Beef Back Ribs

[LMichaels]

Beef back ribs tonight. Deeeelish

 

[Dave Mazz]

Those ribs look awesome.

 

[LMichaels]

They were thanks. I stuck them on about 330. I think they could have used just a touch more time and I forgot to peel them. But, yeah they were. Good smoke on them. Used the $12.99 per bag Costco pellets Kept them about 215 avg temp. Ate them just before 6. Nicest day in a VERY long time here. Gonna do some baby backs either tomorrow or Fri. These are all firsts for me on the pellet popper

 

[Steve-G]

Can't wait to hear about the baby back ribs and how you cook them. I've done a few batches on my pellet grill where I wrapped them in foil after 2-3 hours, and they turned out okay. A couple of weeks ago I kept them unwrapped the entire time and increased the temp to around 300 toward the end, and they turned out great. I won't wrap again.

 

[LMichaels]

Can't wait to hear about the baby back ribs and how you cook them. I've done a few batches on my pellet grill where I wrapped them in foil after 2-3 hours, and they turned out okay. A couple of weeks ago I kept them unwrapped the entire time and increased the temp to around 300 toward the end, and they turned out great. I won't wrap again.

Good to know!

 

[LMichaels]

Well, I did them yesterday. 2 slabs of the back ribs from Costco. Put them on 230 PM and only a little S&P rub. Because 2 reasons was making one slab for neighbor/friends who he has just gone through a quad bypass and my guess was he'd be salt restricted diet. And also since my first time doing them on this grill wanted to see flavor from the grill/cook method not from rub. Kept them on higher smoke (avg temps 185), until about 5. They didn't seem to really be "going anywhere" internal temps almost appeared to have "stalled" about 130. So, I decided to wrap them, and increase temps to 250. Time getting tight about an hour later but temps were on the rise and they seemed to be steaming in juices well. So, I had a nice low salt sauce. Got the grill to 350 and the slabs went on bone side down and put a light sauce on them, let them go for a bit longer. Tmp'd them in mid 170s. Pulled and sent a slab 2 doors away, and carved one for me. Started on the thinner side. Meat still moist, fairly tender, came off the bone with a slight tug, and had a little "chew". Worked my way to the thicker part of the slab, nice smoke ring, still moist/tender. Not a raging success but a darn decent stab at it. Gonna take more practice
I'm not sure if I should've just started them out a little higher temps, foregone the wrap? Maybe simply started them at 250ish? Any other pelelt meisters want to pitch in? I've only been doing them on gassers these past many years so don't mind a little input from the peanut gallery

 

[Steve-G]

I'll expand a little bit on the last ribs that I did. I wasn't able to stick to my plan because someone forgot to put something on our family calendar for that evening, so mid-afternoon I had to speed things up a little bit, but I still wanted to avoid wrapping.

Original plan:
- High smoke setting for about 1 hour (the grate temp is usually around 175 when I do this)
- Cook at 250 for the rest of the afternoon until they were ready, occasionally spritzing with AC/AJ
- Brush on BBQ sauce, set grill at 300-350 for a few minutes to set up.
I was originally thinking this would take about 6 hours with baby loin ribs from Costco

What actually happened:
- High smoke setting for 1 hour
- Cooked at 250 for 2 hours
- Realized we had plans in less than 3 hours
- Increased temp to 300 for 1.25 hours
- Increased temp to 350 for 0.5 hours (brushed with sauce at some point)
Total time on grill was 4:45. I spritzed them with AC/AJ three or four times along the way. The smallest ribs on the end got a little burnt but were still okay. The rest were really good.

I'm still trying to perfect my method so they come out consistently good each time. That's my goal this summer. But I think I might be on the right track now after a few mediocre cooks last year.

As far as your comment about stalling when you had it on high smoke mode - I've noticed that too. Usually I kept it on the high smoke mode for 3 hours, but in the end it wasn't working as well as I was hoping. I decided to give up a little smoke flavor for a better overall cook. I will still do the longer smoke session for pork butts and briskets, but I'll probably put a limit on it for ribs moving forward.

 

[LMichaels]

Those look awfully good. What kind of grill are you using there? I'm looking to add to my "collection" and am sort of "jonesing" over this one https://www.samsclub.com/p/zgrills-11002b-wi-fi-pellet-grill/prod26720172?xid=plp_product_2

 

[Steve-G]

I have a Pit Boss Austin XL that I got from Walmart last year for less than $300 on clearance. It's a solidly built grill without any bells or whistles, but a ton of space. I'm not sure if I would recommend or not. It's one of the best values out there, but I get a lot of temp swings (up and down while grilling) and temp inconsistencies across the grate (hot and cold spots). I bought it because of the price and size, and I didn't want to make a big investment in case I didn't like it. Overall I'm happy with it, but I might look at a different option when it comes time to get another one.

 

[LMichaels]

I have a Pit Boss Austin XL that I got from Walmart last year for less than $300 on clearance. It's a solidly built grill without any bells or whistles, but a ton of space. I'm not sure if I would recommend or not. It's one of the best values out there, but I get a lot of temp swings (up and down while grilling) and temp inconsistencies across the grate (hot and cold spots). I bought it because of the price and size, and I didn't want to make a big investment in case I didn't like it. Overall I'm happy with it, but I might look at a different option when it comes time to get another one.

That's why I bought the Member's Mark Pellet Pro. $199 on sale last August. Love it so much in spite of all the circuit board issues I would buy it again, but I really want a larger one and with WIFI control. Looking at reviews of that Z-Grill and darn for $699 it looks unbeatable BTW not sure why but your photos disappeared

 

[LMichaels]

OK the boss gave me the OK to get this. $1299 everywhere but $699 through Sam's plus cashback from Sam's! So it is ordered and should arrive next week

 

[Steve-G]

That's exciting. Let us know how you like it.

 

[LMichaels]

I certainly will. It and it's little brother seem to be very well reviewed by all the YouTube pundits. It will become the "deck" grill and the Member's Mark will go back to being garaged so I can use it when inclement weather would otherwise preclude being able to produce some Q