Overdone ribs?

[Christopher H]

Hi all,

I did a cook Saturday which included PB, ribs, pork chops and brats. I started the ribs at noon and the WSM was at about 270. I took them out and wrapped then from 3-3:30 and when I took them out of the wrap they broke apart when I tried to pick them up in the middle. I forgot to add some oil/juice mix when I foiled them. What did I do wrong with the ribs? I've done them like this many times with great results....this was not one of them. They tasted a little dry to me. I don't use water, I use a clay saucer.

 

[Len Dennis]

Ya, i'd say the foiling did ya in. At 270, you're bordering on a hi heat cook and the foiling contributed to maintaining that heat/prolonging the cook.

Next time-->

1]same temp, same time, skip the foil

OR

2]Lower the temp to 225, same time, do the foil for same time.

Personally, I'd do #2 with no foil and do the bend/pull back test for doneness.

Edit-->I use foiled saucer as well.

 

[Christopher H]

Edit-->I use foiled saucer as well.

Next time I'll run 1 vent open to 50%. That's usually where I can settle into 225ish at the grate.

 

[DaveW]

Chris,

How long were they in the foil for ?

 

[ChuckO]

When you foiled them from 3 to 3:30, did you put them back on the smoker? Which if the case, sounds like you did a timed cook, expecting similar results from previous cooks. Not a bad way to go, but the problem with that is; not all ribs are the same.

I'm not a fan of foiling ribs for two reasons: They fall apart like what happened to you, and it promotes a "braise" affect on the ribs, which I'm also not a fan of.

 

[Christopher H]

Chris,

How long were they in the foil for ?

An hour. I considered not foiling at all.....should have gone with my gut.

 

[Christopher H]

When you foiled them from 3 to 3:30, did you put them back on the smoker? Which if the case, sounds like you did a timed cook, expecting similar results from previous cooks. Not a bad way to go, but the problem with that is; not all ribs are the same.

I'm not a fan of foiling ribs for two reasons: They fall apart like what happened to you, and it promotes a "braise" affect on the ribs, which I'm also not a fan of.

Chuck how do you normally do your ribs? I'm used to my ECB method so this is why I failed this time.

 

[Tom Golden]

I never foil ribs. I prefer the "dry" style. Occasionally I will give some 10 minutes with sauce on the grill but foil basically poaches them. Not my taste. BTW, 4 racks at 215 for 3:45 is almost always perfect. And I do agree with the comment that not all ribs are the same - I always try to buy a certain type - colour, size, meat/fat ratio etc.

 

[DaveW]

Lots of people foil ribs and they come out just fine. Yep, even in smoking comps. You have to watch how much the ribs have cooked before being foiled along with how much time they spend in the foil. For spares, it's the 321 method and for Babybacks, it's 211 (when cooking at 225ish). First number is time in the smoke. 2nd is time in the foil. 3rd is time back in the smoker after being removed from the foil.

These times are meant only as guidelines and can/will change based on actual cooking temps, size/thickness of the ribs, humidity in your cooking chamber, etc, etc, etc. For "firmer" ribs, lower the time in the foil.

All that said, as seen here, lots of people do their ribs without foiling, and those come out nice and tasty as well.

 

[Benji Chong]

3-2-1 always overcooks for me

for me its more like 2-1-1 or 2-1/2-1/2 sometimes, i try to stay between 250-270

 

[ChuckO]

Chuck how do you normally do your ribs? I'm used to my ECB method so this is why I failed this time.

First of all, you didn't fail, you sucessfully cooked ribs, some cooks are better than others

I've had my WSM for about 14 months now, and if there's anything that's changed, it's how I do ribs. I used to do the 3-2-1 method with water in my defuser. I later did away with the water (for everything, not just ribs) and over time I abandoned the 3-2-1 and numerous variants of it. Now I just:

1) Soak the ribs overnight in Apple Juice and Brown Sugar (this is something I might not do on my next rib cook)
2) I dry them off and apply rub
3) If I'm just cooking ribs, I don't use a whole bunch of charcoal, maybe a little less than half high on the ring in the 18" and start it the minion method, I try to hold 250 degrees pitt temp
4) If I'm just doing one or two rib slabs, I only use my top rack and I put the ribs on, meat down
5) At the 45 minute mark, I turn the ribs meat up and I mop them with Apple Juice with Brown Sugar and a couple shakes of Worchestershire sauce
6) At the 1.5 hour mark, I apply more mop (I never touch them with the mop, just sake the mop so that it drips onto the meat, I don't soak them, just get them wet)
7) At the 2 hour mark, I apply more mop. It's usually about this point you start to see the meat pulling back and if that's the case, I watch for pronounced pull back. I've put squeeze butter on sometimes at this point, but not so much lately
8) By the 3 hour mark, I usually have the pull back that suggests they're nearly done. The way that I tell if they're done is I use a tooth pick, looking for tenderness. This is where I start adding BBQ Sauce, I've gotten very attached to Stubbs. A little more expensive than Sweet Baby Rays, but much tastier, and not as thick.
9) I almost never see the 4 hour mark, and if I do, it's because the ribs are really think (hard to get since so many people beat me to the store the day of delivery)

The key for me, is to start checking for tenderness when you see pull back of the meat. The tricky part is:

A) Maintaining a steady pitt temp, since I'm constantly popping the top
B) I'm sometimes too soon on the BBQ sauce

The secret to good ribs, is to goto the photo galary section here, and copy those people who make good food

 

[Tom Golden]

Do you pull the skin off the ribs?

 

[Dave Russell]

Ribs don't all cook the same, but whether the ribs were thinner than usual or not, they evidently were almost done when you wrapped them in foil. Overcooking will always dry out meat, and had you poured in any liquid they likely would've been even more overcooked.

 

[Steve_Williams]

I use a modified 3-2-1 method and it always works. Sometimes it goes faster than that but works every time for me.

 

[Christopher H]

Do you pull the skin off the ribs?

The membrane off the bottom? Always.

 

[Christopher H]

Ribs don't all cook the same, but whether the ribs were thinner than usual or not, they evidently were almost done when you wrapped them in foil. Overcooking will always dry out meat, and had you poured in any liquid they likely would've been even more overcooked.

They were big fat ribs. Nothing skinny about 'em! I think I was running a little hot for the ribs and should have skipped the foil. I still ate them and no one else complained! They always tell me I'm too hard on myself.....oh well. Next time!

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

First of all, you didn't fail, you sucessfully cooked ribs, some cooks are better than others

I really like what Chuck said here.

 

[Christopher H]

I really like what Chuck said here.

Ya me too. I keep being too hard on myself. It can't go "perfect" every time!

 

[Bill Schultz]

There are literally top professional cooks who do BBQ for a living with the best equipment and teams of assistants that go to comps and screw up their ribs or chicken all the time.
There are to many variations from humidity to what the pig your ribs came from ate the week prior to his demise to get it right all the time, even for the best cooks.
For most of us here, our "Q" is made with love for family and friends. That is a great ingredient and whether over or under cooked it is enjoyed.
So, I say "Q" is done when it is done, enjoy the variations each cook throws you and every once in awhile you will nail it perfect in the eyes of your most critical judge. Yourself.

 

[Doug Selman]

Very well said Bill