient temperature.

Mark_B_Good

Bubba107

Yes Sirr