Questions for First Time Rib Cooking


 
J

John_H

TVWBB Member
I've had my WSM for a few months but have only done butts to this point. I've read the rib section on the website but had a few questions.

1) Is the temp range different for baby backs vs. spare ribs?

2) I would appreciate any input from anyone regarding the recipes on here.....BRITU vs. Rendez Vous vs. Other

3) I understand that the ribs are done when the pass the tear test but is there a rule of thumb about so long per pound?

4) I just ordered a rib rack. How many slabs can the 18.5 hold? Will I have to cut them in 1/2 to put them on the rack.

5) Do most people serve the ribs right off the grill or do you foil them like a butt?

Thanks in advance for all of your help.

John
 
John, welcome to the forum. Rib racks come in various sizes 4 or 5 slots. You may want to trim the small rib ends if they get really close to the edge of the grate. Or foil those ends cause they will get hotter than the middle. How many racks depends on how you arrange them, ie rolled, flat, on a rib rack, etc. I do not think that most folks hold ribs to long before service. I prefer to set my glaze and serve. I will hold in foil for a short time but usually not tightly wrapped. Of course this depends on the doneness at the time of wrapping. There are other done tests for ribs including the tooth pick poke test, the probe test, flexibility test etc. I have never cooked BBs but my spares run around 5-6 hrs depending on the heat range and the thickness of the meat. There are also various cooking methods that will vary overall cooking time.

Good luck and Happy Holliday Smokin'

Mark
 
Probably the most automatic way to do a first rib cook is to follow Chris's BRITU method to the letter. It's just about bulletproof.

Get one under your belt and then start branching out from there. For instance, you can start basting every 30 minutes starting at hour 3, or maybe start mopping at hour 4 with your own sauce, or maybe foil at hour 5 for 30-45 minutes to get some extra tenderness. The point being that the options are almost endless.

Without a doubt, the most important piece to the puzzle is to know your cooker and fire control.

Russ
 
Welcome!

1 - No

2 - Start with BRITU and go from there. Your own preference will start to emerge with sucessive cooks.

3 - Not really. If they're taking more than 6 hrs per rack, something's amiss.

4 - On my 18.5", I use 2 Charbroil Rib&Potato Racks side-by-side on each grate. (Cut off the outer potato spike from one side of each rack.) I don't cut the racks in half but do trim off the smaller end to fit, if necessary, and put the trimmed pieces on the ends of the racks. The most I've done is 6 racks.

5 - Right off the grill. I may tent them or hold them a short while in a covered foiled pan but never foiled up like a butt.
 
The only thing I'll add to the above is that

You'll hear temps mostly from 225 - 275 and anything in there will produce decent ribs.

The soonest they'd be done is 4 hours, so start checking them then.

I like to just apply rub and cook until done. Nothing fancy but if you get them perfect via the tear test they're really quite nice and low effort.
 
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