ribs

Ryan

This will be my second attempt at ribs. The first time I used a rack and they were tough. I want to do it this time w/o a rack. Any suggestions(time, temp)? Once, I was told just stack them on top of each other and rotate about every 15 minutes. Has anybody tried that method and if so, how were the results?
Thanks in advance,
Ryan

Porkchop

ryan, [p]my ribs always come out better when i do them flat rather than using a rack. haven't stacked before, but if i had to open & flip every 15 min, forget it! also, make sure you skin them.[p]what kind of ribs are you doing, spares or babybacks?

Ryan

porkchop, I am doing babybacks. How do you stack them so that they all get smoked and cooked. I have a medium egg and it doesn't many ribs to cover the grid
Ryan

Nature Boy

ryan,
Usually tough ribs are an indication that they have not cooked long enough. Whether you use a rack, or lay them flat is not a critical factor. However they will cook best when air can move around the entire slab. I think stacking would not get you where you wanna be, and opening the cooker every 15 minutes is just going to prolong the cook.[p]How long are you cooking them, and at what temp??
Beers to you
Chris

Ryan

Nature Boy, I don't know how long or what temp. This is the second attempt. The first time was low and slow. What do you suggest? Just to let you know, I did remove the membrane.

Nature Boy

Ryan,
First of all, I think a rack is a great idea when cooking on a medium. You'll be able to cook a lot more this way, and air can get around the meat to help form a nice crust.[p]If cooking indirect, cooking times might be soomething like this:
250 dome temp....5-6 hours
275 dome temp...4-5 hours
300 dome temp...3.5-4 hours.[p]Just a rough guide, but hopefully it gives you an idea how to approach. You might also consider checking GFW's or TimM's site and looking at the 3-2-1 method.
HTH
Chris

James

ryan,[p]I just finished making 18 racks of ribs on my medium in 3 cooks. Doing this I noticed several things.[p]1. The ribs I bought have a "Thick/Meaty and Short bone" part, and a "thin/Not meaty and long bone" part. The Thick part takes longer to cook than the thin part. I cut the racks to separate these "Thin" and "Thick" parts so I can give the thick ones extra time to cook.[p]2. Use the 3/1/1 method. I like it the best. Here's what i did:[p][p]1) Inverted plate setter, pan of water covered with foil in the middle, grill on top, rib rack on top of the grill.
2) Pick out the extra meaty / thick ribs, and put them in the rib rack. Smoke for 30 mins at 250.
3) After that 30 min, Put the rest of the ribs on anywhere they fit (stacking if necessary -- in my case with 6 racks a LOT of stacking was necessary, but dont stack if you dont need to).
4) For the next 2.5 hours, every 45 minutes re-arrange the ribs. Put the ones that look the most raw to be the most air-exposed (Basically set them "On Top of the stack"), the most cooked ribs go on the "Inside," or bottom of the stack (where it gets the least air exposure.)
5) At the 3 hour mark (Temp between bones is around 165-170 for me), place all ribs in foil. Throw it back on the egg -- no rib rack just stack them. 1 Hour.
6) Take all ribs of foil, remove plate setter, water pan, and cook direct for about an hour or until ribs are done. At this point take them off whenever you reach your desired "Done-ness" and exterior texture. [p]Final temperature "Betwen the bones" for me when removing the ribs from the grill was around 185-190. [p]
Reasons I have run into for "tougher" ribs:[p]1) Did not cook long enough. (Temp was too low, so needed to add extra time, however had to pull them out since it was getting too late...) Best cooking temp seems to be 250 degrees.
2) You bought bad ribs. If the meat is bad, you really can't do much about it.
3) Cooked at too high a temperature/too fast.
4) Skipped the foil part, or you cooked direct all the way through.[p]

wdan

James,
My votes (and experience) go for 1,3 and 4. Those three things can kill your pig deader than it already is! But, I can honestly say, I have never experienced pork ribs "so bad" that they couldn't be saved by an indirect, low and slow guided by a liberal dose of patience (a lot of beer helps too).