Baby Back Ribs

[Michael Park]

I'm still very new to barbecuing and grilling. I thought I might post the details of my most recent cook here and see if anyone can point out any obvious mistakes.

I bought two racks of baby back ribs at Publix. They were frozen, and I defrosted them in the refrigerator for approximately 24 hours. I removed the membrane, and I seasoned one with "Magic Dust" as found in the "Basic Baby Back Ribs" recipe here and the second with Rib Rack BBQ Rub commercially available at my local Publix.

I lit the smoker using the method shown in this YouTube video from Weber. Essentially, I filled one Weber chimney starter full of Kingsford briquettes. Approximately half of these were recycled extinguished briquettes from my previous cook. I dumped that chimney full in the charcoal chamber, filled up the chimney starter halfway with fresh KBB, lit one Weber Lighter Cube, and placed the chimney on top of both the unlit charcoal and the lighter cube. When the charcoal in the chimney had ash starting to form around the briquettes on the top and there were flames flickering out the top of the chimney, I dumped the lit coals on top of the unlit coals and spread the lit coals out evenly with tongs.

I immediately assembled the cooker, an 18" WSM, filled the water bowl, put the cooking grate on top, and closed the lid. I left the lid vent fully open and set the bottom vents to 50%. I felt like I fiddled with the vents too much chasing temperatures on my last cook, so I promised myself that I was going to leave them at 50% for the entire cook unless something catastrophic happened. I planned on waiting until the lid temperature hit 225 before adding wood chunks and ribs. The lid temperature hit 225 almost immediately, so I added one hickory chunk approximately the size of my fist and four smaller apple chunks each about one third the size of my fist for a total of two and one third "fists" of smoking wood.

I put the ribs on the cooker at 11:25 am and promised myself that I wouldn't peek for at least three hours.

Here are some times and lid temperatures from the cook. I kept the lid vent 100% open and all three bottom vents 50% open for the entire cook.

Time Temp
11:25 am. 225
11:40 am. 207
11:55 am. 232
12:10 pm. 235
12:25 pm. 240
1:25 pm. 255
*2:25 pm. 252
*2:55 pm. 275
*3:25 pm. 255
*3:55 pm. 262
(b)4:25 pm. 250
(r)4:35 pm. 245

* Checked temperature using "bend method." Not done.
(b) Checked temperature using "bend method." Done. Confirmed with "tear test." Basted with Dreamland BBQ sauce.
(r) Removed from cooker.

Total cook time 5 hours and 10 minutes. The ribs were very good. The commercial rub ribs were 8/10, and the "Magic Dust" ribs were 9/10, but I think I'm learning that up until now, I didn't even know what good ribs were, so it's hard to put a rating on them. They were the best ribs I have ever cooked. They were better than any I have ever eaten at a friend's house, and if I've ever had better in a restaurant it would have been the original Dreamland BBQ in Tuscaloosa, AL approximately 17 years ago.

Lessons Learned

1. I don't need to check the temperature every 15 minutes for the first hour. Next time, I'll set the vents at 50% and check again in an hour.
2. Next time, I'll initially check for doneness at 4 hours instead of 3.
3. I really like the "Magic Dust" rub. No need to buy more commercial rub for a little while.
4. I can run my smoker with this much charcoal for 6 to 6.5 hours. I want to do a pork shoulder soon. I think I can run the smoker for 8.8 to 9.5 hours with a full load of charcoal. I'll have to read up to figure out if that's enough time for a big ole shoulder.

 

[Brett-EDH]

Looks to me like you did a perfect cook. I’d only rotate the ribs around half way during the cook to ensure even color. You can accelerate your cook time by doing a wrap and then unwrap at the end to reset your bark.

I personally like St Louis cut as you get more meat on each rib versus baby backs. Or you can buy whole spares and trim them yourself and get bonus meat for pork and beans, which you can cook under your rib racks.

Crack a beer and celebrate your success. Well done and welcome aboard!

 

[Lew Newby]

You figured it out. Nothing to critique. Great cook and beautiful ribs.

 

[Joe T Gomez]

Looks like you know what you’re doing looks good

 

[JohnTak]

Just keep cooking, you will become more confident and soon be an expert! Everyone learns from the basics and soon you will develop your own style.

 

[Bob Bass]

Great job !
For that Boston Butt / Pork Shoulder, just fill the charcoal ring to the top with unlit. Everything else to remain the same.

 

[Chris Allingham]

I planned on waiting until the lid temperature hit 225 before adding wood chunks and ribs.

I'm not one for waiting. When I drop those hot coals on top of the unlit charcoal, I get the meat into the cooker immediately, add the smoke wood, and away we go.

 

[Jabe G]

Those ribs look great!

 

[Mike Freel]

Good job now get ready for round II. I like your method of monitoring and keeping track of how things went so you can build on your set of experiences and skills.

 

[Len Dennis]

As a critique, as you are using the lid thermo, have u used the boiling water test to determine how accurate it is?

A lot (most?) of us use a remote thermo (like one from https://www.maverickthermometers.com/ ) to test grate temps as the lid thermo is wrong a lot of the time.

Also, do NOT keep lifting the lid to check. Every time u lift, it lets the heat out and adds 15-20 min to the cook time. Get your smoker to temp and IGNORE it, just monitoring the temps via the remote thermo.

Backs should only take 3-4 hr (and spares 4 to 4.5 hr) , NOT 5 hours. You paid the time penalty for peeking so much.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Agree with Len about popping the lid too often, but I'm guilty of that also at times. Other than that, your cook was spot on.

 

[Michael Park]

As a critique, as you are using the lid thermo, have u used the boiling water test to determine how accurate it is?

A lot (most?) of us use a remote thermo (like one from https://www.maverickthermometers.com/ ) to test grate temps as the lid thermo is wrong a lot of the time.

Also, do NOT keep lifting the lid to check. Every time u lift, it lets the heat out and adds 15-20 min to the cook time. Get your smoker to temp and IGNORE it, just monitoring the temps via the remote thermo.

Backs should only take 3-4 hr (and spares 4 to 4.5 hr) , NOT 5 hours. You paid the time penalty for peeking so much.

I have not used the boiling water test. I'm unfamiliar with it, but I assume it has something to do with using the thermometer to measure the temperature of boiling water. I'll do some searching and lazy Sunday afternoon reading.

I'll take a look at some of those thermometers. Maybe I still have time to make some changes to my Christmas list!

 

[Michael Park]

Agree with Len about popping the lid too often, but I'm guilty of that also at times. Other than that, your cook was spot on.

I checked at 3 hours and then every 30 minutes thereafter. Prior to reading this feedback, I had planned on checking at 4 hours next time and then every 30 minutes thereafter. When and how often would you check for doneness?

 

[Len Dennis]

IT DEPENDS. lol. On your temps.

Keep a log every half hour OR SO noting time and temps. If you're consistently at 275, check at 3 hr.

If closer to 225o, peek at 4 hr. No need to stick a probe in ribs (in butt, yes but don't bother with ribs).

Are the ends exposed (ie meat is pulled back and end bone is bare/exposed?), then they're probably ready to come out. You can always do a taste taste and "break" a rib off the end and taste.

Cook's perogative ya know ;-)

 

[Len Dennis]

AND one more thing: baby backs vs loin backs. Babies are <2lb each and will get done somewhat sooner. Loin backs are big fellas and can run 2.5, 3 or 4 lb per rack and will take a bit (but not much) longer.

 

[Len Dennis]

Boiling water test--remove thermo from lid, get some water boiling and insert probe (NOT the whole thermo) and check the temp.

IF 212, good to go. If say 222, then you know thermo runs hot. SO if you want 235, your thermo has to read 245. ETC.

 

[Michael Park]

AND one more thing: baby backs vs loin backs. Babies are <2lb each and will get done somewhat sooner. Loin backs are big fellas and can run 2.5, 3 or 4 lb per rack and will take a bit (but not much) longer.

Well, apparently I cooked LOIN BACK ribs. I didn't even know there was a difference! The package said "FROZEN PORK LOIN BACK RIBS." One rack was 2.73 lbs and the other was 2.39 lbs.

 

[Len Dennis]

FIrst in your post are prob loin backs and the 2nd were borderline baby/loin. It's really the size that determines the "name". Not a big deal, just something to be aware of.

 

[Sandee McKinivan]

Super job, Michael - especially for a virgin smoke.
One thing that I like to do FOR 30-45 minutes is what I call a "BITTER BURN". I feel that the first few minutes of smoke have a bitterness to it that I can taste. I like to wait until the fire is burning HOT, without any partial combustion before I load the meat.

 

[MartinB]

Wife was gone scrapbooking today.... So I thought I'd cook up some baby back ribs for myself.
Then it turns out she came home about 4:00 p.m. and I had to share.........