Is longer always better??


 
JeffB

JeffB

TVWBB Pro
Nope, not what you are thinking.
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Did my first smoke on my WSM 22.5" a couple weeks ago. Ran some baby backs for 5 hours at between 170 to 220 degrees. These were some BIG ribs bought at the local Amish market. Great stuff, just big.

They were good--not great, but good. Fairly moist and tender. So back to the question--is longer cooking always going to lead to better ribs? Does longer always mean more tender or can I end up overcooking them? There may not be a good answer to this question, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Thanks ya'll.
 
<well this question split the camps...

I used to do low´n´slow ribs all the time.
But Harry soo (Slap Yo' Daddy) does them @ 275 and win prices. That made me try..And im not going back. Sure the done window is smaller...but the overall time is cut by hours.

The only protein i cook @ 225 is a butt.

But as i said..The more ppl that answer this thread the more options you gonna get.
 
Jeff,

Good question. No, longer does not always mean better. Ribs- like anything else- can get overcooked. Once the meat gets so high in temp, the fibers (or cells, or something) contracts and squeeze the moisture out. So overcooking will usually mean dry meat.

That said, the "classic" way of doing ribs is low and slow (225 or so), but a lot of guys here do high heat ribs too, even at 300+.

But any method you use can result in overcooked food. Low and slow is more forgiving though.
 
Jeff - I did my first HH ribs between 275°~300°, with the lid thermo on my WSM reading > 300° on the Fourth of July. 4 slabs of spares. They came out great. I usually slow cook them for 7+ hrs., but I wanted to try HH ribs and I think I will do them that way from now on.

Here they are on the kettle after smoking. I did this to glaze some slabs with sauce, and some were left dry with additional rub.
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Jim, those look really good. I knew to look for the meat to be pulled back from the bone when they were "done" so that's what I was looking for. Also had a digital thermometer. Mine weren't pulled back quite as far as yours though, so I think next time, I may give them a bit more time and see what happens. I guess the only way to really know is to cook a hell of a lot of them and keep copious detailed notes.
 
Jeff,

When cooking @ 225 back ribs take 6hrs give or take, 250 4-5hrs, 275 3.5-4.5hrs. Add 1 hr if doing spares/St. Louis.

All bbq is done by feel (tender) not by a specific meat temp. Pulling back away from the bones is not always accurate, check with a toothpick between the bones for tender.

Your ribs were undercooked, remember when doing bbq if your cooking close to the temp of the meat doneness temps it will take forever. Ribs, butt's, briskets and chucks are usually done around 185-200 internal.

Im like Wolgast, the only thing I usually cook at less than 250 is butt's.

All these temps I am reffering to are top vent air stream temps, which is the most consistant to monitor.
 
Longer isn't always better, ypu need to check temperature and doneness. When the meat is done it is done. I've had butts go as long as 20 hours and as little as 8. Obviosly weight and quaility of meat play a role.
 
What's important is when the ribs are done; the meat has come to temperature and the connective tissue and collagen has transformed into gelatin to give you that heavenly bite and texture.

At a lower cooking temperature it takes longer to get to that point, to a degree. With a higher temperature it should take less time to get to that point, to a degree.

After lots of experimenting many on this forum are finding that you can cook at much higher temperatures and produce some really kick a$$ BBQ.

For me personally I've gone to about 300 for ribs and do my "low and slow" at 250. Half the time it's down to my mood, how much beer I want to drink while cooking and if the neighbors are out because I cook in the front yard then share :)
 
Thanks for the great posts.
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I think I agree that my ribs were likely undercooked. The first thing I probably did wrong was to put the ribs (2 big slabs) on the grates before the WSM was up to temperature. It took about an hour before I got to 200 degrees and I was worried I'd never hit temp. I ran with the vents open the whole time and never had to adjust them, and it was hot outside that day. I am going to give them another try, but (i) get up to temp first and (ii) run a bit hotter--maybe around 250.

I've also watched a lot of vids from Steven Raichlin and he suggests a mop sauce (butter, bourbon and I think apple cider vinegar) to keep them moist. I may try that too to see what happens.

God Save the Cooks.
 
Jeff, from what I read here and elsewhere, your problem in not getting the cooker up to temp is fairly rare with the big 22.5" wsm.

I'm thinking maybe you didn't start off with a pan of hot water? The pans in these newer wsms are huge, so it can really takes some btu's to get the water up to a simmer. Also, another issue to consider is whether your charcoal had been exposed to moisture somewhere recently....who knows on that.

You're right on track about letting the cooker get up to temp before putting the meat on, but even two huge slabs of cold ribs in a 22.5" wsm shouldn't put a damper on temps that much, especially not for very long. I'm really perplexed that the cooker never got much hotter for the entire cook with the vents left 100% open. Be sure you check your therm in boiling water.
 
Dave, I filled the water container with water from the hose which was certainly not hot. I too believed that I was going to be fighting to keep the temps DOWN which is why I started with cool water. It had evaporated by the time I was done. I also filled the charcoal "tube" with unlit charcoal and followed the "minion method" by dumping 20 or 30 lit coals on top. I think near the end I was running near 230+ degrees, but it was not at that temp for long before I pulled them off out of fear of overcooking (and some hungry ladies). Bear in mind, I was basing the temps off the thermometer in the lid--not directly on the cooking grate. I did not have another thermometer to put directly on the grate--need to buy one. Live and learn.

God Bless the Cooks.
 
Jeff,before I got my WSM,I used to do my ribs indirect on an ECB gasser. The ribs actually came out decent,cooking at 300-325*. But they were no where near as good as the ones I do now on the WSM. Just keep trying and you'll have some championship ribs in no time!
 
If you are going to use water, always start with hot tap water. No need in waiting for the cooker to come up to temp 1st. Most of us start with cold meat on a cold smoker for maxium smoke penetration (only the 1st couple hrs matter) and a killer smoke ring. Nothing wrong with only reaching 200 in the 1st hr at all.

As I said upthread, vent temp is the best and most consistent place to measure. Grate temps can be misleading because of the close proximity of the probe to the meat which is a heat sink!

Keep on trying
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jeff Bryson:
Thanks for the great posts.
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I've also watched a lot of vids from Steven Raichlin and he suggests a mop sauce (butter, bourbon and I think apple cider vinegar) to keep them moist. I may try that too to see what happens.

God Save the Cooks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jeff I do my ribs at around 325. This is mainly do to my complete lack of ability to plan ahead,which drives my wife nuts.

As for the mopping, it doesn't add moisture to the meat. All it does is add another layer of flavour profile to your ribs. Opening and closing the WSM to mop every 1/2 hour will also cause temp swings in the cooker.
 
Bob, I don't mop or spritz either. I think the steady temperature rise is more important than that extra layer. Taking the lid off and mopping cools down the air in the chamber and the meat itself, and it heats up the fire.

When I do ribs, I don't lift the lid until I'm ready to check for doneness. That's usually about 3-4 hours in.
 
Excellent advice. The one time I did open the door on the side the water was literally boiling and ultimately completely evaporated. Is is expected and normal to replace the spent water with new hot water? Thanks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I also filled the charcoal "tube" with unlit charcoal and followed the "minion method" by dumping 20 or 30 lit coals on top. I think near the end I was running near 230+ degrees, but it was not at that temp for long before I pulled them off out of fear of overcooking (and some hungry ladies). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have switched to standard method for ribs (I have a 18) and let me tell you I'm not going back to minion for them. Chimney of lit, then throw a chimney of unlit on top and wait for those top coals to looks slightly ashy. Throw in your smoke wood and go. My experience is the same as yours with minion, always fighting to get those initial temps up. Not worth it for those relatively shorter cooks. I've found that using standard gives more versatility to work higher temps than minion. With minion I'm lucky if I can push over 235 with water in the pan.

I'm finding myself only using minion with those long super low -n- slow overnight butt and brisky cooks.
 
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