Smoking ribs


 
A

Andy V

TVWBB Member
Just did my first boston butt. Now looking to do ribs. Do i treat them the same? Do i need to wrap ribs at some point? Water in the smoker or no water? What time range should i set aside for this cook 4-5 hrs, more or less?
 
I do wrap ribs after they have taken smoke and render fat, then unwrap them near the end to finish rendering fat and dry a bit. I like to run water I run water with ribs, keeps the heat near 225 without effort. How long they take depends on the ribs and what temp you.re running. Baby backs could be done as soon as three or fourhours, St. Louis style spares are usually around 5 hours.

The biggest problem I have had in the past with ribs is over smoking, much easier to do with ribs than a pork butt.
 
Andrew John said:
I do wrap ribs after they have taken smoke and render fat, then unwrap them near the end to finish rendering fat and dry a bit. I like to run water I run water with ribs, keeps the heat near 225 without effort. How long they take depends on the ribs and what temp you.re running. Baby backs could be done as soon as three or fourhours, St. Louis style spares are usually around 5 hours.

The biggest problem I have had in the past with ribs is over smoking, much easier to do with ribs than a pork butt.
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I'm a dry rub guy, No foil, no sauce, just the initial rub over water @250, hung or coiled. Brown sugar is the key
 
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Yeah, I'm a dry rub no sauce guy myself, but I find I tend to overdo the smoke if I don't foil. I'm kinda heavy handed with the smoke wood.
 
You really don't need much. A couple of chunks of apple wood is plenty, less if you are using hickory.



 
Andy V said:
Just did my first boston butt. Now looking to do ribs. Do i treat them the same? Do i need to wrap ribs at some point? Water in the smoker or no water? What time range should i set aside for this cook 4-5 hrs, more or less?
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Ribs - back ribs or spare ribs?
Do I treat them the same? - no, different meat different method of cooking
Wrap? - yes/no, you're going to have to do a little homework to decide what's best. I myself have never foiled spare ribs. Foiling accelerates the cooking due to the steam effect. Foil too long and you'll end up with mushy ribs.
Water? - yes - water helps stabilize temperature, creates a moisture environment for better smoke ring, no - uses more fuel, pita for clean up- pita= pain in the a. I've stopped using water.
Time range - @225-250 4-5 hours for baby backs 6-7 hours for spares. YMMV - your mileage may vary.
 
Lots of folks do them different, you have to experiment and find your way to make them come out how YOU like them. I go 3-2-1 for St Louies, and 2-2-1 for Baby backs at 225 degrees. When I foil, I melt some Parkay with brown sugar and apple juice and then throw one more hour of smoke at them.
 
How do you get them to fall off the bone, like you do in some restaurants. I had back loins, so i don't know if you can really get a a result like that with back loins. They were 4.5 lbs a piece too. They tasted great, but did not fall off like how i would want them to
 
Andy V said:
How do you get them to fall off the bone, like you do in some restaurants. I had back loins, so i don't know if you can really get a a result like that with back loins. They were 4.5 lbs a piece too. They tasted great, but did not fall off like how i would want them to
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Just cook them longer and they'll fall of the bone. Personally I like them less cooked than that. Chris has a nice article about the bend test to tell when they are done.
 
Andy V said:
What temp ranges you guys seeing with this happens? I know every cook differs, I'm just curious.
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Hard to really get a good temp on ribs, what with the thin slap and all the bones. I don't even bother checking the temp, just cook to tenderness.
 
Thanks jeff. I will check it out! I tried a second round of ribs, and was almost there. I just need patience. I think the guru will help with my patience also.
 
Andy V said:
How do you get them to fall off the bone, like you do in some restaurants. I had back loins, so i don't know if you can really get a a result like that with back loins. They were 4.5 lbs a piece too. They tasted great, but did not fall off like how i would want them to
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Foiling is the sure-fire way to get the fall-off-the-bone (FOTB) texture. After 45 minutes to an hour in foil with 1/4 cup of apple juice, they're pretty much guaranteed to be FOTB unless you've horribly overcooked them prior to foiling. An added bonus is that I think foiling drives the smoke ring down into the meat nicely. The cost is that whatever bark you've developed pre-foil is going to get softened or disintegrate when you put the ribs in foil. You can finish them naked and re-build some of that bark, but it'll take some time and work.

I used to do 2.5-1-1 on baby backs, but a few months ago I had to do a cook on short notice. After 2-1/2 hours on the rack at 275, they felt tender when I probed them, so I cut a couple bones off the end of one of the racks and gave them a test-taste. Loved the slightly chewy texture and the fabulous bark. I sauced them and gave them another 15 minutes and brought them in. Everybody loved them, and I've been doing them that way ever since. It gets me the texture I've come to prefer, and it's a lot less messing around (and mess) without the foiling and un-foiling steps.

Keep experimenting!
 
Andy try it one way and see if you like it. Keep notes about each cook, time, temp rubs etc. (a BBQ log if you will). Next time try it another way, and again create a log. Find out the way you and your family prefer it. It all takes practice and experimenting.
 
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