BRITU Baby backs too chewy


 
P

Peter D.

New member
Hi all,

I've been using the BRITU method and rub for a few cooks now and I've met with some success, but more often than not the results have been somewhat chewy, with considerable effort being required to separate meat from bone.

I do a minion start with a full chimney of hot Kingsford poured over a chimney's worth of un-started in the charcoal grate. Initial temp takes forever to get back down to cooking range (as in well over an hour), but once the meat goes on it holds in the 200-220 range.

I'm laying both racks on the top grill of my WSM, curved side up and I cook for about 3 hours at 200-225 or so, then I open up the bottom vents and go another hour at about 250 to 280. I have an ET-73 thermometer (and a Thermopen as well); after 4 hours the ribs are at about 190 internally which is where I usually pull 'em off and serve. They're OK, but still not what I was hoping for.

Then came "Thrill of the Grill Week" on the Food Network -- and one look at what Buz and Ned served up on the Bobby Flay Throwdown, and Ihate to say it, but I'm not in the same universe in terms of the texture of the finished product.

Am I simply over-cooking my baby-backs, under-cooking, too-high temp, too low??

I also want to try Alton Brown's dry rub instead of the BRITU and see how these turn out. Has anybody on this forum ever used this recipe?

8 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon jalapeno seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon rubbed thyme
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Thanks in advance...
 
Your ribs were prob under cooked. Never go by internal temp or by time with ribs. They are done when they get tender. If they are chewy and sticking to the bone, that a sure sign of undercooked ribs. 200-220 is pretty low to be cooking ribs. Try and stay at 225 or higher when doing ribs. My last Baby Back cook I did 6 racks at 280-300 and it took 5 hrs till they were nice and tender. HTH
 
Good advice from Bryan as usual. Definitely undercooked. I use the tear test rather than the thermometer now when I'm doing ribs.

Like Bryan suggests, I've been smoking a lot more at 250-300 the last few cooks with nothing but awesome results. My beef back ribs last weekend rendered beautifully at 275 for 6 hours, and they were really meaty. Great for impatient souls like me.
 
A thermometer is good for testing for tenderness--it will go into the meat between the bones effortlessly when they are tender. Till then, they're not. Ignore the temp. Feel for tenderness.
 
I used the britu receipe myself yesterday for the first time to do 3 slabs and it took right at 5 1/2 hours. For the first hour my temp hovered around the 200 to 210 mark, so then I let the temp hover around 230 for the next 2 hours, and then the rest of the time at 270, and they turned out really tender.
I think I would have to agree with the other guys that 200 is to low for these and 225 for the first 3 hours would have probally been better. I also dont worry about the internal temp on ribs, and like they said when you can do the tear test they are done. I also look at the backside of the ribs and if I see that it is pulling away from the bone they are done.
i have been trying different rib receipes and found the britu receipe to be pretty good.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Alton Brown's dry rub </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Steve, here, tried it. Looks way too sweet to me. (I think the same thing of BRITU though too.)
 
Agreed under-cooked and under-temped. Also, you may have better luck with temp stability using far fewer hot coals. My last minion cook I used 1/3 ring with about 12-14 hot coals. At ~ 210 I closed vents to 25% and it stabilized at 254 (all top grill temps using ET-73) for the next 5 or so hours. I foiled after 3.5 hours for 30 min, put back on for 30 min or so and they were done. Best I ever made (St. Louis style, not BB). I also use clay saucer filled with sand. YMMV. I don’t really care much for the BRITU rub – only made it once, too salty for my tastes, I’m a convert to Kevin’s approach, salt the meat then apply salt free rub. If making a rub with salt, I generally use a 1.5:1 ratio sugar to salt.
 
Wow. OK, that puts it in perspective a little. I thought I'd actually overcooked 'em because of the toughness. I'm doing another 2 racks on Tuesday so I'll keep 'em in longer.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Don Irish:
Agreed under-cooked and under-temped. Also, you may have better luck with temp stability using far fewer hot coals. My last minion cook I used 1/3 ring with about 12-14 hot coals. At ~ 210 I closed vents to 25% and it stabilized at 254 (all top grill temps using ET-73) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don, could you perhaps elaborate a little on what you describe regarding temperature control? I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying here. When I start now my grill temp soars over 300 for a long time, then once I put the ribs on, it drops far too low. I have a gut feeling I'm blowing the whole cook just in the startup phase, in fact.

I'm finding the BRITU a little too spicy for my tastes (I really don't get along with garlic, anything vinegary or spicy-hot), so I'm still looking for a tasty flavorful rub. Based on comments I think I'll pass on the Alton Brown recipe (though I generally swear by his methods in other things).
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Peter D.:
Wow. OK, that puts it in perspective a little. I thought I'd actually overcooked 'em because of the toughness. I'm doing another 2 racks on Tuesday so I'll keep 'em in longer.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Don Irish:
Agreed under-cooked and under-temped. Also, you may have better luck with temp stability using far fewer hot coals. My last minion cook I used 1/3 ring with about 12-14 hot coals. At ~ 210 I closed vents to 25% and it stabilized at 254 (all top grill temps using ET-73) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don, could you perhaps elaborate a little on what you describe regarding temperature control? I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying here. When I start now my grill temp soars over 300 for a long time, then once I put the ribs on, it drops far too low. I have a gut feeling I'm blowing the whole cook just in the startup phase, in fact.

I'm finding the BRITU a little too spicy for my tastes (I really don't get along with garlic, anything vinegary or spicy-hot), so I'm still looking for a tasty flavorful rub. Based on comments I think I'll pass on the Alton Brown recipe (though I generally swear by his methods in other things). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Peter, under cooked equals tough but usually moist. Over cooked would be dry and chewy stringy/dry, like an over cooked roast. As far as your start up method, do you use the Minion Method. That's where you start a few coals and place them on top of the unlit charcoal in the charcoal bowl. You assemble the WSM add your meat and then watch the temps slowly climb up. Say if you were shooting for a 225 grate temp you would start closing your vents at 200. It's much easier to catch the temps on the way up verses trying to bring them back down. HTH
 
Peter,
Temp control (learned from reading many, many posts here).

Clay saucer mod – I’m a total convert with new addition of sand to the saucer. Cover it all with al. foil. Clean up is a breeze and the thermal mass helps maintain constant temps throughout the cook.

I normally use the minion method

Total amount of charcoal (nearly all of my experience is with K) depends on how long you want to cook and somewhat on external conditions (especially wind and/or rain). For standard 5+ hour rib cook I’d go with ½ ring.

Important part now is using only a FEW lit coals, say a dozen or so at most (I’ve done as few as 8). I put in a single layer in the middle of the ring (wood buried in the unlit coals). Assemble cooker, put on meat. All vents 100% open (top and all 3 bottom). Now here is another important part as stated above – monitor temps on the way up. It is far, far easier to keep them from gong too high than trying to get them back down if your overshoot. At 200 grate (should take anywhere between 15-30 minutes), cut all bottom vents back to 10-25% (depends on your own cooker and how leaky it is) top vent is always 100% open. Within the next 30 min or so mine stabilizes out at 250 target. I sometimes get a late temp upsurge as the meat is nearing being done and is no longer adding to the “coolth” of the cooker – if temp starts to creep up, simply shut the vents. Using this approach, I have had outstanding results maintaining constant temps for hours. A full ring will last me 12+ hours. Hope this helps. The main point for me was increasing thermal mass (and it being constant which is why I don’t use water), and starting out slowly so as not to spike temps, rather build up to the target temp in a controllable fashion. Let us hear how your next smoke goes (and pics please…always love the pics!).
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan S:
Your ribs were prob under cooked. Never go by internal temp or by time with ribs. They are done when they get tender. If they are chewy and sticking to the bone, that a sure sign of undercooked ribs. 200-220 is pretty low to be cooking ribs. Try and stay at 225 or higher when doing ribs. My last Baby Back cook I did 6 racks at 280-300 and it took 5 hrs till they were nice and tender. HTH </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

May I ask, how did you fit 6 racks into a WSM? I put two on the top and they hang over onto the lip quite regularly. I could see 2 on top, maybe two on the bottom if cut up, but 6?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Peter D.:
May I ask, how did you fit 6 racks into a WSM? I put two on the top and they hang over onto the lip quite regularly. I could see 2 on top, maybe two on the bottom if cut up, but 6? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Peter, I just used a rib rack. You just have to work the lid down over the very end ones a bit but the lid does go on.

Ribcook001.jpg
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan S:
Peter, I just used a rib rack. You just have to work the lid down over the very end ones a bit but the lid does go on. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a nice one. I bought a Williams-Sonoma rack last year and my experience with that one is that baby backs just fall out of it -- the ribs are too small to fit securely in it. I saw from an earlier thread that yours is a Klose, but I coudln't find that available for sale from his site. Looking for alternatives now.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Peter D.:
I saw from an earlier thread that yours is a Klose, but I coudln't find that available for sale from his site. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Peter, Just give Dave a call at Klose pits. That's how I ordered mine.
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They are on his web site. On the page I linked to, scroll dow to and Click on BBQ accessories. Then scroll down to BBQ accessories catalog-click here. They are about 1/2 way down that page. $40.00 Link to BBQ pits by Klose
 
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