First St. Louis rib cook

[Darryl - swazies]

Picked up my first ever racks, always made baby’s, every time.
Watch some comps, see people cook these thinner racks, going to see what all the fuss is about.
Going to make that No. 5 sauce I seen on here this afternoon to finish them in……I would assume it’s good for ribs…????
Not tons of pics, going to finish the ribs in the oven, get the top hatch open on the E6 and get some 600 degree cooking going for some wings….
Hopefully tasty ribs and wings, a few pics to follow…..any suggestions are welcome.
Holding about 235 on the E6, was thinking 2 hours or so, colour depending and then about 1.5 in paper…..times may vary depends on what I see.
Also some wings in buttermilk and fiery island rub.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Not gonna lie, I haven’t cooked under 240 in a long time, these might take a bit longer than I thought.
1 hour and 40 minutes in.

 

[Brett-EDH]

250-275°F is fine. Lower and you’ll be there forever.

You can set the bark in 2 hours at that time and then wrap in foil with some butter and sauce if your choice, meat side down in the foil with the butter and sauce.

Cook for another 30-45 mins, then remove from foil, use the foil jus to baste and reset the bark.

I’ve found the WSK can produce excellent wings in 3.5 hours max at these temps and method.

Then rest the ribs for 10 minutes and then slice. These are bit off the bone and the bones clean easily.

If you want fall off the bone, go longer in the foil pack and still then reset the bark.

 

[Brett-EDH]

And I only know Mambo #5, not No. 5 sauce.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

3 hours 10 minutes, going to foil these now and aim for an hour to an hour and a half……
wings will go on for about 30 minutes hopefully.
Sauce is going to simmer for a bit and should be ready in time.

 

[Michael Richards]

And I only know Mambo #5, not No. 5 sauce.

No. 5 Sauce

No. 5 Sauce 1 cup ketchup 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce 1 tablespoon rub Opional but v. good: 1/4 cup meat drippings (whats left in the foil after the rest) Simmer to marry the flavors and thicken as desired. P.S. My rubs are low salt.

tvwbb.com

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Thanks Michael, I’m running around and didn’t have time to post that.

 

[Michael Richards]

I am loving watching your progress so keep running around!!!

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Got the ribs wrapped pretty tight in foil with butter, honey, a few drops of juice and a bit of sauce no.5
The sauce is good, made just the basic example of it, breathing in in when it’s hot grabs your attention as it has a lot of vinegar in it.
Getting the bbq ready for a hot wing cook……it’s hot as heck right now, some fresh jd lump on the bottom rack and open the top for some 550 plus heat, have to watch these E6’s…….you can bury the needle without any issues, they get smokin hot.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Watching this closely, I've got BBs down, but I do struggle a little with St. Louis cuts. Looking for a good recipe with little variation. Of course, #5 is all that every goes on my ribs ......well most of the time.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Thanks for the sauce confidence, it tastes good, can’t wait to play with a bit.
The grill is getting hot, have a breast on for the MRS and her lunches for the week..….
Guessing 30 minutes for the wings and there is about 30 left in the foil, that will be about 90 minutes.

This is why I have 2 lower cooking grates for the E6

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Wings cooked at 550, only took 30 minutes.
Ribs needed a tad more time, plenty of fat left in them….I was aiming for some fat, usually I cook the fat right out of the baby back ribs and they are always a bit dry…
Wings were juicy and the rub was excellent.
First run on this cut, won’t be my last, next time they will be perfect I hope.
I hope everyone notices I have veggies on my plate……

 

[ChuckO]

Nicely done Darryl, and yes I saw the veggies. Let not let that happen again

 

[Tim-wannabe-smoker]

Wings cooked at 550, only took 30 minutes.
Ribs needed a tad more time, plenty of fat left in them….I was aiming for some fat, usually I cook the fat right out of the baby back ribs and they are always a bit dry…
Wings were juicy and the rub was excellent.
First run on this cut, won’t be my last, next time they will be perfect I hope.
I hope everyone notices I have veggies on my plate……

I always prefer how BB's cook as they render fat better. Which would you do again Baby Backs or the St Louis?

 

[Darryl - swazies]

I have done baby's a every cook since I started making ribs, I guess I over cook them because they are always dry....I have some more in the freezer so I will have to behave myself next time on those but I will be planning on doing the St. Louis cut a bunch more, next time for sure. Have to figure out if I need more time on the heat to render the fat out or more time in the foil.....they were pretty tender in the foil so will just have to practice a bit. I was looking for that perfect bite, clean round bite mark in the meat and comes off the bone without any meat falling off because it is too tender. We ate the thicker ends first and they were pretty fatty.......I have 1/2 rack for lunch today at work, it looks like a buffet amount of food so we will see how the thinner end eats.
Thanks for taking a look folks, I know it's just ribs but I wanted to share my first go at it....the wings really were the highlight.

 

[Richard S]

I’ve tried the SLC a few times and find them to be too much time for what the end results yield. Baby Backs can be cooked much faster and with a better bite and chew. Plus they are much easier to find in my area.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

I’ve tried the SLC a few times and find them to be too much time for what the end results yield. Baby Backs can be cooked much faster and with a better bite and chew. Plus they are much easier to find in my area.

I watch the comps cook ribs, it's a category...........I do not recall what they are but it always looks like a nice thick piece of St. Louis.....I would love to be corrected to know what they are as they do not look like baby's at all......I thought there was a lot of meat on them and I have 6 more racks to prove to myself that they can be a better option to cook.
Basically all I know right now is I need to cook my St. Louis longer and my baby's need to be cooked less.
Just ate my lunch, cold left over ribs and the fat on them still is crazy, it separates a lot more now that they re cold.

 

[Brett-EDH]

I watch the comps cook ribs, it's a category...........I do not recall what they are but it always looks like a nice thick piece of St. Louis.....I would love to be corrected to know what they are as they do not look like baby's at all......I thought there was a lot of meat on them and I have 6 more racks to prove to myself that they can be a better option to cook.
Basically all I know right now is I need to cook my St. Louis longer and my babies need to be cooked less.
Just ate my lunch, cold left over ribs and the fat on them still is crazy, it separates a lot more now that they re cold.

Question, what was your meat temp when probed on your ribs? I like a 202-205, depending how they feel in the thickest part when probing. This is my done temp. After this I rest them a few minutes before slicing into actual ribs.

My best rib is a bite to it when the meat comes off the bone but not where the bone comes out of the meat. The latter is too done for my liking.

 

[Darryl - swazies]

Question, what was your meat temp when probed on your ribs? I like a 202-205, depending how they feel in the thickest part when probing. This is my done temp. After this I rest them a few minutes before slicing into actual ribs.

My best rib is a bite to it when the meat comes off the bone but not where the bone comes out of the meat. The latter is too done for my liking.

I agree 100% with your last sentence, that is the bite I was hoping to achieve on Sunday......I see this perfect bite with the online videos of course.
I cook baby's where the bone pushes out too many times, hence why I bought the new cut of ribs......when in reality I am probably just over cooking them....
Grate temp hovered around 235 to 240.....dome temp was just under that smoke area on the dome thermometer.....220 I think???
Now....this is not like me at all but I never once used a thermometer......
I use it on everything else every time, but I had that real guy thing going for me on Sunday I guess........I was gonna crush it I guess and I was really just going by feel.....picking up the ribs with tongs and seeing how they flexed and all that. Silly move, going by colour and feel, like when I watch Franklin go about his brisket cooking but my name is not Aaron.....go figure.
I use that 200 mark on routine for everything else....pulled pork, brisket ect.

 

[Brett-EDH]

I agree 100% with your last sentence, that is the bite I was hoping to achieve on Sunday......I see this perfect bite with the online videos of course.
I cook baby's where the bone pushes out too many times, hence why I bought the new cut of ribs......when in reality I am probably just over cooking them....
Grate temp hovered around 235 to 240.....dome temp was just under that smoke area on the dome thermometer.....220 I think???
Now....this is not like me at all but I never once used a thermometer......
I use it on everything else every time, but I had that real guy thing going for me on Sunday I guess........I was gonna crush it I guess and I was really just going by feel.....picking up the ribs with tongs and seeing how they flexed and all that. Silly move, going by colour and feel, like when I watch Franklin go about his brisket cooking but my name is not Aaron.....go figure.
I use that 200 mark on routine for everything else....pulled pork, brisket ect.

I started here years ago and then ventured onto my own path. The 250° is pretty spot on. I’ve also done 275° for 90 minutes and then wrapped to accelerate the collagen breakdown (in foil as I described above previously). Then reapply the jus from the foil to the ribs and add sauce to rebuild the final bark.

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Tender ribs require the collagen melting out. Otherwise your ribs will be tough and chewy.

It’s a fine line between bite tender and in 10 minutes later you can be at fall off the bone.

The foil pack trick is a perfect braising method. Just keep the air out by wrapping tightly AND using heavy duty foil so your ribs don’t break the foil. Losing that jus is a heartbreaker. I’ve done it. No bueño.