Wha should a good rib taste like ?

Doug

Guys / Gals. [p]I'm getting anal. Since buying my BGE a year ago (particularly for ribs) I've tried dozens of methods for the baby backs. I will tell you most have all been very good and totally acceptable versus my Weber's.[p]I'd love to try the best there is like at the Memphis championships to see what is the perfect (or near perfect rib).[p]What do you strive for ? I dont't think I want it falling off the bone or what's the point(might as well have pulled pork "ala spare rib"). [p]I think I would like it on the bone but very juicy. I've not been able to achieve this (the juicyness to my liking yet).[p]What do you all like and what do you think are the keys to perfect ribs? I'd love to know.[p]Doug

RRP

Doug, just as Gfw says - the best ribs are those that YOU like. With that repeated IMHO I prefer a good rub to be the only additional taste on ribs - I do not care for BBQ sauce to mask the taste of the meat. (Reminds me of people who pay good money for a steak and then drown it in A-1 steak sauce and sit there and say how good that steak tasted!) I prefer them to be moist and easy to pull from the bone. In fact I've had a rack of baby backs on for three hours already today and can't wait to see if these will be the "best ever" due to a little tweeking I've done today.

djm5x9

Doug:[p]Cooking ribs (as well as cooking in general) is basically subjective . . . It is you, man . . . You.[p]I have experimented with ribs, butt, and brisket and becoming one with my cooker has guided me in the direction of what I like. I think I made correct decisions with regard to my selected technique as my captive crowd asks for certain "Q" items with regularity.[p]My personal rib cook is a direct one in the upper dome with a simple rub and a little smoke providing me with a moist rib with a nice bark. It took a fair amount of experimentation to understand cooking ribs and find the technique I liked best. Cooking ribs direct seems to fly in the face of many that cook ribs on a ceramic cooker. I had a lot of fun learning and I think my "Q" shows the results of this extra effort.[p]Having said the above, listening to the radio here in Atlanta today, there was a lady radio host that said she made some "Q" for her family yesterday. Listening intently for her technique she went on and on about how good it was. Finally she said she cooked the "Q" for fourteen hours in a crock pot. Like I said, subjective . . .

Freak

RRP,[p]Well, I might as well add my post: IMHO the perfect rib meat pulls cleanly from the bone when you bite into it, not falling off the bone from over cooking it. I also think that a good rib + rub recipe does not "need" a sauce at the end, but I prefer adding one at the end of the cook to complement the rub. I believe a good rib is 75% cook style and 25% seasoning.[p]-Tom

Kelly Keefe

Doug,
If you can't stop eating 'em, and you're tempted to go after the meat on your fingers when you run out of ribs THAT'S what they should taste like! [p]Kelly

Gfw

<p />Doug, I'll go with RRP - the best ribs are the ones you like the best!