St Louis style side ribs advice

paqman

I typically make baby back ribs but I stumbled upon two nice racks of St Louis side ribs at Costco that looked properly trimmed/tasty so I figured I would give them a shot.  The last time that I cooked side ribs was probably over 10 years ago…

I dry brined one 3 pounds rack overnight, rinsed it this morning, and then applied Raging River dry rub on both sides.  The rack is currently resting in the fridge waiting to go on the egg later at lunch or this afternoon.  I am really not sure of the timing.  I am thinking of cooking at ~300F but I’m not sure how long to shoot for.  I guess that the 3-1-1 method is for lower cook temps.  Spritz or not?  Sauce or not?

I tend to prefer fall off the bone.

Looking for advice from the great minds on this forum!

lousubcap

No great mind here but I find the St Louis trimmed spares generally take longer than BB's to pass the toothpick test.  I roll around 250-2175*F on the dome and expect 5 hrs but the pig drives this cook.  I will spritz (50/50 ACV/water) a couple of times.  Sauce would be however you like your BBs.

If you want fall off the bone then foil is your friend to get that result and that skill-set is beyond my ability.  Many here will foil with some combo of butter, honey and brown sugar.  Hopefully a foiler will be along otherwise the search here will give you lots of info.

Enjoy the ribs-sweet looking rack.

lkapigian

^^^^This ..........as far as foil, I do it for the rest ...I don't take them to fall off the bone on the pit as I am typically resting ribs 2-4 hours, they would turn to mush if I finished on the cooker then rested that long 

fishlessman

250/275 til it probes nice. if you want fall off the bone use the bend test and if it splits into two racks its going to fall off the bone.  never brined a rack, becareful when buying cause you dont want solution added before brining on those, you dont want solution added anyways

paqman

fishlessman said:

never brined a rack, be careful when buying cause you dont want solution added before brining on those, you dont want solution added anyways

I typically brine chicken and pork so I figured it would help here.  I don’t see any mention on the packaging that solution was added, very good point, you made me look! 😂🤣

paqman

So I started the egg, worst case scenario, I’ll wrap and hold in a warm oven until diner.

My egg kinda likes to either stay at 225F or 300F, anything in between is a constant fight.  I’ll try to shoot for 275F…

fishlessman

paqman said:

fishlessman said:

never brined a rack, be careful when buying cause you dont want solution added before brining on those, you dont want solution added anyways

I typically brine chicken and pork so I figured it would help here.  I don’t see any mention on the packaging that solution was added, very good point, you made me look! 😂🤣

i made the mistake once, almost tossed the ribs. actually two times, my supermarket repackages solution added hormel ribs so that they dont have to show the solution added on the label. they almost taste corned to me, those are for boiling.....

lkapigian

paqman said:

So I started the egg, worst case scenario, I’ll wrap and hold in a warm oven until diner.

My egg kinda likes to either stay at 225F or 300F, anything in between is a constant fight.  I’ll try to shoot for 275F…

Swift is notorious for their "Enhanced with up to 10% of Swift’s proven solution."

fishlessman

as for the sauce, warm and on the side

Money_Hillbilly

@paqman I cook a lot of St Louis ribs.  Usually go 250-275 for 2 1/2-3 hrs.  I spritz with water if they appear to dry out on the surface.  When the bark is set (can’t scratch off with fingernail) I wrap with brown sugar, Parkay or butter, honey, and tiger sauce.  Back on the grill meat side down, check for tenderness after 1 hr.  If they are thick maybe longer.  Usually  1 1/2 hrs should be fall off the bone.  Take out of the foil back on the grill glaze with sauce 5-10 minutes until set. Note save the drippings from the foil to add to pulled pork, it’s incredible.  We call it Pig Liquor!!

paqman

@Money_Hillbilly are you cooking to temp?  I see a thermapen in your pics.  Your ribs are looking pretty nice!

@fishlessman Yours are looking tasty too, you are both making me drool!  SWMBO got me a bottle of Blues Hogs, I’ll just serve that on the side as a dipping sauce.

Ribs are on with a chunk of hickory and a handful of Jack Daniels barrel chips.

Money_Hillbilly

@paqman No I don’t cook to temp with ribs.  That is one of the guys on my comp team, He is a pharmacist and wants to be precise on everything.  I just touch, feel and observe on ribs.  I do closely temp everything else though.  Temping ribs is very unreliable with pockets of fat and bones.  We use the Thermapen to probe for tenderness on ribs. 

paqman

Coming along nicely!

Mark_B_Good

I do 2.5h unwrapped to smoke, then 1.5h wrapped in foil with flavorings, then 0.5h unwrap top of foil (leaving ribs inside foil base though) to glaze at end, then off (I lift the ribs using the foil, as they are very tender and are difficult to handle without breaking apart) and 10 to 15 min rest (this helps tighten the meat around the bone, and after this, you can move it from the foil to the plate, keeping it intact a bit easier).

paqman

Out of the foil now, back on the egg until an unusually early diner.

Pretty floppy, I cheated and had a bone or two 😳

A tiny bit too salty for my taste but still pretty good, looking forward to the final result!

lkapigian

Beautiful @paqman

lousubcap

Great results right there.  Banquet awaits even after the test sample. 

paqman

False alarm on the salt, it was just the edge pieces, the rest was just perfect!  No smoke ring though.  I did not open the Blues Hog bottle, I ended up using a bottle of Cattle Boyz that was already open.

3.25 hours naked @225F
1 hour double foiled with apple juice
1 hour Squirted some honey syrup on both sides
15 minutes rest

The honey syrup was leftover from a mix I used to make gold rushes this summer. 3 parts honey to 1 part water.

Thanks for all the advices!

Thatgrimguy

lkapigian said:

^^^^This ..........as far as foil, I do it for the rest ...I don't take them to fall off the bone on the pit as I am typically resting ribs 2-4 hours, they would turn to mush if I finished on the cooker then rested that long 

I agree! The rest is more important than the cook I dare say.

GrateEggspectations

Some great colour on those. I’ll be right over. 

dbCooper

paqman said:

Ribs look just great, but the onion rings really grabbed my attention.  Homemade?

paqman

@dbCooper unfortunately not this time :(

lousubcap

Way to bring the cook home.  I would crush those.  Great finish.  Did you notice the slightly different flavour (nod) compared to BB's? 

paqman

lousubcap said:

Way to bring the cook home.  I would crush those.  Great finish.  Did you notice the slightly different flavour (nod) compared to BB's? 

Yes, definitely, the fat makes all the difference.  I’ve had good ribs and I’ve had bad ribs, this one was very good.  Moist, tender, fatty… Unfortunately, SWMBO doesn’t appreciate the fat.

I rarely cook St Louis because I don’t like trimming them and the ones that are pre-trimmed almost always have chunks of chewy cartilage.  This one was very well trimmed!

The baby backs that I see lately are gigantic and have a thick layer of loin that becomes dry and unpleasant to eat IMHO.

fishlessman

paqman said:

lousubcap said:

Way to bring the cook home.  I would crush those.  Great finish.  Did you notice the slightly different flavour (nod) compared to BB's? 

Yes, definitely, the fat makes all the difference.  I’ve had good ribs and I’ve had bad ribs, this one was very good.  Moist, tender, fatty… Unfortunately, SWMBO doesn’t appreciate the fat.

I rarely cook St Louis because I don’t like trimming them and the ones that are pre-trimmed almost always have chunks of chewy cartilage.  This one was very well trimmed!

The baby backs that I see lately are gigantic and have a thick layer of loin that becomes dry and unpleasant to eat IMHO.

search out the smaller st louis rib racks. less fat and more tender with all the flavor

lkapigian

Beautiful @paqman

paqman

Leftovers are going in a Cheetos mac & cheese along with yellow cheese curds for lunch today, I’m feeling like a kid today 😂🤣