Part rant, part cry for help - all tough ribs

Legume · September 2020

270-325. Cook them long enough. Foil or don’t, without foil they won’t get as soft, it’s a preference.

Legume · September 2020

And cook them to what you like, not what others like or say is comp style, etc. my wife likes foiled, sauced ribs, I prefer them on the drier side, with a little sauce glazing only. Maybe.

Try three racks, each with a different method. See what turns out for you, but cook at a higher temp.

grin_phi · September 2020

dmchicago said:

These ribs are done:

Thanks for sharing a photo of an actual bend test. For some reason, written descriptions of this have never totally made sense to me. To me 'bend' implies that the rack should bend some, but not to a 90+ degree angle like this. Those ribs look like they might flow, rather than just bend! But now I have something more specific to aim for, for sure.

Lit · September 2020

grin_phi said:

dmchicago said:

These ribs are done:

Thanks for sharing a photo of an actual bend test. For some reason, written descriptions of this have never totally made sense to me. To me 'bend' implies that the rack should bend some, but not to a 90+ degree angle like this. Those ribs look like they might flow, rather than just bend! But now I have something more specific to aim for, for sure.

You want the ribs to bend at 90 degrees without tearing. That is going to be close to competition where it pulls from the bone but leaves a bite shape. The longer you cook them past this the more fall off the bone they will be. If you want them to fall off the bone when you do the bend test wait until they start to break when you do the bend test.

Lit · September 2020

Heres a good pic of them starting to split at the bend on the bend test. These are getting closer to fall off the bone. Also want to say i like to do the bend test more towards the middle of the rack.

Mark_B_Good · September 2020

250F to 275F dome, indirect for 3h for me. Then I season again add sauces and wrap in foil for another 1.5h max, it normally passes the bend test at that stage. I NEVER take temperature on ribs ... I go by time and then just make sure at the end based on bend test .... they have always been juicy and tasty.

jtcBoynton · September 2020

grin_phi said:

fishlessman said:

220 is a little low in an egg, i shoot for 250 plus a few degrees.

I'm interested in this - why do you say 220 is low for an egg? Is that to account for the different between dome and grill? My temps usually refer to grill temps, thanks to my two probe therm. But still, i tend to find that everything takes longer than 'it should' on my medium egg.

There is good tasting smoke and ash tray tasting smoke. Its hard to get quality tasting smoke on an egg at those temps. Easier at higher temps.

When cooking ribs I never have enough room on the grid to get a proper placement for a temp probe.

Ozzie_Isaac · September 2020

I use temp for steak, burgers, sausages. Everything else is by feel, bend, poke, etc.

grin_phi · September 2020

I’m doing the first of a series of test cooks today. This is a bend test after 1 hour 40 at pretty much exactly 350 (dome). Guess I have to let them go longer.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/ct/79vo2do2thsv.jpeg

grin_phi · September 2020

grin_phi said:

I’m doing the first of a series of test cooks today. This is a bend test after 1 hour 40 at pretty much exactly 350 (dome). Guess I have to let them go longer.

Update: I kept the ribs going, checking every 15 mins or so. The ribs just got harder and harder, bending less, until they were totally rock hard. Inedible.

I have to confess that I have no clue what I'm doing wrong here.

Wolfpack · September 2020

Can you send a pic of the ribs and your setup?

Legume · September 2020

How long have they been on?

Legume · September 2020

They look like BBs, but can’t really tell. At 350 dome, indirect, I would guess 2.5-3 hours maybe? I’ve only done turbo a few times and I’ve never seen sub 2 hour ribs, just my experience. I know others have said they get 90 min ribs.

Wolfpack · September 2020

Have you calibrated your dome thermometer lately?

GregW · September 2020

I've been told, haven't tried them myself, Ruby Tuesday has fall off the bone baby back ribs.
I hope you get the tough ribs deal resolved, I would hate to see you order Ruby Tuesday takeout ribs........

Seriously, it has to be something relatively simple going on with either your method or setup.
For me 350 is too high for ribs. 275 would be my max cook temp.

Mattman3969 · September 2020

Try using a pan for more indirect coverage. At 350 using only the PS you are gettin a lot of direct heat on the bottom of your ribs Would love to see a pic of the bottom. When cookin hot your window of opportunity closes very quickly. I’ve done turbo/350 ribs and had better luck catching the time to pull with a toothpick rather than the bend test. I prefer 275-300. I think the meat loosens then tightens up fast on on that style cook.

Foghorn · September 2020

Mattman3969 said:

Try using a pan for more indirect coverage. At 350 using only the PS you are gettin a lot of direct heat on the bottom of your ribs Would love to see a pic of the bottom. When cookin hot your window of opportunity closes very quickly. I’ve done turbo/350 ribs and had better luck catching the time to pull with a toothpick rather than the bend test. I prefer 275-300. I think the meat loosens then tightens up fast on on that style cook.

This.

At 350, as originally described by @Mickey, they take about 1hr 40 minutes. If you just use a platesetter/conveggtor you can get a fair amount of radiant heat onto the bottom of the ribs and they can get stiff. So, they may have been done in your pic. That's why I prefer the toothpic test to the bend test. If they probe like "buttah" you are done.

It is especially important to add a drip pan with an air gap between the pan and the ceramic when you are cooking at higher temps - but probably a good practice on most indirect cooks.

fishlessman · September 2020

i might start with raising the grill level to above the felt. thats pretty much the first thing that most of us have done. the egg just cooks better when the meat gets the radiant heat off the dome. i cook ribs closer to 275 dome temps

Mark_B_Good · September 2020

grin_phi said:

grin_phi said:

I’m doing the first of a series of test cooks today. This is a bend test after 1 hour 40 at pretty much exactly 350 (dome). Guess I have to let them go longer.

Update: I kept the ribs going, checking every 15 mins or so. The ribs just got harder and harder, bending less, until they were totally rock hard. Inedible.

I have to confess that I have no clue what I'm doing wrong here.

If you want a repeatable result ... cook them at 250F to 275F ... for 2.5h to 3h depending on the size of the ribs (those ones look small), then wrap in foil and add stuff inside the foil (apple juice, bbq sauce, etc), and cook for another 1h to 1.h MAX ... they will fall off the bone.

I let them rest after I take them off ... with foil still on them ... and after 15 minutes to 30 minutes ... I unwrap ... then I do a quick sear direct (like 1 min a side at 500F to 600F) ... typically I move to my gas grill for that part, as I don't feel like bringing the BGE up to that temp and wasting all those coals, plus taking out plate setter. Much easier to just get the gas grill to 500F for a couple of minutes.

lkapigian · September 2020

grin_phi said:

grin_phi said:

I’m doing the first of a series of test cooks today. This is a bend test after 1 hour 40 at pretty much exactly 350 (dome). Guess I have to let them go longer.

Update: I kept the ribs going, checking every 15 mins or so. The ribs just got harder and harder, bending less, until they were totally rock hard. Inedible.

I have to confess that I have no clue what I'm doing wrong here.

Did you test with a toothpick, if you ate them @ the point of the picture they would be tough......do you have a picture @ the point of consumption at at what hour mark was that ?

Tough still = undercooked ( usually I suppose you can take them to the point of dehydrated ribs)......I have forgotten ribs in my warmer for hours

loco_engr · September 2020

might give this a look:
http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_recipes&Itemid=68&func=detail&id=1207&fontstyle=f-default
Car Wash Mike's

CigarCityEgger · September 2020

I cooked some baby backs the other weekend, 225-240 the whole cook. Decided to run naked the whole way through, when I opened the dome after 4 hours they were way too overdone (aside from the middle) for my liking. I’ve cooked dozens of ribs that have came out great. But I’m thinking this is as just the meat driving the cook and I should’ve peaked a little earlier.

Moral of the story, sometimes it’s the meat and not the cook. Check your meat regularly (that’s what she said).

grin_phi · September 2020

Wolfpack said:

Can you send a pic of the ribs and your setup?

Hi Wolfpack

I don't have any other pics of that cook, but I'm most likely doing the same tomorrow. What would you like to see? Ribs before cooking? In terms of setup, everything is pretty standard, coals to the top of the bowl, platesetter legs up, stainless steel grid on top. I use a BBQ guru for longer cooks to keep the temp steady.

grin_phi · September 2020

Legume said:

How long have they been on?

The photo above was after ~130mins

grin_phi · September 2020

Wolfpack said:

Have you calibrated your dome thermometer lately?

I have not, and will give that a look. However, I nearly always cook with a second therm -either the BBQ guru or my dual probe - and they always run pretty steady together, with the grid being a bit lower than the dome for a good while.

Wolfpack · September 2020

Post along the way today and we can all work through this together. Don’t think there is anything wrong with your setup. Wondering on charcoal level- I have an XL so little different on full level. it’s a 5 hour cook at most so no need to fill all the way to the bottom of the platesetter.

Good luck- I’ve got a butt going on shortly for the game tonight. Assuming they play this go round.

grin_phi · February 2021

Hi all - thank you so much for your previous comments on this thread. Hope you have all been well. I'm back today to try again and I'll be posting a step by step photo log of what I'm doing. Hopefully someone will spot an obvious mistake in my process and make my day!

PigBeanUs · February 2021

Just remember:

Tough ribs are undercooked ribs.

Foghorn · February 2021

After you put in the platesetter, put in some thing to elevate your drip pan off the platesetter (3 or 4 wadded up balls of aluminum foil works well) to create an air gap. Then add your foil and make sure the foil is larger than the silhouette of your ribs. This should keep the bottom of the ribs from burning. If you've covered that, everything that everyone else said holds true about tough ribs being undercooked.