First rib cook advice


 
G

Gib Gibson

TVWBB Member
OK yall,

I've done turkey, chicken and pork shoulder several times on my 18" smoker, but never ribs. I have some St. Louis style pork ribs that I've purchased and they're sitting in my fridge. I'm not sure when, but I'll cook them at some point this weekend. What do I need to do? Is it similar to the other meats? Rub the night before then put it on at 250-275? How long should they cook? Wrap at some point or no?

Thanks in advance for the help! Happy Independence Day everybody!
 
You'll probably get 100 different answers, but here's what I do:

1) Make sure you remove the membrane from the back (boney) side of the ribs
2) I don't put the rub on until I light the fire (others will do so anywhere from a few hours to a day before). It's one of the things I do while waiting for the charcoal to be ready.
3) I like to go higher heat - 250 to 300. They finish faster, and I've noticed no appreciable difference in the results.
4) I don't wrap - others will do a 3-2-1 or 2-2-1 method (2 hours unwrapped, 2 wrapped, 1 unwrapped)
5) Once I feel the ribs are about done, I sauce them (if I'm opting for sauce) about 15 minutes before I take them off.
 
Since Jim laid out some good points I'll piggyback on his post:

1) Agreed.
2) I prefer the night before.
3) For spares I prefer 225 to 250.
4) Agreed.
5) I like to sauce a little earlier - maybe 30-45 minutes.

I use the "visible bone" and "droop" methods for determining doneness. For spares I like to see 1/4" to 1/2" of rib showing, and if the slab is picked up by one end and held horizontally the other end will droop down noticeably but not break - if it breaks I consider the ribs to be overdone, although those who like fall-off-the-bone ribs would probably consider them to be just right.
 
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Jim and Brad nailed it. Personally, I smoke them at 275 2 1/2 to 3 hours, foil for an hour or so then unwrap and finish. TRY NOT TO PEEK AT THE RIBS! Don't worry If you are any where around 275 as nothing bad can happen in 3 hours. At that point you may see meat drawing back from bone-- a good sign. Taking the top off the smoker will create higher temps so keep it at absolute minimum. I do not worry if it's around 300, but try to keep it under 325, tho.
 
I got caught up trying to smoke the ribs and do other things with the family on Sunday. They turned out still pretty good but I think they were maybe a little over done. I put them on at 9:30 @250 and was going to try a 3-2-1 method (I'm sure I'll try other methods in the future but I figured you gotta start somewhere). I should have taken them off at 3:30 but at 3:30 I was checking out at the grocery store. So I had to get home, unload groceries and then go out and sauce the ribs, let that sit on there about 15 minutes and then took them off. They were not bad, but I bet I can do better if I pay closer attention.

I wrapped them up after 3 hours, then unwrapped them after 2 more. When I went to unwrap them and move them a little bit, the slab kinda split in half on me. Does this indicate that the ribs were done cooking at that point? Was I just too rough with them? This is quite possible as I haven't cooked them before and really didn't know what I was doing. I left them unwrapped another hour or a little more before taking them off to rest.
 
I've never wrapped ribs, and If I remember right, it's usually around 4 ,4 1/2 hours at around 250 - 275, if that helps
 
I have done ribs wrapped and unwrapped. I prefer them wrapped. I have done baby backs and spares.
I do back backs for 2 hours, then wrapped (with brown sugar, honey and butter) for a hour to a hour and a half and then open and sauce for 15 mins if they are done to an hour if you need more time. I do spares 2.5 to start then follow the same process. The one time I left them wrapped for two hours they were over done. That time we made some of the best rib meat sandwiches ever, but overdone ribs. I cook at 250 and I always check after they have been wrapped for a hour to see if they start to bend or if they need another 30 minutes. My goal is to have them soft with just a little bit and be smokey, sticky, sweet, spicy and barbecuey. I love ribs. I always think about that wrap time as really breaking them down and soften them up so I am really try to watch that part of the process.
Here are 3 of the 6 half racks of spare ribs done and waiting to be cut up that I did on the 14 WSM I few weeks ago, I think these were the best I have ever made!
OK now I want ribs and more chicken wings, this site makes me hungry!
20200607_165946.jpg
 
Good info. I'll try them wrapped for about an hour next time and then I'm sure I'll try it without wrapping them at all to compare. Thanks for the feedback, everybody. This site is the best!
 
Gib Gibson said:
Good info. I'll try them wrapped for about an hour next time and then I'm sure I'll try it without wrapping them at all to compare. Thanks for the feedback, everybody. This site is the best!
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If you do wrapped again, at the hour make check them, if they start to bend when you hold them from one side, they are tender, if they are still stiff they need a little longer in my opinion. Try to start learning and trusting the feel of the meat versus set times.
 
Makes sense. From what I'm ready you kind of tell doneness by that feel you're describing vs an internal temp like a shoulder or turkey or something, correct? I'm guessing because it's impossible to get away from the bone to get an accurate reading?
 
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Gib Gibson said:
Makes sense. From what I'm ready you kind of tell doneness by that feel you're describing vs an internal temp like a shoulder or turkey or something, correct? I'm guessing because it's impossible to get away from the bone to get an accurate reading?
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Bend test is what I do, like Michael mentioned. Really hard to get a good temp reading on them with all the bone.

All the suggestions above are great. I like to wrap mine at the end for an hour, then unwrap and put on the sauce and let them ride another 30 minutes and pull off and eat!
Wrapping them really helps to breakdown the toughness....but wrap them too long and they become soggy and lose that good bark.
 
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