Sucky ribs

glenn

I must hang my head in shame.
I have somehow managed to make a batch of sucky spare ribs
This was my first attempt at cooking them direct and I dont realy know what went wrong. I followed the recipe and directions for JJ's ribs from the recipe section of the bge website.
I cooked them at 200-225 flipped em every 45 minutes for about
3-1/2 hours,with 2 good sized chunks of hickory for smoke
the ribs were slathered in mustard and heavily dry rubbed.
they came out not so good,some parts were way over cooked
(dry and hard) some parts were just some over cooked (tough skin)
and some parts were "ok" . and as I said before I flipped and rotated every 45 minutes.
I usualy cook ribs indirect over an inverted plate setter at 350 and they turn out fine.
Is there something that I missed in the direct setup. I think I would like direct better because you dont have to fool with cleaning the rib rack, (always a pain)
Anyhow any devine guidance would be appreciated. As I realy love great ribs and so far mine have been so-so at best.
thanx
Glenn

JSlot

When cooking ribs direct, flip them every 15 minutes. 45 minutes is way to long to expose one side to the fire. I think that will solve your problem.[p]Jim

Nature Boy

Glenn,
Just thinking here, but I think you might have better luck if you cook on a raised grid so the ribs are up in the dome area. There is a point up there where the heat radiated from the dome is equal to the heat coming from below. Also, being further from the fire does a lot to reduce the effect of the hot spots in your fire below.[p]Another thing you might consider is cooking them vertically, either in a rib rack or skewered in a circle.[p]Keep on pluggin!
Chris

Unknown

Glenn,
Also, did you check the calibration of your thermometer? Mine tends to need to re-cal'd after every cook over 500 F. If not it can be off by 100 degrees easy which is a big difference on a cook like ribs direct.[p]

mad max beyond eggdome

Glenn,
if you cooked everything perfect, then everything would be average. . ..i appreciate the really good stuff i make, knowing how much better it is than the average stuff i've done. . .

glenn

Nardi,
I started the cook using a brand new Tell-True wich reads 200-1000 deg stabalized at 200
then changed to my remote smoker thermometer, Maveric ET-73 I think is the model #. there was about 10 deg diferance in the readings with the maveric being lower. reading at 190. So just to be sure I stuck my thermo pen in the hole and it read 205 so I believed the thermopen to be the most accurate
and used it as the base line knowing that the maveric redi-check was reading 15 deg cool I let the cook go at 195 by the maveric with flunctuations to 225.
I will try a raised grid next time with some sort of heat deflector mabe just a drip pan.

BBQfan1

Glenn,
No need to hang yer head.. every cook is a learning experience. Some folks cook ribs direct with success, but I think this technique runs counter to bbq'ing, which ribs require due to their high fat content and need for slow rendering. Personally, I've had only a few direct-cooked ribs that passed muster and Jim Wimer of this forum is one of the cooks who can do it well, so hopefully he'll chime in. Otherwise, I say, stick to indirect over low-moderate heat (225-270F) and give them time to render out that fat WITHOUT frying the surface meat.
Check for doneness by the bend in the slab when you lift em off the grill with tongs. When they do a nice backbend, you are getting into the zone of tender, pull from the bone ribs. Might take you 4-5 hrs, but they'll be well rendered and worth the effort, I believe.
If you are having 'trouble' getting the tenderness you want, ain't no shame in foiling them with a bit of liquid (apple/white grape/pineapple juice all are nice) for 20 minutes or so to 'accelerate' rendering and increase meat tenderness). Apply a little fresh rub after this process and finish up direct then if you like, or continue indirect and apply your sauce; it's less likely for a sugar-laced sauce to burn when cooking/finishing up indirect.
Qfan