Forget falling off the bone, my bone fell off the ribs


 
M

Michael Freeman

TVWBB Fan
I had my second try at ribs. First try I cooked at 225 for 4 1/2 hours. Wasn't as tender as I had hoped, so this time I decided to do higher temp and foil.

I cooked at 260-275 for three hours. Then foiled and cooked one hour. When I undid the foil and try to pick it up, it was so tender that one of the bones fell out. I was going to cook for one more hour but ended up just doing 20 more minutes to see if I could toughen it up just a bit outside the foil.

They ended up tasting really good, but I'd like a bit more bite to them. I'm thinking next time I'll cook at 250 and foil for just 30 minutes. I'm going to do another rack this coming weekend so we'll see.
 
Ribs are tricky. I still don't have a feel for them. Getting consistent at them is something to be very proud of.
 
Before I had a thermometer, smoking ribs on the WSM was a nightmare. Afterwards, I`ve been able to get consistent results. I purchased the Tel-Tru BQ300 just in case you were wondering.

Peace,
EB
 
I plan on trying pulled pork soon. It's just that they take so long to cook. Since ribs only take 4-6 hours, I'm practicing on those. Although, there is a three day weekend coming up...
 
Pulled Pork takes about 16 hours for a 9lb. piece. The way I work it is to put the pork on around 10p and take it off around 2p the next day. This is perfect for those Sunday BBQs where you eat around midday. (Still trying to figure out why everyone eats at a different time than usual on Sundays).

I`m making some pulled pork for July 4 so I`m starting my smoke on Thursday evening at 6p and will remove on Friday at 10a. That`ll give it enough time to rest and marinate in the sauce a good 4-6 hours before "dinner". (I throw the pulled pork back on the grill to warm up by placing it a tin pan and tossing it around for about 5 minutes. Pretty darn good.)

Don`t be intimidated with the time it takes. Just relax with your smoke. Give yourself the time to go through everything slowly and make sure you follow all the steps. Get your rub on, get the smoker at the temp. needed, place the pork on fat side up, then grab a cold one. Go back around an hour and make sure the temp is where you need it. If its where it should be, settle in for the night. Wake up in the morning, grab yourself some coffee, check the status of the temp., adjust if necessary and let the smoker do its thing.

With the price of pork shoulder, its not a huge investment if you happen to screw up. I doubt it though. Just remember to give yourself time to do it right and enjoy the process. I`m a believer in that, "When the cook enjoys the process, the food tastes better."

Peace,
EB
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom Chips:
Ribs are tricky. I still don't have a feel for them. Getting consistent at them is something to be very proud of. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>lol, it doesn't help that every piece of meat is different ... it's not like a tofu square from the tofu factory from which you would expect a lot more product consistency.

Perhaps try to be 'hands on' with your ribs. I suppose the same could be applied to anything you cook on the WSM, but the importance of it seems more pronounced with ribs and poultry than say pork butt IMO.

Try flexing a rack prior to cooking. Do the same at different stages through the cook, watch the color changes, try the toothpick test, the tear test. As I recall Kevin Kruger wrote at least one awesome post about how he gauges his ribs and makes decisions (like when it's time to foil or IF he's going to foil) during a rib cook.

Eat some really bad ribs to I suppose reset the 'low' bar on your standards
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. I visited a rib specialty restaurant in Montreal that my co-workers all raved about and insisted I must try (after learning of my BBQ obsession). Dissappointed is a collosal understatement of my dining experience. About the only thing that could have made it any worse was if I'd gotten food poisoning. They were super tough, super dry and I think straight molasses was the BBQ sauce.

The other thing that comes to mind is try to enjoy the moment. Savour your efforts and stop second guessing. What's done is done (reflect for a moment to try and learn for next time but don't dwell on it).
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I recall Kevin Kruger wrote at least one awesome post about how he gauges his ribs and makes decisions </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I just thought I'd add I tried to find the specific post I had in mind and when I did Advanced search in BBQ forum for Author: K Kruger, All Keywords: ribs foil

I got 6 pages of results.
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My. Perhaps I can distill...

If I foil I foil when the ribs are deeply colored, a method I got from Minion a few years back that suits me well. Whether I foil is pretty much determined by whether or not I've mixed a juice concoction to include in the foil. Probably 2 of 3 times I foil. (I favor juice mixes with pineapple as a base plus a sour-ish component like tamarind paste, pomegranate molasses, or concentrated pure cranberry.)

I cook the ribs in the foil till they are tender--done--while still in the foil. (I do not care for FOTB ribs but if I did I would simply cook them longer in the foil.) I test with a probe and stick it straight through the foil between two bones. If the meat feels tender, i.e., if the probe enters the meat with no resistance--they are, to me, done. (If not I go a little longer; if so I open the foil and test again to confirm.)

When done, I remove the ribs from the foil, saving the foil juices, and return them to the grate for just a few minutes to firm the bark. I dislike sauced ribs so I never sauce, but occasionally I will apply a glaze for these few minutes. A glaze, to me, is a fairly simple yet very flavorful mix that is applied with a brush very thinly--just a veneer--and, in this case, is pretty much translucent. Painted on a couple minutes after the ribs are returned to the grate then maybe once again a couple or three minutes later, the glaze will seize and set in short order. Because the glaze is translucent and applied thinly, neither the color nor texture of the meat surface or bark is compromised. Just a flavor layer plus some shine is all that is added.

(For those that so prefer their ribs sauced and who would like to foil as noted above, I'd suggest tightening the sauce before its application so as not to prolong the cook once the ribs are tender. While the ribs are cooking at some point, put some sauce into a pot and simmer it, stirring occasionally at first then more often as the sauce thickens, and reduce it till it is much substantially thicker. Remove from the heat. Once the ribs are tender and removed from the foil, spread the thickened sauce on and put the ribs on the grate for several minutes to allow the sauce to further seize and set.)

Many different ways to do ribs. This is how I do mine.
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