Rib help


 
C

Cory L.

TVWBB Member
Guys I need some help with my ribs. I have been very pleased with my pulled pork, brisket, yard bird, and pulled beef but ribs are kicking my butt!

Yesterday I purchased 2 spare ribs and trimmed to them St. Louis style. Rubbed them and put on the smoker while it was coming up to temp. It settled in at about 250 at the lid. Smoked them for a little over 2 hours, then wrapped in foil with a little apple juice and a glaze on BBQ sauce and honey. Foiled for app. 1 hour them took them out and put back on the smoker. I cooked them a little passed the tear test as my wife and kids like "fall off the bone". Probably another 45 minutes. Total cook time was around 3 hours and 45 minutes or so. These ended up being not quite fall of the bone done.

I liked the texture and doneness of the ribs but they just didn't seem to have much flavor. By the way, for smoke wood I used 4 pieces of apple ( about 1" thick by 4" long) and 2 decent sized chunks of hickory.

I have to be honest - the ribs I used to make in my gas grill with a little smoker box and wood chips (before I had the WSM) were way better than any of my rib efforts with the WSM.

Any tips you all may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
3 hours 45 minutes, in my opinion, is not cooked long enough.
spare ribs take time to cook at 250ºF.
if you're in a hurry to eet, get the temp higher, more like 325 to 350ºF.
Another thing, foiling and apple juice (again, in my opinion) is a waste of time.
I leave my ribs alone, without opening the cooker to "look/peek".
I smoke spares at 225ºF for an average of 5+ hours. and they are (once again, in my opinion) the finest ribs in Wisconsin!
Butt, Cory, keep trying different ways to making them... no one way is the right way....
And, good luck!
 
At the very least they need more time out of the foil. Apple doesn't give a very strong smoke flavour and those pieces aren't very large, it's about the equivalent of one large apple chunk that I use . I'd try one more hickory and a little more apple.

I either cook my ribs at 220 for 5-7 hours or 325-350 for 3-4 hours depending on the time I decide to invest in it. I never foil or mop and I don't add sauce unless I have company and they want it.
 
Cory,
I hate to add to any confusion, but I cook my ribs at 275° without opening the WSM till they pass the "Tear" or "Toothpick" test.

Simple as that.
 
hey Cory,

First of all i must say that everybody like their ribs cooked in a different way so you will get a LOT of opinions by asking this question !!!

In my opion ... lol ... here is my way
In the beginning :
3-4 big wood chunk of maple wood, dry rub (memphis dust from Craig Meathead Goldwyn). Apply rub, start the smoker, assemble WITH hot water in the pan, put the ribs in and smoke for 3h00 - 3h30 at 225-250F ...

After :
boil a 50/50 preparation of brown beer/apple juice. Foil each slab individually and add around 70ml of beer/apple juice (meat side up). Put back in the smoker for 1h-1h15.

Finishing touch :
remove from foil and dry for 15-20 min in the smoker. Remove from the smoker, apply ur favorite sauce (personnaly a Kansas City classic, tomato based, i can give you the recipe if u want). Then i sizzle and crisp the sauce using my gas BBQ over HIGH HEAT. Also, it is best if u apply hot sauce instead of a cold one. I apply sauce 2-3 times on each side...

Let me know how it goes if u try it !
icon_smile.gif

PS : sorry for my english ...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Louis:
hey Cory,

3-4 big wood chunk of maple wood, dry rub (memphis dust from Craig Meathead Goldwyn). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That is a very good rub and my favorite this week.
icon_smile.gif
 
recipes :

memphis dust recipe (from amazingribs.com)
Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder

Use aroung 80ml per rib rack or as you want/like !


Sauce Recipe (From amazingribs.com)

Yield: 6 cups. Click here to calculate how much you need and for tips on saucing strategies.
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon table salt

2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup yellow ballpark-style mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 cup dark brown sugar (you can use light brown sugar if that's all you have)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 medium cloves of garlic, crushed or minced

Optional. If you are cooking indoors, or if your meat does not have a lot of smoke flavor, or if you just want more smoke flavor, you can add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke.

Secret ingredient. Add 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste. This exotic ingredient isn't really that exotic. It shows up on the ingredient lists of a lot of great BBQ sauces. It has a sweet citrusy flavor and really amps up a sauce. If you can't find it in an Indian or Asian grocery, it is available online. Worth looking for.

Do this
1) In a small bowl, mix the chili powder, black pepper, and salt. In a large bowl, mix the ketchup, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire, lemon juice, steak sauce, molasses, honey, hot sauce, and brown sugar. Mix them, but you don't have to mix thoroughly.

2) Over medium heat, warm the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and saute until limp and translucent, about 5 minutes. Crush the garlic, add it, and cook for another minute. Add the dry spices and stir for about 2 minutes to extract their oil-soluble flavors. Add the wet ingredients. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes with the lid off to thicken it a bit.

3) Taste and adjust. Add more of anything that you want a little bit at a time. It may taste a bit vinegary at first, but that will be less obvious when you use it. Remember, it is going on meat and will be cooked again then. Strain it if you don't want the chunks of onion and garlic. I prefer leaving them in. They give the sauce a home-made texture. You can use it immediately, but I think it's better when aged overnight. You can store it into clean bottles in the refrigerator for a month or two.
 
This thread is a powerhouse of rib cooking information, and as was said in a earlier post, you are getting lots of various methods.

Spares are by far my favorite rib since they have nice fat layers to render and make the meat moist. As a BBQ judge, we always look for a nice tender rib BUT WILL NOT fall or strip off the bone. A toothpick push between the bones is my testing method. Buttery soft with slight resistance is perfect.

I usually target the 3-1-1 time zone (225*) with spares, but as I always learned...it ain't done 'til it's done! The topothpick tells us the tale.

Most of us get into texture and flavor trouble in the foil since the ribs are getting a saturated steam bath. Some of the bark sluffs off and flavor is lost. Juices added in the foil MAY give some flavor back, but IMHO, that juice facilitates bark softening, but again, a personal choice to foil w/o juices.

Ribs are a serious meat to master and can kick some cooker's butts...but cook lots and enjoy often!
 
Flavour is rub, smoke and sauce, assuming consistent meat. Everything being equal, the rub and sauce should be a wash from your previous cooks. If the smoke was better on your gasser, adjust your wood accordingly on the WSM. Otherwise, the cooking technique shouldn't impact you.

That said, I used to do lots of ribs offset on a gasser. Flavour was great. Colour was good. When I got my WSM, I completely oversmoked my first rib cook (blackened by smoke). Adjusted my wood and all is well now. The WSM is a cooker not a flavourer.

BTW - IMO you had more than enough wood for my tastes with ribs.

JDH
 
As already said, lots of differnet ways to get there, but the bottom line is they just needed more time. If you are going to foil, I wouldn't until at least 3 hours. I have personally started to not foil and much happier with the finished product.
 
I don't know if this puts me in bad company or not, but I am proud to say that I cook my ribs like Lampe. I have been going 225 at the lid for right at 6 hours, sometimes slightly less with no foil. We like em fallin off the bone too. Of course, just because I cook as long as Lampe, doesn't mean that I cook as GOOD as Lampe!
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I'm still experimenting too, but I fall in the camp that you put them in foil too soon.

A couple of other things:

(1) keep in mind that lid temp and grate temp can differ significantly (20 - 30 degrees), especially for the first couple of hours. This means that you were probably cooking at around 220-225 and not 250 for 2 hours. 220-225 is fine, but it also means that there is a good chance that you foiled too soon.

(2) It doesn't sound like you used a rib rack (which IMO is a good thing). My first try with a rib rack ended up with results similar to what you described - everything was pretty good except for a lack of flavor. I'm now experimenting w/o a rib rack and have been pleased with the results. Of course, I'm changing too many variables at this stage to blame it all on the rack. Still, I suspect that it was at least a contributing factor.

My next experiment comes this Sunday. Although I really liked my last effort, I'm once again changing WAY too many variables to be able to positively ID specific new pluses and minuses. I hope you enjoy your WSM experiments as much as I am mine.
 
I keep it real simple, I put them on cold and cook them at 275, no foil no water in the pan just a clay saucer. I start checking at 4 hours. I look for some bone exposure, once its gets to .5 inch I then do the toothpick test and bend test, if it goes thru cleanly and I pick up the rib in the center and I see the crust tearing a little exposing the white meat I know I am done. I use a lot more wood the 4 chunks, closer to 7 for me.
 
After weeks of cooking ribs I've come to keep mental notes that make a good rib for us. I begin to spray my ribs with AJ every hour after the two hour mark (not sure where I came up with that idea but after two hours was where I came up with the idea lol).

When I check for doneness I grab the ribs with the tongs from the middle of the rib and look for it to begin to tear. Before I would grab it from the end and noticed the tear was easier because of the weight of the rib and it wasn't quite right.

I only use peach wood and pecan so I can get away with heavy smoke. Usually 4 softball size chuncks
 
Yesterday I smoked a 4 pound slab of spare ribs. I cut the end off the ribs and tookthe membrane off. I cooked my ribs at 240 degrees and put a liberal amount of Hichory and Pecan wood chunks with a moderate size of Stubbs Charcoal brickquettes. I added a "beer can chicken to the top grate (Weber MS 18 1;2 inch) and I use a DigiQ Guru Temp COntroller that NAILED it on 240 degrees for the entire smoke. I use mustard for the ribs, smear it generously, then apply Bill's Texas BBQ RUB ORIGINAL liberally, and have never had a bad batch yet. I cooked them for 3 hours, took them off, poured a generous amount of honey, then sprinkled brown sugar on them, added some "liquid" and bouble foiled them and put them back on the smoker for 35 minutes or so.

I cut the ribs, after letting them rest for about 30 minutes, and you could cut between the bones like butter, BUT, the meat was NOT "fall off the bone tender". Keep in mind, "Judges at Competition BBQ Contests DO NOT like 'fall off the bone tender'." THey had a beautiful smoke ring and good white meat and were wonderful. I want more SMOKE FLAVOR to my meats, we can't get enough, so I've been adviseed to keep adding hardwdood during the cook and the meat WILL absorb it, contrary to some people's comments.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for all the tips and suggestions guys. I am going to keep trying. Just ordered a hog and should have it all cut up ready to go this week yet. Spares again this weekend and maybe a whole shoulder.

Really appreciate all the help!!!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob Sample:
At the very least they need more time out of the foil. Apple doesn't give a very strong smoke flavour and those pieces aren't very large, it's about the equivalent of one large apple chunk that I use . I'd try one more hickory and a little more apple.

I either cook my ribs at 220 for 5-7 hours or 325-350 for 3-4 hours depending on the time I decide to invest in it. I never foil or mop and I don't add sauce unless I have company and they want it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Cory, I did my first ribs as Bob stated, used a toothpick after 5 hrs to test and they came out great.My temps where around the 220-230 area.
 
I agree with Dave, cook til done. I don't use foil most of the time. Cook at 250 for 3.5hrs then start checking for tender every 20 min till a pick or probe goes in like butter. Once you get that down, try 275 then higher in 25 deg increments. Find what texture and timing you like then try foil for flavor layers as that is all it does other than bark control if cooking more than 275ish.
 
Thanks for all the tips guys. The spares I got from the hog I had processed were not real uniform. One slab had quite a bit of meat and the other had virtually none. I did them anyhow and the results were much better. The smaller slab was probably overdone as it was just very thin without much meat or fat (turned out a little dry and tough) but the larger slab turned out well. I used more wood and and as for cook times - put them on cold when it was coming up to temp. After about an hour it settled in at around 250 - 260. Cooked for an additional 4.5 hours then into foil for about 45 minutes. The larger slab was still probably over done as the meat was falling off the bone in places but that is how the family likes them so it has gotten much better.

Looking forward to the next batch this weekend.
 
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