foil necesary?


 
M

Matt Simmons

TVWBB Member
I was wondering if foil is necessary during the final stage in order to get fall off the bone tender Spare ribs.

We cooked some up yesterday and they were pretty tough after 6 hours of smoking (temps fluctuated between 180&200 for the whole smoke, bad wind and couldn't get them up)..to be honest, i am not sure the meat fully cooked due to the low heat.

p.s. it was not on a WSM it was on a buddy's old red charbroil smoker. My WSM hasn't arrived yet
 
No - foil is not necessary. I cook mine 225-250 for 4 1/2 to 5 hours. They are what I like to call "toothy". They come off the bone but they stick to your teeth. After smoking your own and then returning to a restaurant to get ribs, it is quite obvious they are boiled and then grilled to order with BBQ sauce. They fall off the bone but the meat is mushy at best.
 
Matt - as Robert said, foil is not necessary, but many people do it to speed up cook time.

6 hrs without foil should be ample time to cooks spares, but not at such low temp. I assume that you're talking about dome temp when you posted 180-200. Next time raise to to about ~250-260 and you should be good.

The foiling helps steam the meat, but it also can make them too mushy for some if you foil for too long. When most people foil, they do it for 1-2 hrs, then unfoiled on the smoker for another .5-1 hr.

I've always foiled my spares after 2.5-3hrs, but next time I'm not foiling and will just ride the extra hr or two of cook time to see if there is much of a taste difference.
 
I had similar problems with tough ribs early on. Turns out I just wasn't cooking hot enough.

put your ribs in after a brief warm up and then give yourself an hour or so to ramp up your temp. Let the wsm settle in around 300* and spares with be nice and tender in approx 6 hours.

I don't foil as I am satisfied with the product however I'm considering incorporating a brief foiling into my protocol to see if I can achieve a more uniform degree of doneness across the rack.
 
I like to foil for tenderness..

I cook until almost done then 45 minutes in foil to tenderize then back on the grill if you want crispy bark.

My buddy pull his ribs and the put in steamer pans with beer for 45 minutes or so to tender up.

If you want a fall off the bone ribs foil helps.

Depends what you are looking for so give it a try and see what you like ....after time you will find the way.
 
I also just rub 'em and smoke 'em bare for about 6 hours at about 225*. Always tender,and a little chewy. I like them to have a little chew,so you know that you are actually eating meat.
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HTH
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil Perrin:
I also just rub 'em and smoke 'em bare for about 6 hours at about 225*. Always tender,and a little chewy. I like them to have a little chew,so you know that you are actually eating meat.
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HTH </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Of course it's just a matter of personal preference, but I couldn't agree with you more. As a matter of fact, I smoked two slabs of spares today, no foil, at ~235-250*, for 6 hours. The ribs had a beautiful bite and the meat came clean off the bones. My best ribs ever (based on some of my earliest cooks, not hard to do). I'm going the same route from now on.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm considering incorporating a brief foiling into my protocol to see if I can achieve a more uniform degree of doneness across the rack. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
You can. You can also add a flavor layer, if desired--the reason I foil when I choose to.
 
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