Today Show on Ribs

Unknown

Today show did a thing on ribs, [p][p][p]http://www.msnbc.com/news/577437.asp#BODY[p]

sprinter

Bill F,[p]Thanks for the information, some of those recipes look pretty good. I like the mention of how a rib should be cooked. Not "fall off the bone" as we always talk about here but rather:[p]"ready to come away from the bone with the merest encouragement of your teeth. Some resistance in the chew is good; mushiness is awful"[p]That was a great piece of information and makes me really hungry for some ribs.[p]I linked (hopefully) the page below to make it easier for others to get to. Thanks again, great read for this AM.[p]Troy
[ul][li]MSNBC Rib Link[/ul]

Tim M

sprinter,[p]The "fall-off-the-bone" ribs are better called "fall-in-your-lap" ribs. Those are the steamed or boiled ones. The BBQ judges claim to want a rib that pulls clean from the bone. It takes a good heat to do that IE: 190-205 deg in the meat. I did some the other night and the meat in a thick part never got over 160 after 5 hrs at 250 -- I still find that hard to beleive but I had the polder stuck in watching. The meat in the thinner areas was higher and it pulled clean. Temp makes a difference in the way it pulls clean.[p]Tim

sprinter

Tim M,[p]I keep telling myself that I'm going to get a thermometer but to date have never taken the plunge. So far just good old experience and luck have gotten things done for me. I do use a meat thermometer to test a brisket or butt occasionally but look and feel goes a long way on that too. The last ribs I did (last Saturday) were really tough, 6 hours at 190-200. Great flavor but I had trouble with my new indirect experiment and couldnt get the temp where I wanted/needed it. I was not too diligent about trying either but they really needed more heat. The internal temp is definitely the key to good ribs. "Pull clean" is a better description of what we're aiming for. I really thought that quote painted a nice mental picture though.[p]Troy

Char-Woody

sprinter, that was a great article and perhaps encompassed a lot of the variations of advice given here on the forum. My own included, good or bad. I was particularly impressed with this part of the article.[p]"CRITERIA FOR GREAT RIBS"
By David Rosengarten
"My quest in ribs is to avoid the wet, boiled-or-steamed, covered-with-glop quality that plagues so many ribs across this great land of ours. But here’s a more detailed explanation of what I look for:"[p]Others can go read the article for grits and grinds. I agree with TimM's and your evaluations of "done" ribs regardless of whether you use a thermometer to achieve your goal, or the old tried and true visual and twist methods.[p]To each his own..and may each and every one of us be able to take a good ribbing for what it is..:-)
Cheers..C~W[p]

JJ

sprinter,
If I interpet your cooking time and temps (6hrs @ 190-200*) next time try 250* for 3.5-4 hrs, they should pull clean from the bone. Remember 190-200* at the dome is higher than the temp at the cooking grid.

sprinter

JJ,[p]Yeah, typically I cook my ribs at about 250 or so dome. I've been toying with a new indirect setup with my extender and my pizza stone and I've not perfected it yet. I just couldnt seem to get the temp above 200 this time without opening the vents quite a bit for awhile. I didnt want to do this as I was in and out of the house, doing house "stuff" and yard "stuff" and quite honestly, just didnt want to mess with it. So, my ribs were tough and I knew they would be about 3/4 through the cook when the dome was only 200. Oh well, live and learn, the next ones will be done at the right temp. I think I've finally knocked this new indirect setup out. Thanks for the info. and have a great one.[p]Troy

ColoradoCook

sprinter,[p]When you say "knock this indirect set-up out," do you mean eliminated it from your rib rountine and are going back to direct?[p]Tom

sprinter

ColoradoCook,[p]I've just about figured it out. Sorry about the confusion. My old way of doing indirect was to use the "U" shape setup with firebricks and set another grate on top of that with a drip pan put in the "U" portion of the bricks. The way I'm doing things now is to put my grill extender onto the bottom grill to raise the level up, then I put my pizza stone on that, then my rib rack directly on that. The stone is just barely small enough allow airflow around it and it really causes the dome level heat to be low versus the firebox temp. It also causes the heat increases and decreases to happen MUCH more slowly. Not sure if I like this way or not, but will give it another shot to see if I want to use it or go back to the old way. This way gets significantly more "indirect" area to cook on, its just more dificult to get a good temp for me. Live and learn I guess. Time will tell.[p]Troy

Unknown

JJ, We just finished 2 slabs of spare ribs for lunch. Did the rubs and put the rib rack in the drip pan with about half inch of water (water not touching the ribs). Set the pan on three firebricks laid flat on the cooking grid. Laid in generous coals and three chunks hickory. I am having the best luck cooking at 300° for three hours. Nice crust, pull clean, and not anywhere near what anyone could call "soft" or "mushy". I have tried the four to five hour at 225° to 250° and that seems to be when the ribs seem a bit soft and greasy. By the way I tried the Char Crust "Hickory Molasses" with "Montreal Steak Seasoning" for the rub. I think it's gonna be used again around here. My Egg dealer and a couple of friends and I just polished off eight pounds of em.
My point is that I think I'm liking the 300° cook temp for ribs, for what it's worth. Also I have calibrated the dome temp thermometer,so I'm sure it's accurate.

JimW

sprinter,
A good indirect setup for ribs - or anything for that matter - is to put 3 flat firebricks on the perimeter edge of your bottom grate to support a second grate. 3 more firebricks lay flat on the bottom grate with a circular 14" drip pan filled with water on them. Put the second grate on the firebricks on edge with the ribs on that. You can run dome temps as high as 350F with no ill effect. I typically run at 325F for 4.5 hours (normal babybacks) to 6 hours (pork loin back ribs) for great results although during the first hour the Egg is slowly building up to temp.
JimW

sprinter

JimW,[p]I cant get that many bricks on my grate, I only have a medium egg. I've tried every way that i can think of to get more bricks on the bottom and short of cutting my firebrick (I plan on doing this I think) I can only get two flat and two on edge. The 15" grate is just not big enough for three flat no matter how I stack them. I may just end up getting a plate sitter, one more toy for the egg never hurt anyone.[p]Troy

ColoradoCook

sprinter,[p]Do you have a plate setter? Will it do the same thing? My dealer gets them in tomorrow and my name is on one of them. I'm having a hard time finding some fire bricks (out of season) and I'm hoping the plate setter will do the same thing for me.[p]Tom

JJ

shiek,
I cook ribs direct. That way has worked for me for the past 50 years. If you like indirect then by all means stick with it. Higher temps seem to be the norm when cooking indirect.

JJ

ColoradoCook,
The plate setter will do the same thing as the fire bricks. Fire bricks/pizza stones were on the scene before the plate setter was discovered by my wife.

sprinter

ColoradoCook,[p]The plate setter and firebrick do the exact same thing, as JJ says. The difference that I see is that with the medium I can lay two bricks flat and two on edge. That gives me an area of firebrick approximately 13 inches by 9 inches. Well, that leaves about 2 inches of direct fire on each side of my indirect setup. I can spread the bottom bricks a bit to make it about 13x11, but then that leaves my drip pan (pyrex glass dish) exposed to the direct heat and it has cracked two of them. I could use a metal drip pan, I know. But its still kinda like putting a square peg in a round hole, just doesnt quite fit.[p]I'm just kinda looking for what will work and I think that the plate setter would solve some issues I have with the way I set things up. Its the right tool for that job and is the perfect indirect setup. Upside down its an indirect setup with drip pan holder, right side up its a pizza stone rack that allows me to put my stone directly on it for perfect crust. One of these days I'll get one but until then I'll mess with things until I finally get ticked enough to just go get one and say the heck with it.[p]Troy

ColoradoCook

sprinter,[p]I hear ya, I've always just sucked it up and bought the right tool, it's a guy's God given right. Every time I try to shave a buck here and a buck there I end up having to buy the right tool, total investment: 30% more and a bunch of time. I've already been to 3 hardware stores trying to find fire brick, tomorrow I'll spend the $38 and get the Plate Setter.[p]Tom

JimW

sprinter,
THe setup I described was for a large Egg. Obviously you will have to compensate for the smaller surface of a medium.
JimW