A few post-mortem questions

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Twelve of us enjoyed the eight slabs of baby backs I cooked yesterday, with great assistance from this site and forum, in my first use of the WSM. However, I thought the ribs were a bit "leathery". I have a picture of what was left of them by the time I took the picture at www.impact-consult.com/bbq/babybacks.jpg . Can you tell if they're overcooked? Would overcooking cause a leathery quality?

- They were cooked 4 1/2 hours, starting from scratch with the Minion method, and the temperature rose more slowly than "normal" (at 1:40 into the cook the cooker temp was 210). I then added some hot briquettes and it went to 230-240 and stayed there until I took them off.

- I didn't turn them or baste them during the cooking.

Thanks
 
IMO you don't need to do the minion method for Back ribs and anywhere in the 225-275 window will work. Spraying with apple juice helps form a crust, low temps (200-225) can lead to drying of the meat and back ribs have less fat than spares. How did you determine they were done? Toothpick test and temp are most important to me /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

I've had a WSM go 24 hours on the minion method with one stirring of the coals at the mid point. It's for Butts and Brisket IMO.
 
Thanks, Konrad. I had others tell me here that Minion was great for everything, including baby backs, so that's what I did.

>low temps (200-225) can lead to drying of the meat

That sounds like what happened. The temp was quite slow to come up so it was below 225 for at least 1:40, then 230-240 flr the rest. Next time I'll get it up in the 225-250 faster and do what BRITU receipe recommends of going to 250-275 aftet three hours. Or I won't use Minion for them and will start hotter. Hmm, live and learn.

>How did you determine they were done?

Not very well /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif I didn't put a probe into the meat because they were rolled and standing up/falling over and I didn't see how I could put a probe in. I'll try that again next time. Didn't do a toothpick test either. I just looked at it and finally cut one off and ate it, and by that time I'm pretty sure they were overcooked.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mick R:
[qb] However, I thought the ribs were a bit "leathery". Can you tell if they're overcooked? Would overcooking cause a leathery quality?
[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I've found that if I load up the WSM and some of the ribs are near the edge of the grate I'll have some dried/leathery meat. You have to remember that the outer edges of the grate get substantially hotter than the rest of the cooking area.

---Russ
 
Hmm, what's the answer other than cook smaller amounts of ribs or get a Klose?

>I've found that if I load up the WSM and some of the ribs are near the edge of the grate I'll have some dried/leathery meat. You have to remember that the outer edges of the grate get substantially hotter than the rest of the cooking area.<
 
Mick...

Be sure to check your thermometer... Some times they can cause more of a problem than they're worth... It's easy to get the smoker too hot and that's what looks like happen to me. The picture looks like the ribs cooked too fast and dried out..

However, if that's all you had left of eight slabs they must not have been that bad...lol... /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

The more you cook the easer it gets to judge when to take them off.. I bet they will be better next time...

Cheers!!!

bugg /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mick R:
[qb] Hmm, what's the answer other than cook smaller amounts of ribs or get a Klose?[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Just be careful in your placement of the meat on the racks, especially with rolled ribs as they have a larger exposed surface area that can rest on the edge of the grate.

I wouldn't sweat it though. The WSM is a fantastic pit and very forgiving. I'm sure that within a few more cooks you'll know every in and out of the WSM.

Good luck and enjoy your BBQ!!!
 
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