Foil vs no foil


 
Tex Slater

Tex Slater

New member
I know this has been talked about extensively on this and other forums, buts its my personal experience and I just wanted to mention it.

I have gotten pretty good at doing pork spare ribs using the 3-2-1 method and my wife always liked them as well. So why change? Last weekend she was out of town and I had a hankering for some ribs so I decided to experiment and not foil. Just good ol Memphis style ribs, including mopping. The ribs took about 5 hours. I did one rack dry and at the last hour I went ahead and put BBQ sauce on the other rack. I have to admit they turned out really good and the wife liked them (leftovers). I think in the future I will use this non foil method, mainly because it makes the cook that much easier. Not having to do the foil routine. Don't get me wrong the previous style was good, but this is a little simpler with basically the same taste results. Plus I think the dry rack has better bark.
 
Tex,
I'm a no-foil guy as well. I often ended up with mushy ribs in foil -- even after just foiling them for 30 minutes or so. I have an 18.5", so if I'm doing more than a rack, I coil them with skewers, set them on the breastbone side and let them go for about 5 hours at 230-260. Three racks of St. Louis or Baby Backs fit comfortably on each grate. I use the tear-test to judge doneness. I usually foil them after I take them off and let them rest for about 30 minutes before serving. I'm with you on simplicity.

Jeff
 
I like them with no foil but my wife likes the texture better when I foi them. I also like them dry and no sauce but with a mop/spritz Memphis style but she prefers them sauced. Care to guess who wins.
 
JRAiona said:
I like them with no foil but my wife likes the texture better when I foi them. I also like them dry and no sauce but with a mop/spritz Memphis style but she prefers them sauced. Care to guess who wins.
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I win! More ribs cooked, more for me and more for her. So we both win!
 
The 3-2-1 works and works well but you have to keep your pit no more than 225. That said, you can accomplish the same thing without the foil in the same amount of time, but again....Gotta maintain 225

You let the temp creep up to 250 doing the 3-2-1, and it will be a so-so cook. You let the temp creep up when there's no foil involved...much more forgiving
 
What temp did you cook them at? I made some spares yesterday for first time on my WSM 18.5 at 275 degrees. I am going to make them without foil next time but maybe at 225 to see if there is a big difference.
 
I always cook at 275 degrees. I believe that the fat is rendered better and the time is certainly shorter.

As far as foil is concerned, my wife prefers them foiled (she prefers Loin Back Ribs, too). I love ribs both ways but my preference is Memphis Dry ribs (as per American Test Kitchen), not foiled, but mostly smoke Loin Backs using Harry Soo's recipe.

It is ALL about preference, as one is NOT better than another (they are just different). Just my opinion, of course...

FWIW
Dale53
 
J Hasselberger said:
You can park in a handicapped spot at H-E-B if you put a roll of foil on the dashboard.
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Now, that's funny right there. I agree with the non-foiled ribs as well. And, I never ever foiled ribs in my life until I saw an episode of BBQ Pitmasters 4-5 years ago, where Johnny Trigg foiled his with brown sugar, honey, and squeeze butter wrapped up in the foil during the two hours they were foiled. And, it was good...very sweet. But, I found that most of that brown sugar, honey, and butter just ended up being liquid to deal with when unwrapping them. And really, for me anyway, I just find it hard to mess up pork ribs. Heck, 30 years ago I was doing ribs on a Weber kettle, and they were always great, so anyone with a smoker should kick some ribs...no matter how you do them! It's not like it's beef. :rolleyes: And, normally, when I do pork ribs, I do several racks and do them all different ways. Personally, I'm more of a fan of the Memphis dry rub style...even more-so than the East Texas sweet barbecue sauce style, which I'm also pretty fond of. And, probably my least favorite way to cook pork is the Central Texas salt and pepper only style. Great for beef, just not pork...but those Central Texas joints aren't known for their pork.
 
ChuckO said:
The 3-2-1 works and works well but you have to keep your pit no more than 225. That said, you can accomplish the same thing without the foil in the same amount of time, but again....Gotta maintain 225

You let the temp creep up to 250 doing the 3-2-1, and it will be a so-so cook. You let the temp creep up when there's no foil involved...much more forgiving
Click to expand...

Completely agree. If I don't foil I try to keep it at 225 otherwise the ribs can get dry and the bark can be closer to burnt
 
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