Question about Baby Back Ribs - best ribs I've made recently.

[Michael Spurling]

I smoked some bb ribs last week- A total of 6 racks - top grate had 3 racks cut into 6 half slabs and my lower grate had 3 racks "rolled" with metal skewers.

The ribs turned out fantastic - the meat tasted great, was moist, great smoke ring and I got a lot of compliments. These ribs def tasted better than any I had done before. I 've smoked bb ribs plenty of times but I did do a few things differently this time that may have helped the meat.

First off I rubbed all of the ribs with a rub ( Mary's Cherry Rub) -gave them a light dusting - nothing heavy; covered all parts of the ribs on Sat night ( the 20th ), wrapped them in Saran Wrap and placed them in my frig overnight at 8:00 pm.

( I had never before put a rub on that earlier and let it sit on ribs that long. In the past I would take the ribs out of the frig, let them get to room temp for a few hours; put the rub on and then get them on the smoker. )

So- I wonder if having the rub seep into the meat longer had something to do w/ taste.

Then on the 21st - Sun I got the ribs out of the frig at 6:30 am - let them get to room temp - used the minion method for starting everything up and got all the ribs on by 9:30 am.

Used about 2 chunks of oak and 2 chunks of cherry in the smoke.

The following is my temp/cooker log for the ribs:

Cooker Vents ( all bottom 3 )

9:30 AM 0 deg all open

10:00 200 deg all open

10:30 250 deg 1/3 open

11:00 260 deg 1/2 open

11:30 260 deg all closed

1:15 205 deg 1/3 open

1:45 250 deg 1/3 open

2:15 260 deg all open

2:30 removed ribs from smoker.

( I know the smoker ran a little high here and there but my smoker's run like that since I got -the temps are pretty rock solid for the most part )

Now normally about 5 min or so right before I remove the ribs I sauce all the ribs and then pull them off the smoker.

This time though I didn't sauce them since I was taking the ribs to my inlaws for fathers day lunch/dinner.

So, when I removed the ribs off the smoker they were dry - but then I made sure all ribs were cut into half slabs; I placed each one individually in tin foil and then slathered some sauce on the fronts and backs of the ribs - wrapped up all the half slabs in foil and put them in a ice chest with towels to keep the ribs insulated and warm.

We didn't eat the ribs until almost 45-50 later. So all the ribs were wrapped up in their foil packets with the sauce, until I opened them right before we ate.

The ribs were still really warm after all that time in the foil - I wonder if the meat cooked a little more and/if the sauce helped soften or moisten the meat more before eating.

Any opinions / suggestions ?

thank you

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Michael Spurling:
So- I wonder if having the rub seep into the meat longer had something to do w/ taste.

We didn't eat the ribs until almost 45-50 later. So all the ribs were wrapped up in their foil packets with the sauce, until I opened them right before we ate.

The ribs were still really warm after all that time in the foil - I wonder if the meat cooked a little more and/if the sauce helped soften or moisten the meat more before eating. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Michael, Mary's Cherry Rub is a really sweet rub with little salt so no worries with using that rub on ribs and letting them sit overnight with the rub on. If you use a high salt rub and let them sit overnight, you run the risk of your ribs tasting hammy.
As far as wrapping in foil, placing them in a cooler and waiting almost an hour before eating, yes carry over heat will continue to cook the ribs. Also wrapped up in foil with the moisture getting trapped in there, will also soften up the ribs somewhat. I think ribs taste better if left to sit wrapped in foil for an hr. Ribs reheated the next day wrapped in foil, heated in the oven till warm, taste better than when eaten right off the smoker. The flavors and smoke seem to be better and through all the meat, intead of just on the outside. JMO

 

[Jim Smithson]

I suspect the foiling did the trick. I smoke for 3 hrs and foil for 1 hr, then sauce over direct heat to get caramalization. I put a juice (whatever I have on hand), water, vinegar mix into the foil packets.

Of course, if you had not used that rub before, it could be the difference as well.

 

[Michael Spurling]

Thanks for the feedback -

I really think the foiling had something to do with the taste.

Bryan - where do you live at in Lancaster ? - I lived in York for most of my life - I lived in Lititz for about 6 months before relocating down to FL in early 2001.

 

[Steve Z]

Michael,
Just a comment about your smoke ring. Did you let them sit out as long as you did in the past? If not, your smoke ring may have come from putting the ribs on the smoker when the meat was at a cooler temp. Glad things came out good for you.
Steve