One little thing I've learned about ribs is that no matter how you trim 'em up, they always need attention. Since I don't do competition, I'm not too fussy about how the stuff looks. I am always looking for flavor though. What I usually do is peel off the membranes as best as I can, and mebbe trim off that skirt of nice meat on the inside of the ribs. Dry 'em off with a paper towel, then load with dry rub. I've found that a little smoke goes a long way. Too much heat from the fire and plain wood almost guarantees that you get a creosote flavor all over the meat. Foiling may or may not be a good thing, depending on how much fat is left in the meat when you do it.
Think of it this way. The idea behind foiling is to braise the ribs in aromatic juices. A little fat is nice, and really tasty too. If you foil the meat into a closed pouch, and if there is still a lot of fat to be rendered out, you might end up doing more or less a frying process instead. The juices will get cooked out, any solids left will get burned onto the foil and the whole affair might become a very well done mess. Sauce at this point is basically useless because the meat is all dried out.
Something I do at times is to cut the rib racks down the middle after a couple hours in the cooker. The thinner section gets the foil treatment, and the big fat section gets finished without foil. I usually turn & baste the unfoiled sections often. Once I think the ribs are done, I'll open up any foil then give 'em a final saucing, or add some dry rub as the situation warrants. I've been known to do both as well.
