Disappointing spareribs, any advice?


 
B

BryanSW

New member
I cooked some St. Louis spareribs last week and I was disappointed in the outcome; it was my first attempt and I hope you all can help me out. Basically, I don't think they had any flavor.

To summarize, I followed the rib recipe from APL's Serious BBQ pretty closely (mustard glaze, rub). I smoked 3 lbs of ribs for about 3 hours @ 200-230, using full water pan & apple/hickory combo. Ribs were decent quality (ie no moisture additives). I foiled with a honey/cider vinegar wrap mixture and cooked for another 90 minutes or so. I did NOT put back on the smoker after coming out of the foil.

First thing I didn't like was that with the foiling they seemed more steamed than 'smoked' that I'm used to with a butt. So no crust/bark, disappointment #1. They may have been slightly over-done as well, but I can work on that. However, even with the mustard glaze, the rub and the wrap mixture the finished product didn't seem to have a taste . . just kind of bland, generic steamed-pork flavor. And this coming from someone who loves all things pork, so very disappointing. Is that inherent in the rib taste, and that's why everyone slathers a crazy-sweet sauce on them? I don't think so . . . or they wouldn't be as popular. As an aside, I went with K Kruger's "Kinda Carolina Sauce" as my bbq sauce. That sauce is fantastic, but is obviously designed to complement well-cooked meat and therefore did not hide the average-ness of my average ribs.

If/when I try again, I'll go no foil (or foil earlier and then finish for longer outside foil) and possibly a slightly higher temperature as I want some smoky crust. Is it possible that I over-cooked more than I think, and that's where I lost the pork flavor? They weren't exactly fall-off-the-bone, but they were very close.

Opinions on what I did incorrectly are welcome.
 
After posting, I did some more reading on this site . . . namely the "Wisdom of Harry Soo" in big bold blue letters right above my post. That, with the lessons discussed the the "overdone ribs" likely help me out quite a bit. Now I want ribs to go back on sale at the local Schnucks so I can take another crack at them.
 
The problem was that at those cooktemps the time allowed up front out of foil was too short for the ribs to develop flavor. Flavor is smoke, yes, but the key components of the finished results comes from the flavors developed by the cooking of the rub at the meat's surface, and by the cookinf of the meat's surface itself.

There is no benefit to cooking that low. My suggestion is to bump your cooktemps up to 250 anyway, though higher is fine too.

Skip the mustard.

Cook till the ribs achieve a nice, rich deep color. Skip the clock. Then foil, if you wish, with your addition(s) of choice. Skip the clock again. Check in, say, 45-55 min. Simply remove the ribs from the cooker, replacing the lid, uncrimp the foil, and stick a probe between the bones. If there is resistance to the probe the ribs are not yet tender. Recrimp the foil and return to the cooker for 15 or so then check again. The ribs are tender when the probe goes in between the bones effortlessly. At that point remove the ribs from the foil and return to the cooker for several minutes to restore bark abd surface texture. Done.

The most flavorful rubs, btw, imo, contain no paprika and no dry mustard.

Cooking by time is a crapshoot. Cooking by look and feel will get you the results you seek, and consistently so.
 
Bryan there is some awfully bland tasting pork out there these day's. If you really want a good pork flavour get yourself some heritage pork. Of course you pay extra for it.

As Kevin says skip the mustard and paprika since they add very little to the flavour profile after cooking.

I cook ribs 325 for 3-4 hours with apple or cherry with some hickory, no foil and no sauce. If company wants sauce they can have a little on the side.

To start I sprinkle a bit of salt and let it sit for a few minutes while I start my chimney.Then I add course ground black pepper, garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, anjou pepper, and Maple sugar. Sometimes I'll add a bit of celery seed and/or some cumin depending how I'm feeling that day. I love the different flavour burst you get with each bite from the course ground spices as apposed to the uniform mixed together flavouring when you mix powders all together.

I usually put them on at about 2pm and they are ready for dinner at 6 or so.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
The problem was that at those cooktemps the time allowed up front out of foil was too short for the ribs to develop flavor. Flavor is smoke, yes, but the key components of the finished results comes from the flavors developed by the cooking of the rub at the meat's surface, and by the cookinf of the meat's surface itself.

There is no benefit to cooking that low. My suggestion is to bump your cooktemps up to 250 anyway, though higher is fine too.

Skip the mustard.

Cook till the ribs achieve a nice, rich deep color. Skip the clock. Then foil, if you wish, with your addition(s) of choice. Skip the clock again. Check in, say, 45-55 min. Simply remove the ribs from the cooker, replacing the lid, uncrimp the foil, and stick a probe between the bones. If there is resistance to the probe the ribs are not yet tender. Recrimp the foil and return to the cooker for 15 or so then check again. The ribs are tender when the probe goes in between the bones effortlessly. At that point remove the ribs from the foil and return to the cooker for several minutes to restore bark abd surface texture. Done.

The most flavorful rubs, btw, imo, contain no paprika and no dry mustard.

Cooking by time is a crapshoot. Cooking by look and feel will get you the results you seek, and consistently so. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

^^^What Kevin said, and the only thing I'd add is to skip the water when foiling meats during the cook since it slows bark formation. If you don't want to take my word for it, go back and read Harry Soo's interview where he says you get better bark with no water in the pan. Regarding Harry's technique though, it's a good one IMHO.
 
probably not the issue but did you happen to be out by the smoker for most of the cook? If Im hovering around the smoker durring a cook, I cant taste hardly anything come time to eat. If Im inside doing stuff, my sense of smell is not affected and everythhing tastes 50x better
 
Soo's technique (minus the spraying (what for?) and all that sugar and sweet) was the one I used years ago. I never cooked by time though - it's unreliable, as we've seen - but just took the ribs to the color I wanted, then foiled till tender while in the foil. I still do the same thing, just 50? hotter.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Soo's technique (minus the spraying (what for?) and all that sugar and sweet) was the one I used years ago. I never cooked by time though - it's unreliable, as we've seen - but just took the ribs to the color I wanted, then foiled till tender while in the foil. I still do the same thing, just 50? hotter. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh yeah, Kevin, I forgot about the spraying every 20 minutes. I only spray when I first wrap 'em up and don't remember having to spray again when checking unless there's a hole in the foil.

I think what I like about Harry's technique, or Johnny Trigg, or whoever it should be credited to...is the cooking til tender while still in the foil. I first foiled ribs with a modified 3-2-1 method and got fairly inconsistant results.
 
No idea. Never heard of Soo till he was on here. The other guy I've never heard of. (Not much of a comp Q fan and I loathe food/cooking/restaurant shows.) Been doing it for quite a while, several years. I imagine others have too. It's just an obvious way to do it if using foil.
 
Kevin

I haven't looked yet on the forum, but do you have your rib method posted anywhere on this forum....from start to finish? Rub used, target temp for the cooker, foil or no foil, spritz or not, etc, etc, etc? Just wondering....I see your posts here and I like your logic, and although I've given up on "recipes" long ago, I'm interested in the bits and pieces you're posting. Thanks
 
I rarely remember to bookmark my own stuff so finding it is difficult for me too. This post from several years ago and posts further down the thread, pretty much illustrate what I do. This one was a babyback cook, something I don't cook much. I do the same thing for spares. The timing is a bit longer since the meat is thicker.

I make a new rub every time. I always salt meat first, allow the salt to draw moisture while I make the rub, make the rub without salt, then apply it over the salt on the meat's surface. This allows me to use as much or as little salt as I want, and as much or as little rub as I want, as the level of one does not affect they other since they are separate - something not possible with typical rubs and recipes.

I always Minion the start and always load the meat into the cooker when I add the lit and assemble it.

I never sauce ribs while cooking. I sometimes make a glaze though (as in the link) and apply it very, very thinly.

A very simple process, really.
 
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who chimed in; all of your ideas make sense to me; wish I had asked before beginning the cook. The information on cooking temp (mine was too low and not slow enough) will come in handy next time. I thought after eating them that I wouldn't try ribs again; now I'm ready to see them on sale to take another crack at them.

I'm also going to begin cooking based on look/feel rather than times and temps. I'll still use my handy thermometer as an indicator, just not the final arbitrator of "finished."

Thanks again,

Bryan
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">(mine was too low and not slow enough) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
No. Too low and too slow.

Try them again. They are really pretty easy. No kidding.
 
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