Baby Back Ribs

Robo2015 · February 2016

Going for my second attempt at ribs (first one went bad, we still don't talk about it). Stabilized grate temp of 225. Still don't know if I'm going to foil or not. I might foil one and let the other one go naked. Pictures and updates to follow...

Jeepster47 · February 2016

Do experiment ... that's the real fun with the egg. Mix up rubs, sauces, baby backs and spares, foil and no foil. Cut a rack in half and cook it two different ways.

If you have any problems holding 225 degrees on you egg, consider raising it to 250~275 degrees. You won't notice any difference. Your egg will have a natural set point somewhere around 250 degrees ... don't fight it ... cook right there and tell folks that's absolutely the BEST temp to cook ribs at.

Good luck

Robo2015 · February 2016

Robo2015 · February 2016

Sorry about that, forgot to hit submit on my picture.

Robo2015 · February 2016

Jeepster47 said:

Do experiment ... that's the real fun with the egg. Mix up rubs, sauces, baby backs and spares, foil and no foil. Cut a rack in half and cook it two different ways.

If you have any problems holding 225 degrees on you egg, consider raising it to 250~275 degrees. You won't notice any difference. Your egg will have a natural set point somewhere around 250 degrees ... don't fight it ... cook right there and tell folks that's absolutely the BEST temp to cook ribs at.

Good luck

Thanks for the words of encouragement @Jeepster47 ! I have noticed that the egg temps like to creep up from 225. Now my 225 is the grate temp. When people talk about 250 being a good temp to cook at, I figured that was 250 dome so about 210-220 grate. Am I wrong on that? Fwiw, I'm only doing grate temp because then I can monitor the cook from inside with my maverick.

Robo2015 · February 2016

Homemade sauce cooking down nicely....

Robo2015 · February 2016

SoCalTim · February 2016

Jeepster47 said:

Do experiment ... that's the real fun with the egg. Mix up rubs, sauces, baby backs and spares, foil and no foil. Cut a rack in half and cook it two different ways.

If you have any problems holding 225 degrees on you egg, consider raising it to 250~275 degrees. You won't notice any difference. Your egg will have a natural set point somewhere around 250 degrees ... don't fight it ... cook right there and tell folks that's absolutely the BEST temp to cook ribs at.

Good luck

Gonna have to agree with @Jeepster47 ... I run 'em at 275 straight thru for 4.5 hrs .. awesome everytime.

Robo2015 · February 2016

Robo2015 · February 2016

Two hours in. Cranked up the heat a bit at your guy's suggestion. Foiled one rack with a little water and honey as an experiment....

Jeepster47 · February 2016

If the recipe doesn't say otherwise, than it's assumed that dome temp is being specified.

When you first start a cook, the dome temp will normally be higher than at the food level ... 15 to 30 is about average. As the cook progresses, then those two temps will tend to get closer and closer together and sometimes equalize. The important thing is to standardize on one measurement level for each cook ... say food level for low-n-slow ribs and dome for 350 to 400 degree chicken wing cooks. I cook ribs at 250 degrees at the food level.

Having said all that, +/- 25 degrees on most protein cooks is not a problem. A number of forum members swear by cooking ribs at 350 degrees ... aka turbo. If the egg settles in at 260 today, then that's the temp to cook at ... 230 tomorrow, no problem, cook there. If you start chasing +/- 10 degrees, you're either an engineer or please send us a post card from the asylum you're soon to be inhabiting.

Robo2015 · February 2016

Jeepster47 said:

If the recipe doesn't say otherwise, than it's assumed that dome temp is being specified.

When you first start a cook, the dome temp will normally be higher than at the food level ... 15 to 30 is about average. As the cook progresses, then those two temps will tend to get closer and closer together and sometimes equalize. The important thing is to standardize on one measurement level for each cook ... say food level for low-n-slow ribs and dome for 350 to 400 degree chicken wing cooks. I cook ribs at 250 degrees at the food level.

Having said all that, +/- 25 degrees on most protein cooks is not a problem. A number of forum members swear by cooking ribs at 350 degrees ... aka turbo. If the egg settles in at 260 today, then that's the temp to cook at ... 230 tomorrow, no problem, cook there. If you start chasing +/- 10 degrees, you're either an engineer or please send us a post card from the asylum you're soon to be inhabiting.

Ha Ha Ha! So true about the asylum, I've definitely been on that road before chasing 225 exact....

Robo2015 · February 2016

Hey, @Jeepster47 and @SoCalTim (and anyone else)...if you are going to sauce at the end- do you do it direct, crank up the indirect, or just sauce and leave it at whatever your cooking temp is?

SoCalTim · February 2016

If we're gonna eat immediately, I'll sauce ... if It's gonna be just a bit, i'll keep 'em hot and let my guest sauce their own.

Robo2015 · February 2016

Getting there....

Robo2015 · February 2016

I've suddenly got weird things going on with my temps. My dome temp is almost 100 degrees above my grate temp. Either way, I'm pressing forward!

Robo2015 · February 2016

Family voted for the rack that was foiled over the one that was not...have a good weekend all.

Robo2015 · February 2016

NC_Egghead · February 2016

Looks good from here!

Jeepster47 · February 2016

Looks like you have the plate setter with an opening directly under the dome thermometer ... yes? If so, then the fire might have moved forward towards the bottom vent. When that happens, the dome thermometer is right in the flow of hot gases and radiated heat off the coals. If the fire is still going, you might check to see if that is the case ... or check in the morning to see if lots of white ash is in that location.

Marti Gras beads?

The ribs look good ... it's great when the family gets to vote on what they like. I love it when the missus grabs an extra rib and says "this is good."

If I'm going to sauce, then it's during the last 20~30 minutes. My wife and I like different sauces, so most times they come off the grill un-sauced.

StillH2OEgger · February 2016

Those look fantastic. I'm hungry for ribs all of the sudden.

johnmitchell · February 2016

They came out perfect-to-mondo... Looks like you got a great smoke ring, and the pearls really set them off..

Robo2015 · February 2016

Jeepster47 said:

Looks like you have the plate setter with an opening directly under the dome thermometer ... yes? If so, then the fire might have moved forward towards the bottom vent. When that happens, the dome thermometer is right in the flow of hot gases and radiated heat off the coals. If the fire is still going, you might check to see if that is the case ... or check in the morning to see if lots of white ash is in that location.

Marti Gras beads?

The ribs look good ... it's great when the family gets to vote on what they like. I love it when the missus grabs an extra rib and says "this is good."

If I'm going to sauce, then it's during the last 20~30 minutes. My wife and I like different sauces, so most times they come off the grill un-sauced.

That is definitely my setup @Jeepster47 and that makes sense with the flow of hot air. I'm going to post a picture of who the ash looked this morning after this post. I usually light my egg in a few spots. For this cook for whatever reason I lighted my egg directly in the middle. It does look like the fire burned forward as you suspected. This is the first time I can remember seeing this, but anything I should do differently to prevent it? Here is the picture....

Robo2015 · February 2016

Robo2015 · February 2016

As for the beads...I have no explanation other than I had to fight off my family with one hand while I took the picture. Didn't have time to tidy up the table first!

Jeepster47 · February 2016

When you're cooking around 250 degrees it only takes a small fire (one small fire) to maintain your temp. Since the fire is constantly looking for the easiest path to keep burning, it tends to wander around somewhat in the pit during a low and slow. When it wanders towards the front, the hot gases will flow up and over the dome thermometer and create the situation you had last night.

Also, if you're using an AR, then the dome thermometer is in the shadow of the indirect stone. So, it seems to only occur if you're using a plate setter, with the opening at 6 o'clock, and have a fire that moves to the front of the pit ... not an everyday occurrence, but just enough to drive one to drinking.

I've been placing one of the plate setter legs at 6 o'clock to shadow the dome thermometer for a year now. Haven't had a repeat of what you saw, so anecdotally that's the perfect solution.

BTW ... When you're cooking indirect at 350* or above, the entire top of the lump pile is ablaze. Thus, the dome gauge seems to get a more consistent flow of hot gases no matter where the plate setter leg is placed. But, since I'm a creature of habit, I still shadow the thermo with a leg.

Robo2015 · February 2016

Jeepster47 said:

When you're cooking around 250 degrees it only takes a small fire (one small fire) to maintain your temp. Since the fire is constantly looking for the easiest path to keep burning, it tends to wander around somewhat in the pit during a low and slow. When it wanders towards the front, the hot gases will flow up and over the dome thermometer and create the situation you had last night.

Also, if you're using an AR, then the dome thermometer is in the shadow of the indirect stone. So, it seems to only occur if you're using a plate setter, with the opening at 6 o'clock, and have a fire that moves to the front of the pit ... not an everyday occurrence, but just enough to drive one to drinking.

I've been placing one of the plate setter legs at 6 o'clock to shadow the dome thermometer for a year now. Haven't had a repeat of what you saw, so anecdotally that's the perfect solution.

BTW ... When you're cooking indirect at 350* or above, the entire top of the lump pile is ablaze. Thus, the dome gauge seems to get a more consistent flow of hot gases no matter where the plate setter leg is placed. But, since I'm a creature of habit, I still shadow the thermo with a leg.

@Jeepster47 , you are the man! That is some serious knowledge you have about these fine BGEs. Thanks for the advice during the cook and the lesson afterwards. Very much appreciated.

i put that leg in the 12 o'clock position because I did find I usually got a hot spot right there. I think next time I'm going to try to add a pizza stone to the plate setter as an additional heat shield (got that from someone on this forum, just forgot who). Hopefully that will help.

Thanks again for all the support all. This forum is the best.

Baby Back Ribs

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