Spare ribs not succesful


 
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Hi!

I could use some advice on spare rib grilling. I did a batch this weekend which didn't turn out so well. I didn't have optimal conditions and the weather was a bit chilly.
I have cooked baby back ribs before which turned out good but these spare ribs were a bit larger which probably impacted the cooking.

The first thing that was a miss I think was that I never managed to get the temperature much over 160F (bad coal, windy, chilly?) but I still let it cook for about 4 hours. The end result was chewy at best. Not the "touch it with the fork and it dissolves" result.

I want to know what I did wrong. Is the temperature the biggest culprit or is it the cooking time? Also since spare ribs are a tad bit bigger does that mean cooking times increase significantly? Any advice is very welcome.

Best regards

Kris
 
Your temp. was way too low. You should be in the 225 to 250 degree range. Weather and outside temperature should not be affecting you very much.

Also you can't go wrong with the 3-2-1 method for spares as a beginner. Three hours @ 225 degrees, then wrap in foil with a few tablespoons of apple juice for 2 hours, then 1 hour out of the foil basting with BBQ sauce for last 1/2 hour. Then tweak as you like.

Follow BRITU directions here on the site as well. Spares take a little longer than BB but not too much...
 
I'm surprised they were edible at all if the temp never got over 160 and they only cooked for 4 hours. You need a lid temp of around 250. Without using foil, the cook time for spares will be around 7 hours. Test by seeing the meat recede from the bones about 1/4 th inch and insert a tootpick in the meat between the bones. If it goes in easily they're done. For more tenderness and/or a shorter cook time, put individual slabs in foil at the 4 hour mark and let them cook for 45 min to an hour. Then remove them from the foil and let them finish cooking and firm up without the foil.

There's a good section on preparing and cooking spares from links off the homepage.

Paul
 
I agree with Paul & Frank. They needed longer to cook. I use the 3 hours cook @ 230-240ish, 1-2 hour foiled at 230-240ish then one hour unfoiled @ 230-250ish. Spares definetley benefit from the foiling. If you don't foil, you will need to cook more than 6 hours. Of course all this is based on my experience with past smokes of spares. Once you cook them long enough, you will agree they are mighty fine!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I could use some advice on spare rib grilling. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
First, are you using a WSM or are you grilling?
Second, are you sure of the 160 reading? is that a typo (and should say 260)? At 160 for 4 hours the ribs would be barely colored and near raw in the middle.

Cooking to 'done' is a combo of temp and time. Spares can cook in the low 200s, the middle, or even 300. You could cook them at 160 but they would take quite while.

Bigger does increase cook time in this case because bigger means thicker which adds time.

'Done', though subjective, should not be determined by time but by look and feel, though time can indicate when to look and feel. The indicators Paul notes on appearance and toothpick feel are the ones I follow and recommend.

Last, welcome to the board.
 
Too low a temp and too short a cook.

I generally cook ribs at 225 degrees for 6-8 hours. I've also had very good luck cooking them on the lower rack with a pork shoulder or two up top. The fat dripping down on them keeps them super moist and tender.
 
Hi, thanks for the answers. The thermometer said 160 but I havn't done the test onit so it might be faulty. I have also used a probe meter which gave me 170F in the meat after 30 minutes with the water pan out (to make sure it was cooked, in the sense of not dangerous to eat).

I am not using the WSM but a product that is very similar. But thank you for clearing out the temperature for me, I think I need to modify the grill with some additional air inlets in the bottom to give it a boost in its burning temp.

regards

Kris
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Kristian Karlsson:
Hi!

I could use some advice on spare rib grilling. I did a batch this weekend which didn't turn out snip
Best regards

Kris </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'd never cook with that low of temp, increase coals, increase lit coals, open up on vents, whatever you do, don't cook ribs at that low of temp.

But for FYI, as temp goes down, time in cooker must increase, and as temp goes up, time in cooker should decrease, basically.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Kristian Karlsson:
I think I need to modify the grill with some additional air inlets in the bottom to give it a boost in its burning temp. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Possibly. But definitely test all your therms. Nothing you chose to do (or not) will be as effective if you are unable to test it in terms of accuracy.

Good luck.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Kristian Karlsson:
I think I need to modify the grill with some additional air inlets in the bottom to give it a boost in its burning temp. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
No Kristian - what you NEED to do is get a WSM
wsmsmile8gm.gif
!

Best of luck to you.

Paul
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Also you can't go wrong with the 3-2-1 method for spares as a beginner. Three hours @ 225 degrees, then wrap in foil with a few tablespoons of apple juice for 2 hours, then 1 hour out of the foil basting with BBQ sauce for last 1/2 hour. Then tweak as you like. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just had a very unsatisfying experience with spareribs too. I am hosting a gathering on Mothers Day and plan to serve Mike Mills Apple City Ribs, only with spareribs.

Because I am a WSM rookie I decided that a trial run was a good idea. Am I ever glad I did.

The WSM was a dream to operate! I had no problem holding the temperature in the right zone. Basted as instructed. Went 6 hours, the meat was shrunk back 1/4 inch. The sauce was unbelievable, the flavour great - but the ribs were much drier than I like them.

So the next day I took the rack that was left over and foiled it with apple juice for an hour and the ribs came back to life - they were great!

I now plan to make foiling at the 3 hour mark a regular part of my smoking when spareribs are involved.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Went 6 hours, the meat was shrunk back 1/4 inch. The sauce was unbelievable, the flavour great - but the ribs were much drier than I like them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
They were undercooked.

Foiling can be great--I often foil ribs myself--but barbecue needs to be cooked till 'done' (whatever that means to you) not for a specific amount of time. Maybe 6 hours, maybe 7, maybe more, maybe somewhere in between. Thick cuts of meat can be cooked to an internal temp (though I still recommend combining temp with something tactile), thin cuts like ribs need to be felt, not just timed or looked at. Use a pick or probe inserted between the bones. Moist and tender feels and is apparent.
 
You needed a higher temp. At 160, the ribs wouldn probably NEVER get up to the temp they need to break down the connective tissue and make the ribs tender.

I have no idea why you couldn't get it up, but next time, use Viagra. Oops, I mean, uh, if you can't get the temp up to 200, then try smoking them for an hour or two, then finish in an oven.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Kristian Karlsson:
Hi, thanks for the answers. The thermometer said 160 but I havn't done the test onit so it might be faulty. I have also used a probe meter which gave me 170F in the meat after 30 minutes with the water pan out (to make sure it was cooked, in the sense of not dangerous to eat).

I am not using the WSM but a product that is very similar. But thank you for clearing out the temperature for me, I think I need to modify the grill with some additional air inlets in the bottom to give it a boost in its burning temp.

regards

Kris </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No WSM? What are you using, a Charbroil H2O or a Brinkman water smoker? Those things don't have good ventilation and they are susceptable to ash smothering. It's hard to cook on those smokers.
 
Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the suggestion. I was actually afraid to cook them longer. They were so dry already I thought they might turn to cardboard. It never ocurred to me that they could get moister.

But now that you mention it, the big boney chunks of breast plate that were on the lower rack were definately undercooked.

What do you recommend on best placement? I put the St Louis cut on the top grate in a rib rack and all the other stuff on the bottom grate. Took the thin pieces off the bottom after a couple of hours. They were more like jerky - should have taken them off sooner for sure.

Dave
 
Hey, Dave--

Your placement is fine.

'Dry' when it comes to meats needing slow cooking can seem to be the case when the meat is undercooked because sufficient time has not elapsed to soften the connective tissue. Water in the muscle gets squeezed out at temps above 120 so the meat does actually get dryer. At a point after that--and until the tissue has time to gelatinize--the meat can 'read' as dry in the mouth even though it has not overcooked, it is still undercooked. When these types of meats have actually been cooked too long then the meat fibers continue to compact and get firmer, the gelatinized material dissolves more rapidly and dissipates, and we once again have dry meat. It is at a point in between--where, though the water has been squeezed by contracting muscle fibers, the rendering and gelatinization of interior soft fats and connective tissue has occured for just long enough that juicy and tender meat is realized.

Timing, as noted above, will only get you so far and is dependent, of course on cook temp. I either cook ribs till done (no foil) or, more often than not, cook till very deeply colored (which falls somewhere around the 4.25-4.75-hour mark, depending on temp, then foil each slab individually with a little mixed juice, and cook till just done (while in the foil), checking for doneness with a pick or probe between the bones (45min-1.25 hours). Then I unfoil and firm the meat with a little additional time on the grate. (I prefer not to sauce ribs; I serve sauce on the side.)

Ribs can be foiled earlier, later or not at all. They can go longer in foil (the more time in foil the more towards--or past!--fall-off-the-bone you'll get, but I do not care for FOTB ribs). The trick is to determine doneness to your taste by look and feel. Once you determine this based on your preferences you can set up each cook using the same criteria and, with minor adjustments to compensate for differences here and there, pretty much make your cooks consistent. At first, use time only as a guide.
 
Kevin,

You wrote:

"and cook till just done (while in the foil) checking for doneness with a pick or probe between the bones (45min-1.25 hours)"

When you make this check, do you "unwrap" the ribs, or just poke through the foil?

JimT
 
I poke through the foil. You can open it though if you wish. Sometimes, if I've been particularly generous with the foil, I have no choice but to open it because I can't get a feel for it if I don't.

Set yourself up for ease of opening: Lay a slab on a piece of foil, gather the foil, fold tightly to seal. It's the gathered foil that gets folded/crimped tightly. Don't worry about the foil being tight around the slab at all--it is easy to tear the foil or a rib to poke a hole in it if you try to make it tight around the slab. Make the seal tight--but easy-open.
 
Thanks for the insight Kevin. I've often wondered about poking holes in the foil.

I know what you mean about tearing the foil while wrapping. Not long ago, I was the "chef" for a dozen or so of my drunken friends (OK, I was too.) Six slabs of loins, cut in half. Everyone was drooling, so foiling was mandatory. With all the "help", nearly every piece had to be double wrapped because of the tears.

The ribs turned out great. (We think)

LOL,

JimT
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
I am not using the WSM but a product that is very similar. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Uh, I think I know what's wrong here...
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