Rib Help

[J Jones]

I did my first rib smoke on Saturday and unfortunately they didn't turn out that great. The flavors were good but they were tough to pull apart and not so tender.

I used my brand new WSM 18.5 and Kingsford competition charcoal. I was a little bit concerned about using this charcoal since it said it was high heat and I was going for a low and slow cook but that was all they had had at Costco so I picked some up. I used the Minion method to fire up the smoker, I filled the charcoal ring about 1/2 full of unlit coals and then lit a half full chimney. After about 10 minutes the chimney coals were ready and I poured them evenly over the unlit coals and evenly spread 5 wood chunks on top of the lit coals.

I have a Maverick ET-73 thermometer and used the clip to position the pit probe on the bottom side of the top grate right near the center. After I assembled the the rest of the smoker and put the meat on I ran into my first issue The pit probe from the Maverick was right off the bat reading about 275. I closed on the bottom vents to prevent the temperature from rising too much but I thought it should take some time to get the smoker up to temp. Of course at this point the dome thermometer was reading much lower so I waited about 10-15 minutes to see if they would converge but they did not. The dome temp was reading about 100 degrees lower than the pit probe. I had read that it is expected that the dome temp would be lower but most people suggested between 20-30 degree lower so 100 degrees lower seemed like too much.

At this point I really wasn't sure what to do so I let the cook continue. As time went on the pit and dome temps did get closer but were still about 70-80 degrees apart. I wasn't really sure which temp was more accurate but I decided to rely mostly on the pit temp and cook at around 275 for three hours (dome temp 200). After three hours I took out the ribs wrapped them in some foil with some agave and cooked for another hour. I then took them off added some BBQ sauce and cooked them unwrapped for about 20 minutes. At this point I tried the pull test and they didn't seem to pass, my wife however was starving and I had started the BBQ too late so I wasn't allowed to put them back in the smoker She actually loved the ribs and didn't have any complains but I knew they weren't as tender as they should have been. Another thing I had noticed was that after 4 hours of cooking the pit and dome temps had finally almost converged but still for a vast majority of the smoke they differed by about 80 degrees.

After we were done eating I took apart the smoker to see how much coal was left and noticed that the wood chunks weren't completely burned up after the 4+ hours of cooking. This seemed wrong to me and made me question whether or not I was cooking at a high enough temperature. Today I plan to test the pit probe and dome thermometer by measuring the temperature of boiling water and making sure they have the same reading.

So was this a case of simply not letting the ribs cooks long enough ?

Should I be concerned about the large gap between the pit and dome temps ?

 

[Len Dennis]

First of all, welcome. With a bit of practise, great food will arrive!

Yup, ribs weren't cooked at a suitable temp/long enough. The lower the temp, the longer it will take. Personal experience tells me my side ribs at 225-250 take are almost ready at about 4 1/2 hr into the cook. Then I foil and let them sit in a cooler for about another hour. Then take 'em out and put on the barbie to crisp up the bark (the foil will soften the bark).

Another hr or so (total of about 5-6 hr) is not an issue. They will be still cooking due to internal "meat heat" but IMO it's not usually an issue.

The pull test is a preferred way to check for doneness. Near that 4-5 hr mark, grab ahold of two ribs and if they pull apart easily/cleanly, they're done. I never had much luck using a toothpick to "poke" through the meat. Guess I don't know what I'm looking for, regardless of "butter-like" ease in pushing the pick through.

The variation in the temp is unusual. Do the ice water AND boiling water test. Unscrew the lid thermo and submerse the probe (NOT the dial) in both waters. If it's not accurate, warranty will get it replaced. I always have a 20-30o temp variation between dome and the 732 on the top rack (dome is cooler which seems contrary in that hot air rises but that's how it is for me).

edit-->I've had times where all the wood burned up and times when half was consumed. Not an issue as at least some of wood was used. 5 chunks seems a bit much (of course, depends on how you define "chunk"). I usually use 3 that are about 1/2 a "clenched fist" in size.

 

[ScottE]

Usually -6- hours is the cooking time for spares. The 3-2-1 method is 6 hours. I usually cook my spares around 260 degrees. Another way of telling your ribs are done is:

Meat pulling back from the bone
If you raise the rib up by one end it bends
Using a toothpick between the bones to check for tenderness.

I cook mine to fall off the bone because that is how the family likes it, and I aint trying to please some judge with a tug either......

 

[Monty House]

Although I didn't believe it when I first start visiting this site, the quality of both my BBQ and life have gone up appreciably the less I focus on the cook itself. I know that sounds paradoxical, but I found it to be true in my case.

Anyhoooo..... let's first talk about the cut of rub. Babybacks and St. Louis cuts (spareribs) cook differently. I find the latter to be more uniform and easier (more predictable from a cook standpoint), so I tend to use them.

Where you cook them...... DON'T jam them touching one another on something like the Weber rib rack. Every cook I used with that rack was a mess. (I fortunately only needed two kicks of the mule to stop using them.) 1. They caused large portions of the rack not to form color or bark. 2. They greatly increased cooking times. One approach is to roll them and skewer with a shish kebob spear.

Fuel source...... Never used Kingsford Comp briq but I wouldn't shy away from them. I use one layer of unlit and pour a full lit chimney atop it. Tends to be more than enough fuel for a rib cook. Also, I almost exclusively cook ribs with a dry pan & clay saucers for a heat sink vs. water. I'm getting temps from 230-275, and that's just fine.

Doneness...... When they past the tear test (many posts on this) or when a toothpick goes in with little to no resistance between the bones.

Thermometers..... I have both an ET-73 and 732 and use neither anymore. Caused me too much agita.

Best of luck!

 

[Len Dennis]

No thermometer? Sure, that's after you get comfortable with the end results while the product is still cooking and you know what to look for.

Like training wheels on a bike, sure you can learn without them (I think most of us baby boomers never used them) but to start, it's an easy way to get to the point where you know when it's done and not have to rely on external aids.

 

[Gary S]

I'm going to jump in and give you another spin on the rib cook. Follow the beginner recipes on this site. Forget about the foil. Forget about the grill temp with your Maverick, it will only cause you confusion (for now). Develop a basic technique and go from there. Three months ago I could not cook ribs to my liking. Now....the last cook was 13 racks for the family get together and everybody raved about them. The beginner recipes are your foundation. Once you have that down..develop your own style. Use the water pan at least once.

 

[RGleason]

I prefer a little higher temp for my ribs----250-275. Best way to tell when they are done is the bend test IMO. Keep on cooking them---- there def is a learning curve, but once you get a good rack of ribs you can do it again and again.

 

[Mike_L (Big Mike)]

I don't believe anyone on this site trusts their lid thermometer( well some have it dialed in). My lid thermometer was off 60 degrees when i got my WSM. I use my e732 as my temperature gauge. I believe the Lid thermometer's always seem to be off on the LOW side. I'm confused why you didn't trust your ET-73. The first thing i did with my e732 was test it to make sure it was correct.

 

[Russ Sylvester]

Just some notes I jotted down while reading your post.

1) This is a brand new 18. It will leak air like a sieve which will mess with your temps. Check for leaks/roundness/door fitting/etc. to help seal it up a little better. This will give the vents better control.
2) 10 minute 'get going' time on the charcoal???? I'd wager that the coals weren't fully up and going yet.
3) There's nothing wrong with using Kingsford Competition charcoal. Works just fine for long cooks.
4) 5 wood chunks for I'm assuming just a few racks. Seems like a lot. What kind of wood? I think most people prefer the lighter woods (apple, cherry, peach,etc) for ribs. Mesquite, hickory are just too overpowering.
5) You cooked a total of 4:20. That's too short for either baby backs or spares unless youve got the temp cranked way up.
6) As Len mentioned above, do the ice bath and boiling test on both thermos and see what you get. Yes, you will get different temps between the different areas but that will lessen to an extent as the cooker gets seasoned.
7) Don't be at afraid to fire up the cooker, then give it an hour or more to stabilize. Putting meat in right away is dangerous. Temperatures are moving all over the place. Let the cooker get fully up and going before adding meat.

Don't get discouraged. You've got a few things working against you just starting out. But you've already got that 'first cook' monkey off your back. Take what you learned and apply it to your next cook. I'll bet that your next set of ribs are WAY better.

Maybe read Chris's cooking section on BRITU ribs. Great place to start.

Russ