How to keep ST Louis Style Spare Ribs from "falling off the bone..."


 

ChangL

TVWBB Fan
I use the 4-3-2-1 method to smoke my St. Louis Style spare ribs on my 22.5 Kettle. (Rotate the ribs at the end of the 1st hour, foil them 2nd hour, sauce them at 3rd, remove them at 4th). They come out great, but they are so loose at that point that the bones just slide off. It's not the kind of "falling off the bone" I want when I serve them. I'd rather have a little bite to them; plus, it's easier to handle when you have the meat still on the bone. I know that baby back ribs are more suited for this, but does anyone have a method of smoking their St. Louis style ribs so that they stay on the bone, yet still are tender?
 
Generally you shorten the time you have the ribs in foil. Generally people do 3-2-1, which is 3 hours in the smoke, 2 hours foiled and 1 hour unwrapped. This method is designed for spares and cooking at 225. 2 hours in foil is probably too long, so most people modify this in some way. That time unwrapped at the end is important because it usually helps to firm them back up a little if they got too mushy in the foil. You might do something like a 3.5-1.5-1 for instance. Good luck!
 
does anyone have a method of smoking their St. Louis style ribs so that they stay on the bone, yet still are tender?
You gotta keep the grill below 250 (225 is ideal) cook them indirect unwrapped throughout the entire cook, could take 5, 6 maybe 7 hours. You will get the ribs you're looking for. You know they're done when you can stick a toothpick in them and once it pierces the crust, goes in effortlessly, which is right about when they hit 195/200 degrees. My family likes me to sauce them up the last hour of the cook. I wish they didn't, I prefer to pour the BBQ sauce in a pyrex measuring cup and put it on the grill (also indirect) stirring it every now and then so it gets the smokey flavor of the BBQ, and then pour it on the ribs when served
 

 

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