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Help!! 1st attempt at baby back ribs. What went wrong?

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edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
New to GBE. Looking for advice. I removed membraine. Seasoned with rub. Cooked indirect above plate setter with legs up position at 260 degrees for 5 hours. Everything looked great, but ribs did not fall off bone and were rubbery and tough. Help!!! Need feedback!!! What did I do wrong???
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    Joel,
    Well if you are cooking on a GBE you need to get a BGE. :-)[p]You could try the 3-1-1 method. After three hours indirect, wrap them in foil and cook in the foil for an hour to 1.5 hours. Then remove the foil and cook one more hour to firm the ribs up and sauce them at that point if you like.[p]TNW
    The Naked Whiz
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  • popedaddy
    popedaddy Posts: 51
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    Joel, I had the same problem my first try also. The 2nd cook went way better because of the 3-1-1 method. Theres no set way to do ribs just keep trying different ways of doing them. You will find one you like

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  • Unknown
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    Joel,
    check the calibration of your dome thermometer; in boiling water it should read 212. mine was 40 degrees high at first. the grid temp will be lower than the dome, so you could have been smoking at a grid temp below 200 and not known it.........
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  • ronbeaux
    ronbeaux Posts: 988
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    Joel,
    don't sweat it. I've done ribs 3-1-1, 3-2-1, 5 hours straight, and so on. Today I did St Louis style and cooked them 5 hours thinking they were going to be perfect. NOT! These must have been ribs from that 1100 lb hogzilla killed in Georgia! It took 6.5 hours for them to tender up![p]Advice:
    If your going to cook ribs straight through, don't go by time. Leave them in there at 250 or 260 for at least 4 hours and then baste every 15 minutes until they are fork tender. When the meat has shrunk back and exposed the bones you are getting real close. Baste with your choice of liquid. Most use a mix of apple juice and water. Today I mixed beer, balsamic and water and just kept them wet until they felt like they would "pull apart."

    weekend2025.jpg



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  • Unknown
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    6jan07-007.jpg
    <p />ronbeaux,
    i, for one, do not use apple juice and water...
    i use jamaican jerk marinade.[p]mrs dog's up there ^ and tropical pepper company down here [p]27dec06-004.jpg
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  • ronbeaux
    ronbeaux Posts: 988
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    Rick's Tropical Delight,
    I'm going to put that on my list. Is that stuff available here in LA?[p]These were just plain ole KC Masterpiece[p]

    ribsdone.jpg[p]

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  • Unknown
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    ronbeaux,
    i got both of those jerk marinades from mail order... but there are plenty of jerk marinade recipes out there to make it from scratch.
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  • The Virginian
    The Virginian Posts: 275
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    Joel,
    Every piece of meat is a little different. On average, most baby backs would be done after 5 hours at that temperature, but some just take longer. Trust the feel of the meat. You can try the toothpick test (when a toothpick slips easily into the meat at the thickest part of the slab) or the flop test (pick up slab with tongs and it flops pretty good, though not to the point of breaking. Really, someone should show you the right degree of flop, its a little hard for me to describe). [p]Relax, its only bbq! [p]Brett
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  • Unknown
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    ribs1.JPG
    <p />Joel,[p]Have you done spareribs before? If you're a first timer at ribs then it's sometimes easier to get the feel for rib cooking if you cook spares first. You can go to my first-time rib page at the link[p]Happy Eggin,
    Chuck
    [ul][li]first-time ribs[/ul]
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  • Car Wash Mike
    Car Wash Mike Posts: 11,244
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    Joel,
    After you put the ribs on, what did the temp drop to? I ask this, because I would like to make sure you had a nice fire going and flames not touching the temp guage.[p]Mike
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  • Sandbagger
    Sandbagger Posts: 977
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    123_2334.jpg
    <p />Joel, welcome! Just grab some tongs and lift. If they bend like the picture, they're done. What you're looking for is....when you pick them up, you're afraid the rack will break apart. [p]I find fall off the bone ribs are easier to do with the foil step. It might take a couple cooks, but you'll get it down....Good luck! Tom

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  • Unknown
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    Joel,[p]How many racks were you cooking? What kind? It took me 3 times thru to get them right. I usually only cook one or two baby-back racks (just me and the wife eat, kids are still too little to like em). Last run through I did 2 racks over indirect at 250 in the inverted v-rack for about 1.5 hours. Took em off and wrapped in foil, back on indirect at 250 for another 30 minutes (could have gone to 45, will try this next time). Then took the plate setter out (careful, HOT), full power egg, 5 minutes/side with your favorite sauce. Damn, I want ribs now!!!!
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