First Time Rib Smoking


 
B

Brett Eastin

New member
Planning to smoke ribs for the 1st time tomorrow. Have a 14.5" weber smokey mountain. 2 Brinkmann rib racks that should fit 8 half racks. Planning to use lion back and use a 2-1-1 method. For the 1hr wrapped will put a little apple juice in with them. When putting back for that hour can i still use my rib rack? In theory the apple juice will run down and instead of being under the bones would be soaking one end of the ribs. Is this a problem? If so can i just stack the ribs in the foil for that hour, then when removing for the last hour putting them back in the racks? 2nd smoke ever (1st was pork butt) and some friends coming by so dont want to mess it up.

I'm hoping to have these ready around 12:30 so putting them on at 8am planning for 4hrs and a 30min restAny advice would be great. Thanks!
Brett
 
Last edited:
When foiling, if you can lay them flat, that's more "ideal" (imho) than sideways in a rack. Careful with the apple juice, it burns faster than you'd expect
 
ChuckO said:
When foiling, if you can lay them flat, that's more "ideal" (imho) than sideways in a rack. Careful with the apple juice, it burns faster than you'd expect
Click to expand...

Is it ok to "stack" them in the smoker. I dont think i can get that many flat at once (hence the rib racks) Otherwise i'll have to use the racks
 
I've stacked mine in my 18" when I used to foil. I quit foiling, but am thinking about going back to the foil again. My plan would be

1.5 hours in the smoker at about 275/300
1 hour in foil (aprox, maybe less if sticking them with a tooth pick suggests tenderness)
.5 hours back in the smoker with BBQ sauce (Stubs Sweet Heat) :)
 
Enrico said:
ChuckO, What do you mean with apple juice which burns faster???
Click to expand...
I've burned my ribs when using Apple Juice, I guess it's the sugar in the AJ? You can also burn em' pretty good when you apply BBQ sauce, but that's done at the end of the cook, and I monitor them pretty closely then. But when they're in the foil with AJ, sometime bad things happen (burnt)
 
ChuckO you open my mind!
I ll stop foiling w/AJ next time.
About sauce i should say i'm saucing off the smoker when resting. Off the smoker over the counter and sauced. I real appreciate the taste of sauce not cooked!
 
ChuckO said:
I've stacked mine in my 18" when I used to foil. I quit foiling, but am thinking about going back to the foil again. My plan would be

1.5 hours in the smoker at about 275/300
1 hour in foil (aprox, maybe less if sticking them with a tooth pick suggests tenderness)
.5 hours back in the smoker with BBQ sauce (Stubs Sweet Heat) :)
Click to expand...

Why did you stop and now maybe start foiling? I've seen 2-2-1 methods but think for baby back seems like a long time on smoker. Dont want the bone to fall out but want it tender so cut to 2-1-1 as i've seen some people do. Could try to just put them on for 3-4hrs until they're done too.
 
Enrico said:
I ll stop foiling w/AJ next time
Click to expand...
When I quit foiling, I started mopping with Apple Juice, Brown Sugar & Worchester sauce. As mentioned, I'm thinking about going back to foiling, the big unknown for me will be what will happen as I do plan to continue mopping up to the point of foiling

I'm hoping my bride picks up some ribs for this weekend, I'm really looking forward to trying this method again
 
Brett Eastin said:
Why did you stop and now maybe start foiling? I've seen 2-2-1 methods but think for baby back seems like a long time on smoker. Dont want the bone to fall out but want it tender so cut to 2-1-1 as i've seen some people do. Could try to just put them on for 3-4hrs until they're done too.
Click to expand...
I got away from foiling by seeing some of the cooks here (Jim Lampe, both Tony's, Cliff and others) They didn't foil (as near as I can tell) and they make some great ribs. I've enjoyed the ribs I made unfoiled, but I would like to get that "fall off the bone" texture you get when you foil :)
 
Does foiling speed up or slow down the cooking process? I would imagine slow down due to opening the grill, pouring apple juice on the meat, etc but maybe it tooks faster when its "steaming" in the foil?
 
Brett Eastin said:
Does foiling speed up or slow down the cooking process? I would imagine slow down due to opening the grill, pouring apple juice on the meat, etc but maybe it tooks faster when its "steaming" in the foil?
Click to expand...
I don't know the answer to your question.

I used to foil and I got "falling off the bone" texture. I quit foiling, and I quit getting "falling off the bone." I don't recall any difference in taste (although I plan to find out soon) If I can get "falling off the bone" by foiling and not loose any taste that I've gotten since not foiling, then I plan to go back. If there's flavor loss by foiling, then I stop foiling again. Maybe this weekend I'll get to test my plan
 
Foiling will make it cook faster because it prevents evaporative cooling that occurs when the meat cooks. You also get that steaming effect and the ribs will tenderize sooner. Sometimes they tenderize too far for some people's taste. I typically don't wrap ribs. I did spritz them the last time I cooked them and they came out really juicy and tender but definitely not falling off the bone. My wife likes them falling off the bone though so it basically comes down to taste and how much work you wanna do.
 
ChuckO said:
When I quit foiling, I started mopping with Apple Juice, Brown Sugar & Worchester sauce. As mentioned, I'm thinking about going back to foiling, the big unknown for me will be what will happen as I do plan to continue mopping up to the point of foiling

I'm hoping my bride picks up some ribs for this weekend, I'm really looking forward to trying this method again
Click to expand...


I want to be clear. I dont want stop foiling. I want stop filling AJ in the foil
 
I foil my Baby Back Ribs as per Harry Soo's recipe. I have never HAD ribs burn when using apple juice or cider when foiled. Since they are wrapped, the liquid pretty much turns to steam and that's a moist environment.

I use rib racks on my Mini-Joe, my 14.5" and my 18.5" WSM. When I foil, I leave the racks out and just stack the ribs. When I sauce after foiling, I just slide them back on the racks (without the foil, of course).

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top