First cook w/ribs One question

For my maiden voyage, I cooked 2 racks of BB ribs weighing 8.5 lbs. Used the 3-1-1 using 1.5 chimney and 20 lit kingsford competition and water. Lid temp never got above 250, but ribs turned out a little dry and were falling off the bone. Next time I'll foil for 45 min and finish for 30 min. My question is when you open the lid to foil or glaze the ribs and the temp spikes because of the extra air, do you adjust the vents to compensate or leave them alone and the temp will fall back down on its own.??

I leave the vents alone and the temps go back to where they were. I don't leave the lid off too long either. If I'm checking the meat or mopping, I move quickly and get the lid back on. If I'm foiling, I take the meat off, close the lid, work on the meat and when done, open the lid to put them back on.

I think if you leave the lid off long enough for temps to come up a lot (25º or more), you might have to adjust the vents to get things back under control. I've never had to do that.

Baby backs are back ribs from a smaller animal, generally considered to be 2lbs or less per rack.

Although you said they were FOTB you said they seemed dry. Given 4+lb racks, I think it's likely at 250ºF dome temp the ribs were still a little under done, I don't mean not cooked, but may have benefited from a little more time.

That's the thing about 3-1-1 or any other fixed time formula ... they are guidelines. 3-2-1 was intended for 'baby' racks ... so 2lb or less racks at 225ºF.

Just keep cooking!

About adjusting down vents after opening the lid you certainly can, I know I used to. Trying to keep stable temp will give you predictable results IF all other factors are the same.

I really don't sweat temp fluctuations any more, just roll with it. I have yet to have a piece of meat tell me it's too hot. As long as it's indirect you can do ribs quite a bit hotter than 250ºF and still get great results.

Those are some MONSTER back ribs if they were in the 4+ lb per rack range.

I have recently come to the point were I won't buy racks above 3 lbs. While they have lots of meat on them, the crowd I cook for wants more or a "rib" than a bone in loin chop!

When it comes to foiling, I would say that you really don't a lot of time to get a more FOTB product. 2 hrs seems like FAR too long in my books. I would probably go with something like 2-1(foiled)-2 if I was to narrow down something for backs. The last 2 hours though would be flexible based on "feel". I think it's a good idea to use a probe to get a feel for when it's done. Like most BBQ, the motto of "its done when its done" always prevails. Especially on long cooks, everyone has had surprises on both ends of the scale

Lastly, the 3-2-1 was suggested for sides.... backs usually finish well before.

Originally posted by Shawn W:
Baby backs are back ribs from a smaller animal, generally considered to be 2lbs or less per rack.

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They are typically from market weight hogs rather than sows

I think K Kruger has an interesting cooking technique which I'm going to try on my next spare cook. If memory serves me, he sometimes cooks unfoiled until he gets the color he likes and then foils for the duration of the cook.

There are many ways to cook them and everybody has an opinion. That's what makes BBQ so much fun IMO.

Correct. I don't always foil but when I do I cook till very nicely colored, foil with a juice reduction, then cook just till tender while still in the foil. 5-10 min on the grate, unfoiled; done.

Lastly, the 3-2-1 was suggested for sides.... backs usually finish well before.

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poked around and it seems you are right ... I could swear I read somewhere it was originally for backs ... anyway, just another example of oversimplified instructions ... and misinformation