Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

pull of the bone baby backs

UGAVET
UGAVET Posts: 577
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I have made boston butt pulled pork for my office with great success and compliments. One of my employess however posed a challenge in making baby back ribs. I took him up on his challenge and i think i lost based on response from the people at the gathering. I have only had my BGE since Feb and smoked my ribs with applewood. I did a couple of racks with BGE rub and a couple with Dizzy Pig. I removed the membrane from the back of the ribs in an effort to make them more tender and cooked them at about 225 degress for a 2.5 hours. My ribs were no where near as tender as his were. My flavor was better but people really enjoyed how his rib meat pulled completely away from the bone whereas mine was tougher to pull away and seemed to leave some meat behind. He par boils his ribs in bear and water for 30 min then lets them soak for about 2 hours in the water then finishes them with sauce on his gas grill. I was a little embarassed. I think i would have definately been the favorite with the flavor if the ribs had been more tender. Any advise about what i did wrong or should do different next time?

Comments

  • ugavet,

    the easy answer is, very simply, the time spent cooking on the egg. 2.5 hours is not long enough. a basic rib cooking guide on the egg is to use indirect heat. did you do this? another technique is the 3 hours of indirect heat followed by 1 to 1.5 hours wrapped in foil, then 1/2 to an hour of direct heat (using sauce at this point, if desired),,,,all with low heat.[p] to a degree, ribs are just personal preference. some like bbq sauce, some like ribs "dry". some like baby backs, some spare ribs. some feel the meat should "fall of the bone" like in a pork pull, others say the meat should remain somewhat firm to be eaten off the bone.
    with a little more practice, your egg will trounce your buddies method of "mushy" ribs.
    the one thing all true bbq rib cookers would agree on is, ribs shouldn't swim in water! [p]

  • Toy Man
    Toy Man Posts: 416
    Yes - the time should be closer to 4.5 to 5 hours.[p]Toy Man
  • Elder Ward
    Elder Ward Posts: 330
    ugavet,
    Your problem is you did not establish cooking rules. Boiling and steaming aint BBQ. If you were just challenged for making the best tasting ribs well .......... Why not make him offer his after boiling. NO Flavor. Prior to adding any sauce. Then with the same sauce yours and his. Also did he make his own sauce or store bought. With out being there I would say you were doing apples and oranges.
    All he did was supply a vehicle to deliver sauce. If you had wrapped your ribs in foil afer cooking and added a little apple juice, put them back on the grill closed the lid and shut it down for say 30 mins they would have fallen off the bone also. They would technically been steamed also but you would be closer to apples to apples. [p]Never play another mans game. Unless you have gotten your method down pat.
    One old mans opinion,
    Elder Ward

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    ugavet,
    if you'd have smoked them longer, say 5 hours, you'd have kicked his ass. dunno why he made soup first (parboiling).[p]most of his flavor was in the water.

    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Elder Ward
    Elder Ward Posts: 330
    ugavet,
    Here is a book I recommend to any cooking ribs.
    ISBN 1-58008-071-5 The Great Ribs Book by Hugh Carpenter & Teri Sanison. about $15 retail.
    Lots of recipes. These folk have a whole series eg. The Great Steak book ect. Good reads and good eats.
    Carl Ward

  • ChefRD
    ChefRD Posts: 438
    Elder Ward,
    Hello again Elder, I haven't spoke to you in probably 10 years, but I will never forget your dissertation on PP and it taught me the way to Nirvana. :)
    How you doin' buddy? This old board has a lot of memories and I'm glad to see you back.
    later,
    ron.

  • Elder Ward
    Elder Ward Posts: 330
    ChefRD,
    Howdee pardner. Every body was so nice at Ca Egg fest and Brenda made me feel guilty in a sweet sort of way for not sticking my old nose into everyone elses business I figured I aught to at least try once in a while. Monday I may not be around again due to business but for now welll.........
    You done ok without me and you like everyone else I meet live on the net teaches me as much as I give out. Some time the best lesson is when someone ask a question you had not given much attention to, makes you think what your doing from start to finish. Just like that ol PP thing. God bless Carl Ward

  • ugavet,love the handle and I would be willing to bet that we ard just down the road from one another (Commerce). Don't worry about it. This guy has committed the ultimate bar-b-que sin. He par-boiled them. May he burn in bar-b-que hell for that !

  • Smokey
    Smokey Posts: 2,468
    ugavet,
    definetly increase your cooking time to 4-6hrs. You would have kicked his butt if you would have cooked 6hrs. I don't care if he did boil his. whoever heard of such a thing. Re-challenge your dumbass co-worker and go 6hrs. @ 200-220. Also, do the apple juice thing that a previous poster mentioned. What are you using for marinade and rub? Good luck on the re-challenge.

  • ChefRD
    ChefRD Posts: 438
    Elder Ward,
    thanks carl, please keep coming back. There is 'hundreds' more people now, but that just means that there is more people than ever trying to figger out this Egg thing. ;)
    Hoping to hear from you soon,
    ron.

  • UGAVET
    UGAVET Posts: 577
    Zilm,
    yes i went to UGA and now live in Clayton, GA. Rabun county.

  • UGAVET
    UGAVET Posts: 577
    stike,
    i figured that my cooking time was too short. you are right about the flavor. there was none in those parboiled ribs.

  • UGAVET
    UGAVET Posts: 577
    EGGlomaniac,
    I have investigated the 3,1,.5 method and will definately give this a try next time. i look forward to making this guy regret parboiling those ribs

  • Bordello
    Bordello Posts: 5,926
    ugavet,
    Having read all of the below post you now have the jest of ribs.[p]May I recommend Dr.BBQ's book??? [p]Now,
    Go and show em how ribs should be.[p]Cheers,Beers & Boobies,
    Old Bordello
    No sense of humor here :)))

    [ul][li]Dr. BBQ's Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook[/ul]
  • dhuffjr
    dhuffjr Posts: 3,182
    ChefRD,
    With you there.

  • GHEgger
    GHEgger Posts: 37
    ugavet,
    I can attest to the longer cooking time now. I just did my first big rib cook yesterday. Spares on the BGE coated with EVOO and Dizzy Pig the night before and wrapped, in the cooker from 9-1:30 (4.5 hours) at 235 indirect with apple juice/cider in drip pan, foiled for 2 hours in a cooler with blanket cover (had to wait for the guests to arrive) then back onto the BGE direct at 350 for finishing and sauce. FALL OFF THE BONE. Lots of happy guests and one friend is probably going to buy a Med BGE soon.[p]Lots of work yesterday, but had a great time and learned more about the fantastic BGE.[p]Challenge him again!

  • Prof Dan
    Prof Dan Posts: 339
    ugavet,[p]I like fall off the bone ribs, even though I know that it not the traditional way. Here is a foolproof method, which is very easy on a day when you have a lot of other things going on. [I discovered this lazy technique when a bunch of dinner guests called and said they were going to be two hours late.][p]Smoke 'em indirect for 3 hours at 250, turning them once after an hour and a half. Use plenty of good wood. [p]Take 'em off, wrap 'em in a lot of heavy foil [or put them in a big foil lined covered roasting pan], and put them in a 200 degree oven for another two hours.[p]After that, you have a choice -- the really lazy way is to brush them with a little bbq sauce and use a propane torch to crisp them up. [Do this outside. It splatters.] MAPP is even better, but I am not sure about the chemicals in the MAPP gas, so I use propane for a last minute blast.[p]Or else just crisp them up on the grill. The problem, though, is that they are so tender from steaming in the foil that they are hard to handle. They fall apart on the grill.[p]Everyone who has tried my lazy foolproof ribs tells me they are the greatest. I am slightly ashamed of this method, but it works.
  • jake42
    jake42 Posts: 932
    ugavet,
    Maybe it's just me, but par boiling ribs just is not my cup of tea. It just does'nt seem like BBQ. I like to have a little tug to my ribs, but that is just my personal preference. However, if you want "fall off the bone" ribs just wrap them in foil at the end of the cook. Coupled with the good flavor that you have already achieved I'll bet you win next time.[p]Good Luck

  • Chef Arnoldi
    Chef Arnoldi Posts: 974
    i smoke my ribs for about 4.5hrs and only remove them when the meat starts to pull away from the bones