<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">But you're saying you cook ribs as high as 350? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I do.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Wow, that seems to go against everything I thought I'd read. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm sure it does. Many writers simply repeat what they've read. They don't check it out themselves (in Q circles this has been going on time immemorial!). Ribs, especially babybacks because they are not very fatty), do not
require low/slow. That most do it that way is perfectly fine -- but not a requirement. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> My understanding was that temps above 250 are what cause ribs to be tough, i.e. the "low & slow" mantra. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes, a mantra it is. But it has no basis in fact, no basis in food science. Ribs are not thick masses of meat.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I had heard of foiling but that almost seems to defeat the purpose of buying a good smoker - </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Not at all. Foil is simply a tool, one that can be used -- or not -- to suit the conditions of the cook at hand, or the preferences of the cook doing the cooking. It is a good thing to learn how to employ it because it can be used very effectively, either as a preference, or on occasion -- to 'save' a cook that seems to be going awry or, as I and some others do in the case of ribs, to help add a flavor layer. Since you are essentially just starting out I wouuld caution you not to jump on the 'I never foil' bandwagon. I do not advocate the use of foil for ribs, I advocate learning how to use it and, then, deciding what your preference is. If you understand how the cooking dynamics change when meat is foiled you can at the very least have the knowledge of foil as a tool, and can use it (if it is not your preference to use it normally) to fix cooks where other factors have seemingly conspired to ruin the meat. Too many times one reads about cooks where problems have arisen and the meat turned out less than satisfactory, where the use of a little sheet of foil could have fixed it.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> and I didn't know at what point in the cooking process you are supposed to do it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>For ribs, many foil in the middle of the cook, smoking for a time unfoiled, then foiling, then unfoiling for a time to finish. This can work just fine but it is not my preference. If I foil I foil nearer the end of the cook, so the ribs become tender in the foil. When I used to cook spares at lower temps (I still cook spares and backs (and other cuts) of the far fattier pork that I raise myself, or that from neighbors, at low/slow temps), I would cook the ribs till they were deeply colored (about the 4.5-hour mark or so) then I would foil to finish. You can do it either way -- or not at all.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> but as I heard one person put it, when you take a bite, that bite should come off clean but leave the rest of the meat on the bone. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>That's how I like them. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I'd love to be able to produce (near) FOTB ribs without having to go to the pain of foiling them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>It's not a pain at all and, again, is not required at all either, especially at low/slow temps. (Low/slow is just fine but that does not mean that low
er/slow
er is better. Temps can be too low for ribs -- for most anything really.)
You can get '(near) FOTB' ribs without foil, no problem. I would suggest cooking a bit higher (~250-260 lid) -- no need to prolong the cook unduly -- and simply testing for tender before the time you think the ribs will likely be done. (That way you will feel how they progress. No need to take your time, do it quickly, and no need to stab all over the place.) If you do more than one rack take one off when the ribs first hit tender, perhaps the next rack, say, 5-7 min after it hits tender; the next, say, 7-10 min after it hits tender. Rest each rack 5 min, tented with foil, then taste and note the tenderness. With a bit of experimenting you will be able to know just how long past the initial point of tenderness you prefer to pull the ribs off the cooker, and you will then be able, with a little practice, to do this by feel alone.
Then, or at some point during your experimentaton process, try the cook using foil as part of the process. Length of time in the foil affects outcome so try different foil-time lengths, and try foiling in the middile of the cook and also at the end. See what you think.
Both craig and I (and several others here) prefer to cook briskets at high heat. Because brisket is more massive and because of the higher temps foil is pretty much required (it evens out the cooking, reduces evaporation, and prevents the exterior of the meat from overcooking while the interior lags). Though foil isn't required for low/slow brisket cooks it, again, can be a handy tool when faced with a piece of meat (an overly trimmed or too-thin flat; a lower grade flat) or a circumstance (too low temps for too long; a cook that needs to be rushed a bit; an undersurface that is drying from more direct exposure to dry heat, as can be the case with sand or ceramic with a brisket on the lower grate). Depending on the meat in question, or the circumstances, foil is often employed when the meat hits the point it will likely plateau (~160), or during the plateau, or when it breaks plateau.
Though I don't much care for foiling butts, foil can speed the finish of a butt cook that for whatever reason needs to be sped up.
Foil is often used for thick cuts of beef with stringier grain (cuts from the chuck, e.g., or chuck rolls or clods) as these cuts can lose a good deal of moisture during cooking before they are done, and/or because the largest cuts will simply take too long without it.
