Cook ribs to 190 degrees?


 
Brian Nobles

Brian Nobles

TVWBB Fan
I've got an 18" WSM and just got a Stoker. I've been cranking out a lot of ribs lately. Mostly I cook Spare ribs. I package them in vacuum sealed bags and sell them to my coworkers.

Using the Stoker, I keep the temp at 225 +/- 25 degrees.

When the ribs pass the "tear test" I take 'em off. The internal temp at that point is about 160. On Sunday I had six racks going and it took about nine hours.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, trying to perfect my ribs. I have a rub that's very popular with my "customers" so that's not the issue.

I've read several places that cooking the ribs to 180-190 will really make a difference. Here is an example:
Quote: ...we deliberately cook pork ribs and shoulders for pulled pork up to 180-190°F, well past well done, in order to melt the collagens, connective tissues, and fats that are so rife in these tough cuts.

This is from amazingribs.com.

I'm going to experiment this weekend but I'm only going to risk one slab.

What are your thoughts?
 
I've never bothered trying to measure the internal temp of ribs. I've always used the tear test.

If you're cooking for fun, I don't see the point. If you're cooking for catering, I don't see the point. I guarantee you that 99.9% of BBQ restaurants and caterers aren't probing their ribs for internal temp. If you're cooking for competition, maybe that's another story...those guys do lots of weird stuff to get an edge on the competition.
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Regards,
Chris
 
HEY!! That's not fair! We don't do weird stuff! Crazy, insane, overboard, bizarre, obsessive, compulsive, extreme, irrational yes, but never weird.

Russ
 
Tear test is all that you need. However, if you are looking for an internal temp, then 195-205 is is a good target and I believe it was in the original BRITU recipe. But be careful. If you are cooking at steady 225 for 9 hours, the ribs should be done, whether at the 190 temp or not.

If you haven't already, look at the Best Ribs in the Universe recipe posted on this site. Chris make a great point in that cooking topic about it being a specific cooking method of temps and time to get a specific result. I would suggest using that cooking method one time to try something different.
 
Never like tearing meat myself. A probe inserted into the meat between the bones will go in without effort - like going into butter - when the ribs are tender.

'Perfect' ribs are tender. They will become that way when sufficient rendering has occurred, irrespective of internal temp. I cook ribs more than 100? higher, from 325-375. Others cook them in the middle range. Whatever floats your boat. (I'd rather not spend hours.) Same for butt, same for brisket. When the meat is tender you can feel it, irrespective of temp. Internal temps have little to do with tenderness - many cook, say, short ribs at a sustained 136 or so for a couple days and achieve meltingly tender results. If temp were the issue this would not be possible. It's not internal temp. It is time relative to cooktemp.

The meat will always tell you when it is done. The clock won't, and in the case of barbecue, neither will a thermometer.
 
Before doing the tear test, I use the limp rack test.

Pick up the rack either by the end or middle and it should sag down. If it ain't limp, it ain't gonna tear.
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Actually, that's how I check for tenderness also. I use tongs to pick up the rib slabs in the middle, if they are very limp and on the verge of tearing, then they are done.

Kevin makes a very good point about internal temps - they are relative. The lower the cooking temp, the lower the final internal temp that is needed to reach tenderness. (However there are some limitations). Most people talk about going for 195 internal temp for pork butts, but that doesn't work for my cooking temps. I never cook boston butts to more than 185, but I use a constant 225 for the cooking temp. If I go to 190-195 for the intenal temp, the meat is very mushy.
 
I will keep experimenting.
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Do.

Whether you tear the meat, use a probe between the bones or do something else, do something hands on that allows you to feel the meat. Learning what Q'd meats feel like when tender is the most important skill one can learn, imo. With it, one can Q in all sorts of different ambient conditions, use any cooker, cook at a wide variety of temps, and have great results every time.
 
Much better results!!

Yesterday I tossed six racks of St. Louis cut ribs on my WSM 18. I used Kingsford Competition briquettes and three smallish chunks of maple wood.

The top rack reached 185 in about nine hours and I yanked the lid off to tear test them. Them bad boys were done.

I tugged on the ribs on the lower rack and they weren't. So... I waited... It took two more hours but when they reached 185 I tested them and they were falling-off-the-bone done.

The ambient temp was about 45-50 and it was raining all day FWIW.

I'm much happier with the results and I don't care how long it takes.

Also FWIW, I'm using a stoker to maintain heat and measure the temps. I know that taking the temps of ribs is not really necessary but I'm a computer geek and love watching the stoker log. I even went out to breakfast with family and was able to keep tabs via my iPhone.
 
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