Holding ribs for 2-4hrs


 
J

JeffB-meaty goodness

New member
Hello

Having 15 to 20 people over and I'd like to have most things done before arrival.

I checked internet for info on holding ribs in a cooler. Prepped cooler by placing pot of boiling water on top of towels until I needed to use. Could not find much info as to when to sauce the ribs when holding.

So I did a cook yesterday to test. Sauced and pulled ribs at 195-200. Wrapped in foil and placed in cooler, after removing the hot water.

Opened foil after three hours. Ribs were still warm, nice. But..... sauce had firmed up way too much, like on the edge of burning. Some bites were also a bit dry and the bark leathery in places. Yuck

Anyway, I can see how the sauce did what it did by saucing before wrapping. Do people hold and then sauce prior to serving? I like the tackiness when serving ribs normally but maybe this is how you need to do it. Also don't mind serving dry and letting folks add sauce or not.

Also, the ribs seemed to have a bit of carry over cooking. Is that normal? I didn't think I overcooked prior to holding.

Anyways, would appreciate some wisdom here. Thanks!
 
Welcome to the TVWBB family, Jeff !
It's normal to cool the just cooked meat to a level where it is no longer cooking. Once there, most all meats can be held for hours at that temperature. 170 deg F is often used as that temperature.
 
I don't think I have ever heard of 170 as a holding temp, that's still cooking to me, 140 is the recommended temp. I would leave off the sauce and serve it on the side, you can learn a lot about seasonings and time/temps by not saucing. letting the meat and seasonings shine will always be a better piece of meat than swimming in sauce.
 
MikeCantell said:
I don't think I have ever heard of 170 as a holding temp, that's still cooking to me, 140 is the recommended temp. I would leave off the sauce and serve it on the side, you can learn a lot about seasonings and time/temps by not saucing. letting the meat and seasonings shine will always be a better piece of meat than swimming in sauce.
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Excellent. Thank you
 
Jeff... If you haven't already and since he is local to us, Harry Soo has an excellent class at his residence in Diamond Bar. Food safety is included in his class, ie he discusses the "Danger Zone"... 40 to 140 deg F. Also, the USDA has a chart on their website that's interesting regarding food safety.
 
Bob Bass said:
Jeff... If you haven't already and since he is local to us, Harry Soo has an excellent class at his residence in Diamond Bar. Food safety is included in his class, ie he discusses the "Danger Zone"... 40 to 140 deg F. Also, the USDA has a chart on their website that's interesting regarding food safety.
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Not too far from me!
 
MikeCantell said:
I don't think I have ever heard of 170 as a holding temp, that's still cooking to me, 140 is the recommended temp. I would leave off the sauce and serve it on the side, you can learn a lot about seasonings and time/temps by not saucing. letting the meat and seasonings shine will always be a better piece of meat than swimming in sauce.
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To be clear, I pull ribs off at 195, cool/rest to 140 (or?), then wrap and place in preheated cooler?
 
I would probably get them in the cooler when they hit 160 but it all depends if you want FOB or a slight fight and what temp they are when you pull, towels on top will help keep temps up for a long time. My problem is I never met a rib I didn't like lol.
 
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