Ribs

Unknown

I tried some ribs out on the Egg yesterday evening. I just did one slab of baby backs. I did them direct on the grill with hickory chips (no extender, no rib rack) at about 250 dome temp for 3.5 hours. The outside got very charred which left them for the most part dry. Should I be using a rack or grill extender to get it away from the heat? What about a platesetter?

Fidel

chet lemon,[p]I use a platesetter for ribs. If you don't have one use a grid extender and place some heat barrier on the lower grid under them - a double layer of aluminum foil will work in a pinch.

Stieet

You definantly don't want to do babybacks, or other types of ribs, on direct heat. The results are what you experienced....dry and burnt. A platesetter is the first eggcessory I bought, and it is worth it's weight in gold. Indirect heat is the only way to go!![p]Bruce

Unknown

chet lemon,[p]Here is how I like to do them. Enjoy![p]Pork, Baby Back, Richard

Proceedure
1 I have some bb's on the large indirect plate setter legs up, drip pan w/water, 1 inch deep, "V" rack inverted and started 4 1/2 hours ago. 250F apple wood and pecan chips both dry wood. Let cook 3 hours and then every 1/2 hour or so, sprayed w/ 6 parts apple juice and 1 part apple cider vinegar. After 4 hours lightly covered w/ bbq sauce diluted 2-1 w/water just for some flavor.
2 Figured out a few years back that foil was just to messy for my tastes, but will use it sometimes. Sometimes I will use orange juice and bbq sauce to keep moist, but you got to like sweet for this one. Will pull about 51/2-6 hours and cover w/foil on counter until ready to eat a few hours latter. Serve with whatever sauce each likes.
3 As a senior citizen, most of our friends are past the hot spicy phase in life, save that for Chubby and his crew. Rubbed last night w/ 2 parts crushed red pepper fine, 1 part fine salt and 1 part fine black pepper and into refrigerator.
4 Update: 08/25/07--I like to rub them the night before with whatever rub I am in the mood for. Set up large, indirect with a drip pan of water at 250F with a vertical holder. Cut 3-4 slabs in half and set in the rack. After about 3 hours spritz with orange juice when in a sweet mood, Soy and water when in an oriental one, apple juice and water or worchestershire when in a different mood. Spritz every 30 minutes or so. I do not remove and wrap in foil as many do, don't ask me why not just never do. Probably too messy. Sometimes I will sauce the last 45 minutes and some times will just take off after 5-6 hours and let everyone sauce themselves. Some like hot sauce, vinegar, or mustard etc. Depending on the crowd.


Recipe Type
Main Dish, Meat

Recipe Source
Source: BGE Forum, Richard, 05/27/07

DynaGreaseball

chet lemon,[p]I always use my plate setter. Even with it, I've toasted the very ends of the rack where the direct heat comes thru the openings between the plate setter and the egg. Not a bad idea to put a drip pan under them too. Some put a 1/2 inch of apple juice and apple cider vinegar in it at the beginning as well. Car Wash Mike, the resident guru on ribs, doesn't foil them, but I haven't figured out how to keep them really moist unless I do. With babybacks, you might try wrapping them with foil during the third hour with more apple juice and vinegar inside. Unwrap during the last hour, and paint with your favorite sauce toward the end.[p]Keep trying.

WessB

chet lemon,
There are a couple of cooks in the "Recipes" section at the top of the forum...."Cats" version, direct, babybacks...and "JJ`s" version, direct, spareribs....So you can definately cook ribs direct......I do almost all of mine indirect and you can see several ways I do them in the "Cooks" section of my website...[p]Wess
[ul][li]WessB`s[/ul]

tach18k

chet lemon, I just did 3 racks of BB this weekend. I had a platesetter and a small disposable roasting pan for the drippings, the grate was level with the gasket. I did them @ 250 dome for 4.25 hours, no foil, no water or juices in the drip pan. Came out great, very little burnt ends and not a bit dry. Just a slight tug and the meat came off. These were Car Wash Mike's style. I did spray them every hour with 50/50 of apple juice and apple cider vinegar, which is a first for me. Normally I dont do anything to them but rub them down. Oh ya used Sweet Baby Rays sauce.

fishlessman

<p />chet lemon,
i cook them mostly direct, sometimes trying other methods but always coming back to direct cooks. 225 to 250 is good, you need a raised rack, and only fill the egg with lump halfway or less to increase distance. you need to watch things if you put the racks on flat, standing on edge is a little easier as the temp can be higher or it can fluctuate with higher spikes in temp. the best thing to do is try them with different setups til you know what you like best, then maybe later when you have more experience, try those other cooks again. ribs done direct can be fall off the bone tender, but try other methods as you want to find out whats best for you

gdenby

chet lemon,[p]While I do most ribs idirect, but just with a drip pan to deflect the heat, I have been working on doing them direct, following notes from fishlessman and WessB. I did 2 racks of St. Louis spares saturday. I cooked them on edge in a rack, with a dome temp no higher than 230. 2 things influenced the results. One rack was almost twice as thick as the other. Portions of that were a little charred, but the rack was falling apart. The thicker rack was just nicely browned, and could be pulled apart with finger tugs. Probably the best I've made. [p]The other thing I tried was to use oil as the base for both my rub and my baste. I used several ounces of oil and rub mixtures during the cook. The rub was rather low in sugar. Basted three times, 20+ minutes apart during the last hour. The outside formed a nice crust, very savory, and the interior was exceptionally moist. Total time, 4.5 hours. The thin slab probably should have been pulled at 4.[p]I would like to give credit for the method where due, but have lost the bookmark to the fellow's site. I believe thirdeye also has mentioned using oil instead of mustard or cider for base or mop.[p]gdenby

Golfnut

chet lemon,
Direct, raised grid 210 to 220 grate temp. We do spare ribs this way and love them.

Unknown

chet lemon,[p]I have to say that I was a big fan of yours when I was a kid and you were with the Tigers. One of my random childhood memories is being in school (2nd grade?) and hearing that you hit 3 home runs in one game! Awesome!

Car Wash Mike

chet lemon,
You have been given some great advice. I prefer a plate setter and always had some form of a ceramic mass for a heat deflector. I prefer not to rush ribs. When I get e-mails from 1st time rib cookers. I always suggest foiling at some point. Don't give up.[p]Mike

Unknown

Thanks for all the great advice. I definitely think I'll be going indirect via the platesetter on the next rack - hopefully this weekend.[p]BTW, I'm not the former White Sox/Tiger Chet Lemon...just an old college nickname that stuck...[p]Thanks,
Chad

Unknown

DynaGreaseball,
So are you saying to foil them during the 3rd hour and then unfoil during the 4th? Do you foil them for the entire 3rd hour?[p]Thanks,
Chad

Unknown

chet lemon,[p]I was trying to be funny. And see who else got the reference!