Problems cookin 3-1-1 with St. Louis style ribs

Unknown · August 2006

Seems they come out over cooked. Should I instead go with a 2-1-.45 or some such thing? They should loosen up in the second phase when rapped with foil but it seems these st louis ribs dont. I think I am cooking them to long in the begining. I cook at 250. any advice?

Rick G · August 2006

NorthWoodsEgger,
What do you mean by overcooked??

Unknown · August 2006

Rick G,
they are tough. not fall off the bone soft even after 1 hour foiled with apple juice

fishlessman · August 2006

NorthWoodsEgger,
either cook them longer in the foil, hotter in the foil, or heat the juice befoere adding to the foil. you want the meat side down also. when taking them out of the foil check to see if they are about to fall apart, if not cook them some more in the foil. times and ribs dont work, you have to wait til they are done. the final i hour is to firm them up

JSlot · August 2006

Sounds like they need more cooking, not less. At what temp are you cooking? Have you calibrated your dome thermo recently? 3-1-1 @ ~250° come should be getting you close to done. However, with ribs, they are done when they are done and the time may vary a good bit.[p]Jim

George · August 2006

NorthWoodsEgger,[p]i had the same exact problem with some ribs i did a couple of weeks ago. i think that maybe i didn't leave them in the foil long enough, b/c they were not pulling off the bone after the foil stage (which they have typically done in the past). also, i think, the quality of these ribs may not have been as good as the ones i've cooked before. the previous ribs were either bought at WholeFoods, whose quality is always superb, or at BJ's in the cryovac packs, which ensures freshness. the ribs that didn't turn out so well were bought at a butcher shope that i've never dealt with before, and probably won't again. the ribs were just sitting out (i.e,. NOT cryovac-ed), and probably just got old.[p]

Unknown · August 2006

NorthWoodsEgger,
I've had my egg for 1 year and have only done ribs about 10 times (all the same way), and the only time they were a disappointment was when I did St Louis style ribs. They came out dry, overcooked and tough. I think its due to their overall lean-ness. I don't cook them any more, but instead go with big meaty ribs. I use the 3-1-1 method, although my last cook I did 6 hours of indirect at 220F and they were great too.

stike · August 2006

JSlot,
zackly...
i allow 6 hours for spares...[p]foil or no foil[p]you can't overcook ribs to the point where they are stcuk to the bone again.[p]they are underdone, then they are done, then they are dried out.

stike · August 2006

JimT,
st. louis spares ARE the big meaty, fatty ribs...
you maybe mean baby backs?

KevinH · August 2006

stike,[p]I thought St. Louis ribs were spare ribs that were heavily trimmed to eliminate the flap and extra fat. Is it possible that the ribs were trimmed too much?

Unknown · August 2006

NorthWoodsEgger,[p]1. Is your thermometer correct? Calibrate it if you're not sure.[p]2. Were you opening the lid a lot, spraying or mopping the ribs? If so, it will take longer. Add 10-20 minutes to the cook every time you open the lid, something like that.[p]3. Was there liquid in the foil when you unwrapped them? If not, the foil leaked and you could have dried them out.[p]4. How did they look after taking them out of the foil. If they weren't tender coming out of the foil, they weren't cooked long enough in the foil. Even over cooked ribs will come out the foil tender, especially if you added liquid.[p]

Problems cookin 3-1-1 with St. Louis style ribs

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