Looking for your advice


 
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Here's what I did with the last batch of ribs:

Marinated in molasses & rum with a bit of cinnamon and allspice and a bit of water to get a smooth consistency. They sat in a sealed bag in the fridge over night.

The next morning I applied a rub that I have created based off of Raichlen's basic recipe and then I fired up the kettle and hooked up the Guru. Used Maple Leaf lump and some hickory wood. Smoked at 225 for about 3 or 4 hours then sauced and wrapped the ribs for another 45 minutes. Finished them off on the gas grill while I was grilling the asparagus (just to caramelize the sauce).

The flavour was great. You could taste the rum and molasses under the rub and sauce. My only complaint is that they were a tad tough and didn't have much of a smoke ring. There was quite a crust to the ribs and they were quite dark.
I suspect there was too much rub and I wonder if I should have wrapped them sooner and not finished them on the gas grill.

Do you think the alcohol in the rum did something to dry them out/toughen them up?

What's your suggestion?
 
No, although it's possible. But since you give no indication of checking to see if they were actually done it seems more likely that they were undercooked.

Molasses is going to darken considerably. I don't recall Raichlen's rub but I'm guessing that it's heavy on paprika and sugar; both darken as well.
 
Forgot the suggestions. You might try:

-- Flaming off the rum's alcohol first, before mixing the water and so forth in. Simmering will reduce the alcohol further. (Alcohol can affect smokering formation.)

-- Lightening the color of the marinade.

-- Making a lighter colored rub.

-- Making a lighter colored rub, skipping the marinating process, and turning the marinade into a glaze instead, so it would be applied, thinly, after the ribs are tender and for just long enough for it to set. Any sauce would be served on the side.

Remember to check your ribs for tenderness when they near the time you'd expect them to be done. If I foil I cook till tender while in the foil, then remove and return to the grate for a few minutes to finish. (I don't sauce ribs in the foil but do add a juice mix.) If I'm glazing I glaze for the last few minutes on the grate. If you prefer saucing during foiling, fine, but I'd suggest taking the ribs to tender in the foil, unfoiling, then putting the ribs on the grate just long enough to set the sauce.
 
Kevin, When you foil do you go bone side up or bone side down. Last time I did it I went bone side up during foiling and they were the best ribs I had done. I added a small amount of juice as well. I noticed that the juice pretty much knocked off all the rub that was on the meat side.
 
Just to be a contrairian to Kevin
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I cook my ribs meat side down in the foil. I've cut back on the amount of liquid. I only notice a slight reduction of the rub contribution.
 
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