Question about temperature for "beginner's ribs"


 
T

Travis Smith

New member
So I'm following the "Basic Baby Back Ribs" recipe. Did it just as the instructions say, and I"m about an 90 minutes into the smoke. But, the temperature at the lid has been steady at ~190. Is this OK?
 
If the therm is accurate you need to punch up the temp to at least 225, if you have not tested the therm then go by the bend test. BBs cook faster than spares so watch closely.
 
My lid thermometer reads about 20-30 degrees low so by that measuremnt I strive for about 250ish which makes it about 275ish at the top vent.

190 is very low to cook ribs 250 to 275 is probably more ideal.
 
You need to know the temp at the grate, put a probe in there.

But if you're at 190 on the gauge you were way too low the grate...probably 170ish.
 
One of the ideas behind this basic recipe is to show that you can cook ribs without worrying about cooker temperature. In fact, it says at the beginning:

This easy method requires only one adjustment to the vent settings at the beginning of the cooking session. We'll use water in the water pan to keep the cooker temperature under control. This allows us focus on the tenderness of the ribs, not the temperature of the cooker.

So you should not be looking at the lid thermometer when using this recipe! Bad boy, Travis! And you don't need a probe on the grate, either.

Light the cooker as described. Adjust the vents as described. Cook for the specified length of time, then start testing for doneness. When the ribs are done, they're done.

How did they turn out, Travis?

Regards,
Chris
 
They came out super - I had to let them go a bit longer, but the temperature jumped up (as expected) at the three hour mark when I gave them an initial test and spritzed with apple juice.

I was a good boy - very patient. Just cracked another beer (or 3) and waited for them to cook.

Delicious, tasty ribs. What a great way to spend a Saturday - with leftovers for a Sunday!

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