My ribs are always tough and or dry on the wsm.


 
D

dean

TVWBB Pro
I have done hundreds of cooks on my wsm. From pulled pork butt to fatties, whole turkeys and hams and everything else. My ribs just never turn out good! A lot of people say "dont use foil" so I did not. I basted, I brined, I tried like 5 different ways..When I brined them they turned out tasting like ham! YUK..I thought they would stay moist! My cousin gave my a well known OVEN recipe called compitition ribs. Most of you prob have heard of it. Grape juice, foiled ribs in oven, finish by grilling over charcoal etc.. These are awesome always! I dont know what I'm doin wrong to smoke them but for now I'm goin with what works!
 
I don't do anything special with mine-put some rub on them,on the wsm they go.Water in the pan,dome temp i like to see 250 or less.....Baby back ribs up to 6 hours,spareribs a little less.I let them go till they pass the tear test,never any tough ribs yet.Not dry either......Surely you will get better answers from some of the folks here.My only guess is you may be cooking them with a lot more heat than i do?Not like i'm the best at smoking on the wsm,but i always do well with low and slow.Works for me-Richard
 
I cooked some baby back ribs on my new WSM last Sunday and they turned out very tender. Almost too much for my taste. I just put some rub on them and cooked them for about six hours at temps from 230 to 265 with the majority of it around 240. I foiled the water pan and did not use water. I used the minion method. Everything worked out pretty well for my first cook on a WSM and my first time cooking ribs.

Wayne
 
Something I learned recently is that my dome thermometer reads about 60 degrees low - when it reads 275, the temperature is actually 335, and so on.

It hasn't been an issue for me but if I operated strictly by temperature maybe it would have been.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Others will likely chime in, but my quess is that you are overcooking them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Mine is that they are being undercooked. "Tough and dry" usually means undercooked.

Btw, foil is not a big deal. If you want to use it go ahead. Many do. Anything you are doing in the oven you can do in a WSM.

The key is to cook the ribs until they are tender. Tenderness is easily felt: Stick a probe between the rib bones. If it goes in like it is going through soft butter, the ribs are tender. Done.
 
I would verify my thermometer is reading accruatlely. Then I would just do a simple cook. Rub and cook no foil no basting no glaze - just to take out any variables. I'd shoot for 250 - 275 and start checking them after about 4 hours. They shouldn't be close to done in 4 hours, but you'll see how they feel when you stick them to test for doneness. Then check them every 20 minutes. Once you start checking, don't worry too much about the temps. With taking the lid off, you should see some temp spike, but leave your vents alone and just focus on knowing when they are done.

Tenderness as Kevin said is the main indication, but also, the bones should start showing as the meat pulls back and twisting a rib or tearing two apart will also give you some indicaion.

Just keep testing them until you can figure out what's going on. This is just a training/test cook but the results should be good enough to eat.
 
My first rib cook was similar -- good tasting but a little tough and really clung to the bone. I then tried the 3-2-1 foil method and now have NO reason to try anything else (but I will
icon_biggrin.gif
). Foil or not as you will, but as Kevin said, there is nothing against it. If you smoke your ribs 3 hours, they will have absorbed all the smokiness they ever will. Wrapping in foil with a little liquid will tenderize and render them. Then the follow-up unwrapped for UP TO 1 hours (depending on doneness as described by others) will crisp/finish to your desires. I like the bone to pull off with an al dente finish.

I've seen a lot in this thread about higher temps, but my preference is to smoke ribs with this method at about 250* grate temp. Again, don't be squeamish about the foil. Get ribs you really WANT to eat and then worry about how you might want to cook them.

Rich
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
I've seen a lot in this thread about higher temps, but my preference is to smoke ribs with this method at about 250* grate temp. Again, don't be squeamish about the foil. Get ribs you really WANT to eat and then worry about how you might want to cook them.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That about sums it up for me, too. Don't let anyone sell you on absolutes, do what works for you. Personally I use foil because I love the texture it gives, and now it's just the way I do them every time. Find something that works for you and avoid the fashion show.
 
I usually finish mine with a little BBQ sauce and foil for about the last hour. Have taken to completion without foil and had moist tender. I do spritz with apple juice every time I have the lid off.

Stick with it and I am sure you will hit on a method that gives you what you desire.

Mike
 
my spareribs always take longer than babybacks. normal time range for me at 250 lid temperature is about 4-5 hours for babybacks and 6-7 for spares. if you bump it up to 275 you can cut the time down even more
 
I'm with Kevin, if they are stull clung hard to the bone, they are undercooked. The only place a rib goes once it's overdone is to just get softer and fall further off the bone. I do mine a little hotter, 275-300, with BB's i'll go 325 the whole time. With ribs, checking for done is easy, just pull on a bone and see how it feels. Foil, no foil, baste, no baste, still going to feel the same when they are done. You can always experiement with a couple racks at the same time too, both in time and foil/no foil.
 
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