do you put your ribs on at room temp or straight from the fridge?

Midnight Smoker · April 2007

usually when i do ribs, i take them from the fridge where they've been "marinating" in the dry rub and mustard, and put it right on the egg.[p]whenever i do ribs, i do at least 6 racks of spares, so that's 30 pounds of meat, and needless to say, the temp of the egg plummets. lately, b/c i've been doing ribs in somewhat cold weather, the egg has really struggled to get back up to the 250-275 range.[p]do you think letting the ribs come up to room temp will make a difference in the temp drop? if so, how long you think it will take 6 racks to come up room temp?

stike · April 2007

Midnight Smoker,
if meat goes on cold, it will take lobger to hit 140, which is the temp at which the smoke ring stops developing. smoke (flavor) will still be deposited on the meat, but the ring won't form above 140.[p]so some, looking for a deeper smoke ring, will put it on colder.[p]it's sort of been twisted into the claim that "cold meat absorbs smoke better", which isn't really what's happening...

Midnight Smoker · April 2007

stike,[p]good point. hadn't thought about the smoke ring.[p]but lately, my concern has been about getting the egg up back up to temp. the last 2 times i made ribs, the egg (even with a full load of charcoal and all dampers wide open) couldn't get back up to 250. makes me think i'll never be able to do a MadMax Turkey or even ribs with teh 1-1-1 method.[p]i'm just hoping that if i put the ribs in at room temp, that i can get the egg holding at 350-375 so i can do the ribs in 3 hours total time under the 1-1-1 method.

fishlessman · April 2007

Midnight Smoker,
30 pounds causes problems, you can have an 800 degree fire under the stone, but cold looking dome temps. maybe increasing the heat mass with more bricks might help and make sure everything is hot before starting, maybe have the egg up at 400 or so before adding the ribs. 30 pounds is just a lot of cold mass. probe place ment is also real important as there will be cold spots in the beginning. my one and only 30 pound plus cook was a battle from beginning to end, but even with the cook starting at very low temps for many hours, the cooking time remained the same, 2 briskets were done in 12 and the 2 butts on top were done in 14 which is pretty standard cook times for me.

Midnight Smoker · April 2007

fishlessman,[p]thanks for the tips. you know, it's exactly what you said...a battle. it was tough to keep these ribs going. instead of just getting up to temp and walking away essentially, i had to constantly monitor things. but, also like you said, the ribs finished in the usual amount of time...about 5 hours, and as usual, were delicious! ahh..the magic of the egg. [p]

do you put your ribs on at room temp or straight from the fridge?

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