Dry Babybacks- Where did I go wrong?

Unknown

Yesterday, in my medium egg, I did 4 half slabs of baby back ribs that came out dry. The ribs were rubbed with paprika, onion powder, and some sugar. They were cooked indirect for 3 1/2 hours, turning every 45 minutes or so. A couple of chunks of hicory were added to the fire at the start. The last 45 minutes, the ribs were basted in BBQ sauce. Temp was always in the 250 - 300 range the entire cook. Any feedback or suggestions to let me know where I "missed" it will be much appreciated.[p]Thanks,[p]D2

bigarms

D2 ,[p]Did you use a water/drip pan?

Unknown

bigarms,
No, I did not use a water/drip pan. Good point, do you put anything other than water (beer, etc)in the pan?[p]D2

Dock of The Woods

D2 , I put regular Coke in my drip pan, I got this tip from Qfan. The last ones I did I used a whole 2 L. Also I sprayed a mixture of Apple Juice and vinagar 90/10 mixture on them everytime I went for a beer, or about every 30 minutes which ever came first. Mine were great! Also did you put mustard on your ribs before you put your rub on?[p]Hugh, "Sitting on The Dock of The Woods" at work!

Unknown

Dock of The Woods,
Thanks for the heads up on the Coke for the drip pan, and spraying with the apple juice/vinegar mixture. I did not use any mustard on these ribs.[p]D2

Country Boy

D2 ,

Country Boy

D2 ,
I cook them at 210 to 225 direct. Did you check them to see if they were done long before you pulled them.

JSlot

If you are cooking them direct, you need to hold your temp at or below 250 and turn every 15-20 mins. 45 mins is way to long to expose them to the coals. A drip pan is not needed. If you use a drip pan, then you are no longer cooking direct and the flipping interval won't matter too much.[p]Jim

Tim M

JSlot,[p]I think he said, "They were cooked indirect for 3 1/2 hours, turning every 45 minutes or so."[p]I am not sure what he did to make them indirect though.[p]Tim

BBQfan1

Dock of The Woods,
The Coke tip came from Dr Chicken (Dave Spence), and I think it makes a difference. I'm divided on the effects of mustard slather on the meat. At this point, I give it a thumbs up on ribs, but on a large piece of meat like a butt, I usually forego the mustard slather.
Can't go wrong with the 'give the butt a drink, when you get one for yourself' method, unless you are a really light drinker... There's none of those here, are there?
Qfan