Average Spares

[Darrell J.]

I've been totally focused on my BB's all year long and I have those babies perfected I feel. However, yesterday was the first time I cooked Spares this year. They have been my nemesis. Last year I had only one "dynamite" spare cookout and the rest we're restaurant quality, but not up to my standards.

I cooked for a little more than 6.5 hours at around 245-250. I used a Texas BBQ rub. About 5.5 hours into the cook, I foiled with Brown Sugar and honey for about 45 minutes. Took them out of the foil and back on the smoker for about 30 minutes or so. The ribs were not as tender as they could have been. Good rich mahogany color (peach-smoked), but my wife complained that the meat on it's own didn't have much of a taste.

I didn't rub the night before and I'm wondering if I may have to do that for larger cuts like Spares. Also, I didn't baste during the cook and I'm wondering if when I foiled, I just basically cooked all the juice out of meat since technically I didn't have any liquid in the foil other than honey. Finally, I know I cooked have cooked longer. As big as those spares were I could have cooked them for about 7 to 8 hours. Any advice you have would be much appreciated.

 

[Ken McCrary]

While I am by no means and expert it sounds to me like you are handling the ribs an awful lot during the cook. My first suggestion would be to apply the rub to the ribs about 30 mins to an hour brfore you put them on the smoker and then leave them alone.
I did three racks on Sunday. Rubbed them and then let them sit at room temp while I got the WSM ready and the coals lit. I cooked Minion method with temps at the grate running 230. I turned them once after about 4 hours and they were done in 5 1/2 hours. Sometimes I will spray them with apple juice during the cook but I didn't have any handy so I skipped it. They turned out plenty tender and pretty tasty too.

 

[Paul G.]

Sounds to me like you did everything right. Sometimes a particular piece of meat just doesn't have a great taste. Probably a result of processing. Could be that you and your wife have developed a taste for the BB and just found it different. My guess is the smaller ribs from a different part of the hog might react differently to the rubs and cook a little differently. I do large spares a lot and they can handle and benefit from a pretty heavy load of rub. I don't believe extra cooking time would have enhanced the taste, but they would have been more tender either with more foil time or just more time.

Paul

 

[Jared Moore]

Maybe you should leave them in the foil a bit longer. I did two slabs of spares yesterday, and decided to leave them in the foil for about 2.5 hours, and then back on the smoker for another hour. They were so tender that it was hard to cut without them falling apart, and everyone I had over for the four said they were the best ribs they had ever had. I prefer them a little firmer, but I can't complain about all the compliments.