Rib problems

[Guest]

I tried the BRITU method last weekend and was a little disappointed. Don?t get me wrong, they were good, just not great like the briskets I have cooked on my SMC. They were a little bit drier than I had hopped for (none of that falling off the bone because they were too tender problem others have described).

I kept the temp between 220 and 260 most of the time (it was a little windy that day so the temps did vary a little more than I would have liked, but nothing drastic).

I cooked them (4 racks, about 1.5 - 2 pounds each) about 5.5 hours

What could I have done wrong?

 

[Doug D]

I would say cooking them about an hour less probably would have helped with the dryness problem.

 

[Paul G.]

I would say pay close attention to the "bones". When you can slightly pull the bones apart, they're ready. A little resistance, but not too much.

PRG

 

[Guest]

I have also had problems getting ribs to be as tender as I expected them to be. I have cooked St Louis cut spares four times (about 2 1/2 lb per rack after trimming) and after 8 1/2 hours at 215-230 they still aren't "ready". They are still edible but just not the reaction that some users have described.

I think I am going to have to try Stogie's suggestions concerning foiling.

Tim

 

[Dennis Fraley]

I haven't done ribs yet. But I will soon. It seems to me from what I've read. Foiling is key to getting them tender. I'm sure some of you have methods of getting them tender without foiling. But I can see where foiling would help a great deal for getting them tender.
I don't have a smoker only a Weber kettle grill. But I can smoke on it as good as someone with a smoker I believe with some effort. I am planning on doing some ribs soon. Possibly some baby backs this weekend.

 

[Rob B.]

I have been foiling my spares lately, and they are coming out GREAT! (IMNSHO /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif )

 

[Jim Clay]

I would agree with the hour less. I just made three racks this weekend and they were as good as I've ever made. One thing I did was to cut the racks to seperate the thick ends from the thinner portions. I then took the thinner ends off the cooker at about 4 1/2 hours and left the thicker ends on for another 30 minutes. I also bought the temp of the cooker up to 270 - 300 for the final 30 minutes on the thicker ends. They were perfect.