First ribs on BGE=terrible

GulfCoastBBQ

Well I just got a large egg and have done some salmon, steaks, shrimp, corn, sausage all of which were pretty good. Today I did my first low temp BBQ, spare ribs.
(Disclaimer-I have cooked dozens of racks of ribs on my chargriller with side fire box and all have been phenomenal, better than any BBQ restaurant by a mile)

Here's what I did:
I trimmed the 4 racks of spares, rubbed heavily with my standard rub mix of turbinado, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic pow, onion pow, cumin, oregano, cayanne, dry mustard and rested for about an hour while I got the egg rolling. I cleaned the fire box and filled with royal oak lump (American). I lit a half chimney of R.O. and dumped it on top along with 3 large chunks of wood, 1 mesquite and two hickory. Put platesetter on legs up and placed a drip pan with about a quarter inch of water in it below. Once the egg reached 250 at the dome therm I put on the ribs in a rib rack and laid the trimmed pieces across the top and placed them in the egg. I immediately realized that the dome therm would not work as it was hitting the meat so I placed my remote digital on the rib rack so it wasn't touching anything. I brought the temp up to between 210 and 240, generally holding around 230. I found the temp more difficult to stabilize than expected but was able to keep it in the range with quite a bit of micro adjusting.
I let em' roll for about 4 hours and checked them and the meat had pulled back a good 1/2 inch indicating they were nearly done. I checked them and decided they still needed more time so I upped the heat a bit to about 250 and after about another 45 minutes decided they were done. Bones pulled out cleanly and meat was tender.
First taste was a MAJOR disappointment! Flavor was almost non existent with very little smoke and a 'washed out' taste. All of the richness, saltiness and smokiness that I had come to expect from the Chargriller was missing and they almost tasted boiled, YUCK! Time to chop up the remainder of the meat, mix with a bunch of sauce to flavor and pass it off to the guys at work, they don't know what BBQ should taste like anyway.
So if anybody sees a flaw in my process that may have caused this disturbing result please share so I don't make the same mistake again. What a waste of some nice ribs!

Grumps

My only concern would have been that they might not have been cooked long enough..usually my spares need more than 5 hours at 250-275, but you say that the ribs were tender. Certainly, mesquite can be strong, but you say that the ribs had little flavor. My only guess is that the meat was just not as good. It looks like you did everything right.

bubba tim

Why would you add water? That is not needed ever in the Egg. I think that is why you got a washed out taste. The steam washed all the rub off. Everything else you did was spot on... :huh:

Grumps

Hmmm. That is interesting. I never use water, but I would not have thought about that it could wash off the rub or reduce the flavor.

Jeffersonian

I might find some differences to what you did at the margins, but not nearly enough to turn a failure into a success. As has been mentioned, it might have just been bad meat.

GulfCoastBBQ

I added a little water to keep the drippings from welding themselves on to the pan. I read dozens of posts from others claiming that they used liquid in a drip pan successfully, everything from water to wine, so I figured it wouldn't hurt. Could a drip pan with 1/4 inch of water make the ribs taste that bland? They looked great with a nice bark but sure tasted blah. I just got done pulling the meat off the bones to chop and sauce and after tasting one or two more bites I am not sure I can give it away in good conscience. By far the worst BBQ I have ever made and I have made hundreds of pounds. :blink:

Little Steven

gulfcoastBBQ,

I use Clamatto juice, vodka and beer under my ribs. I use what's left for sauce. You talk about micro adjusting..you shouldn't run into that. When you make an adjustment wait for fifteen minutes, adjust again, wait another fifteen and so on.

Steve

"Sparky"

It must be BGE's fault Nobody else here can make edible ribs either :( It sounds like you're not new to smokin,but love to complain Just a guess

WokOnMedium

I find it odd that you got no flavor...not even from smoking with the wood you chose. Even if the steam washed the rub away although IMO that's a stretch, to not have even a smoke flavor...

GulfCoastBBQ

Little Steven wrote:

gulfcoastBBQ,

I use Clamatto juice, vodka and beer under my ribs. I use what's left for sauce. You talk about micro adjusting..you shouldn't run into that. When you make an adjustment wait for fifteen minutes, adjust again, wait another fifteen and so on.

Steve

I did what you suggest as far as temp adjusting. I would open it up a bit and it would climb and climb past the 240 that was my max temp. I would close it down slightly, wait 15 minutes and nothing, still climbing. Close it down a bit more (both top and bottom)ect. Eventually it would begin to fall slowly and continue to fall all the way back down to 205 which is my minimum temp so back up we go. Like a yo-yo, it didn't want to settle in anywhere.

GulfCoastBBQ

"Sparky" wrote:

It must be BGE's fault Nobody else here can make edible ribs either :( It sounds like you're not new to smokin,but love to complain Just a guess

Wrong guess, Sparky, thanks for nothing. Why even comment if that is all you have to say? I am just looking for some advice on a message board.

GulfCoastBBQ

wokonmedium wrote:

I find it odd that you got no flavor...not even from smoking with the wood you chose. Even if the steam washed the rub away although IMO that's a stretch, to not have even a smoke flavor...

The smoke flavor was VERY slight, not enough for my taste by a long shot. I find it very strange also, there was plenty smoke rolling out the chimney for a good 2 or 3 hours. I am really at a loss unless the water pan really washed away all the flavor but I have eaten plenty of excellent ribs off of a Weber Smokey Mountain with water pan without any washed out flavor at all???

mikeb6109

sounds to me ya just did not let it come to temp and stabilize...........

Fidel

Two thoughts.

Injected/enhanced ribs.

They weren't done, at least not done enough. I've never had spares get done in under 5 hours at under 250*. Especially with that much mass in there and the trimmings across the top.

GulfCoastBBQ

mikeb6109 wrote:

sounds to me ya just did not let it come to temp and stabilize...........

Maybe not, it was at about 245-250 for about 20-30 minutes. Is that long enough to stabilize?

GulfCoastBBQ

Fidel wrote:

Two thoughts.

Injected/enhanced ribs.

They weren't done, at least not done enough. I've never had spares get done in under 5 hours at under 250*. Especially with that much mass in there and the trimmings across the top.

The ribs came from Costco and were fresh, not enhanced.

I had this same thought (not being done enough) so I foiled the trimmings and left them in the smoker while we ate. I need to go and pull them out now and see if they are any better.

WokOnMedium

Not trying to be an idiot, but everything sounds right. Perhaps it was indeed the meat. I have always struggled with spare ribs. Baby backs are my specialty (which is of course beside the point).

You've done this a hundred times. The only things that are variable are the Egg and the meat. You've had luck on the Egg cooking other things...

Try again, see if you get the same results. My guess would be that they won't be the same at all.

Celtic Wolf

Next time try it without the water.

If you read all of those posts where people put water or wine in the drip pan you would have seen us tell them that it was not necessary. Bland, washed out flavor, tasting boiled are all indications of too much moisture or not enough rub.

Put your rub on and leave it on for a couple hours. You might want to look up the 3-1-1 method for cooking ribs.

Set the dome temp at 250 and leave it alone. Set the dome temp at 250 and leave it alone. Let the egg stabilize before putting food in there. Once the meat is in leave the vents alone. The egg will come back up to temp on it's own.

I owned and competed with Chargrillers before I bought my eggs. They are the worst pits I ever had the displeasure to own. Producing good food on them was a chore I do not wish to repeat. With my Eggs I produce the superior product I have always been used too.

Grandpas Grub

No answers, just some thoughts...

Sounds like you are not letting your egg stabilize enough before putting the food on. You shouldn't have to be micro-adjusting the vents that much. The egg should hold 250° dome pretty easily. It might be possible you are letting the temperature get too high then trying to cool it down, that can always be problematic.

With that variance of heat I wouldn't think it would have that much to do taste. I have found chips & chunks don't smoke a lot below 230° dome, however, the food still has smoke flavor, but not as strong.

You said YUCK and no smoke flavor. Using RO, even without wood chips/chunks there has been some woody cook flavor in the meat. Mild but there.

I have used water in a pan and there hasn't been enough moisture to 'wash' off the rub with my experience.

I by no means am a rib expert, but I must say I have never had a bad rib cook on the egg. Never even close to a boiled taste.

Your seasonings sound good and the cayenne alone should bring a lot of flavor to the meat. Cayenne & salt make a great meat seasoning. I have better luck with grilling than smoking with the Cayenne/salt mix.

I can't imagine a chargriller, webber, gas/water smoker or egg would produce a YUCK rib cook unless something else was going on.

You sound like you have cooked enough ribs to know if you have some bad meat.

There also should be some flavor from your rub mix, maybe not the meat.

Even the worst rib cook I have is better or at least as good as most bbq restaurants I have been to. Other than over cooking have I ever had a pork rib cook that wouldn't be worth eating.

GG

mikeb6109

i normally consider mine stabilize after about a dozen beer.....

Fidel

If you foiled them then how are they going to pick up any additional smoke flavor?

Little Steven

GulfCoastBBQ,

When you put the meat on, it will drop substantially...don't correct for this just wait til it comes back.

Steve

Rolling Egg

Gulfcoast,
My first few attempts at ribs were not a failure but not a success either. I too was dissapointed by the lack of smoke.I tweaked mine some and found that others like less smoke than me. I grew up eating pulled pork from my cousins pit that used mostly hickory for fuel. I love a smoky flavor. I can tell you that the two chunks you put wasn't near enough. Next time you cook ribs get your temp up and stabilized. Let it set stabilized for about 15 to 20 minutes. This is with the platesetter and grid on as well. Get you about 4 or 5 big chunks (fist size) of hickory or pecan. You will also need a pair of good thick pair of welding gloves. Make sure there are no kids around because you dont wont them touching anything.Put on the gloves, Lift the lid, take off the grid, lift platesetter, throw on the wood chunks, replace platesetter, drip pan, grid , then ribs, and close lid. It will smoke like hell, but you will have a good smoke flavor. I do mine this way everytime. As far as finishing, to each his own. Sauce, no sauce. Whatever floats your boat. Either go 5 or 6 hours till the meat pulls back from bone and gets tender or do a 3-1-1 with 3 hours cooking 1 hour in foil, then back on grid for hour with sauce. Your non smokiness will be cured my friend. Enjoy and I hope this helps.

Pork Butt Mike

Next time I would suggest then you read a little better on how to do ribs. Every one knows you put in a drip pan with water what it will do. Never used water for ribs in my life. You should have just filled up the crock pot with your ribs and water.

Semolina Pilchard

That was a good thought to keep your drip pan from having baked on crud. If you want to skip the water, line your drip pan with foil, or make a drip pan out of foil. I like to make a few marble sized balls made out of foil to put under the drip pan because if the drip pan is sitting on the plate setter the drippings will burn and give you a nasty tasting smoke. The moisture may have taken the flavor with it, but I doubt it.
The egg is a rib making machine, my guess is you got ahold of one unjiggy piggy. Let us know how the next batch turns out.

GulfCoastBBQ

I foiled the trimmings hoping to save some of the fat as the whole works was getting a bit dry and over done. The foiled trimmings were worse, hard and dry (burnt)on the ends and tasteless in the middle, oh well, in to the trash they go.
My conclusion is that several factors contributed to my experience, here is my guess.

First off having the meat piled in so high that the dome temp gauge wouldn't work was a mistake. I am guessing that the spot I placed my remote temp probe was giving me a false (low) reading with temperatures at the top of the dome MUCH higher. This high temp caused mistake number two, the drip pan with the water, to boil vigorously essentially steaming the ribs to a high temperature quickly rendering them impenetrable to all of the seasonings and smoke (above that magic 140 degree mark too quickly) This steaming not only prevented any good BBQ action from taking place but also washed away some of the seasoning and quickly OVERCOOKED the ribs, rendering away all of the flavorful fats and leaving me with a tender but dry flavorless mass of pork and bones.

That is my guess as to what went wrong.

Basscat

That sounds like a reasonable explanation. Dry drip pan, 4-6 chunks of peach and pecan, and 6 hours always work for me. 5 hours for loin backs. Hope your next try comes out better, just don't give up on her yet!

GulfCoastBBQ

Pork Butt Mike wrote:

Next time I would suggest then you read a little better on how to do ribs. Every one knows you put in a drip pan with water what it will do. Never used water for ribs in my life. You should have just filled up the crock pot with your ribs and water.

I did read a sh!tload of posts, recipes and rib techniques right here on this website prior to making the ribs. If you would like I will go and find you about 100 posts from people saying that they used a pan of liquid, water or other, and claim to have made the best ribs ever.

I've gotta say, some people here sure are insecure about their Eggs. Mention one bad thing or negative experience and they get all pissy like a bunch of schoolgirls.

snoqualmiesmoker

I highly doubt there was enough water to create the type of steam needed to wash off the rub.

snoqualmiesmoker

GulfCoastBBQ wrote:

Pork Butt Mike wrote:

Next time I would suggest then you read a little better on how to do ribs. Every one knows you put in a drip pan with water what it will do. Never used water for ribs in my life. You should have just filled up the crock pot with your ribs and water.

I did read a sh!tload of posts, recipes and rib techniques right here on this website prior to making the ribs. If you would like I will go and find you about 100 posts from people saying that they used a pan of liquid, water or other, and claim to have made the best ribs ever.

I've gotta say, some people here sure are insecure about their Eggs. Mention one bad thing or negative experience and they get all pissy like a bunch of schoolgirls.

That last bit is the truth. I do believe that the 3-2-1 method everyone is so fond of here is wrapping your ribs in foil so they "get tender" which is the same a boiling them.
Many people put apple juice in a bowl under the ribs. many people put water ina pan. I doesn't remove the taste or wash anything out.

If anything did you have any left over wood chunks? Perhaps they burned off and you needed more.

Rolling Egg

There are some schoolgirls that show up here from time to time and post. This is a very moody board.