Ribs, too tender

[DavidD]

I read somewhere on the board about the 3, 2, 1 method for ribs, meaning 3 hours uncovered, 2 hours wrapped in foil and the final hour uncovered. I had a rack of spares and followed this method and they turned out so tender the meat fell off the bone. My wife liked it, but I felt like the meat needed more "chew".

i cooked this way once before but only foiled for 1.5 hrs. In fact, it was closer to a 2.5, 1.5,1 method.

I've tried ribs and butts without foiling, and personally, find the results to be much better with foil but as was the case here, too much of a good thing is bad.

 

[Bryan S]

Davidd, Most here find that 2 hrs in foil is way too long also. You have to play around with times and find the sweet spot for your tastes. Have fun with eating all your experiments.

 

[George Curtis]

i'm still up in the air on foiling ribs. but i know that i don't do more than an hour in the foil. i like "chew" in my ribs. done in a weber kettle.

 

[DavidD]

Speaking of the kettle, that's how I cooked my ribs. I'm still waiting for the release of the new wsm, but in the meantime, have used my kettle for ribs and butts. I am very impressed with how well the kettle works for low/slow. I was able to run it at 275 lid for 6 hours with virtually no tinkering. The lower vents are essentually closed to 1/8 inch cracked. The coals are placed off to the side and supported by two fire bricks that separate them from the rest of the grill. I lit one end of the coals, add some wood and leave it alone. When my new wsm arrives, I still may be inclined to use the kettle since the ribs fit perfectly and the fuel burn is very minimal.

 

[Don Irish]

After 3-4 hours smoking I'm down to only 45 min. in the foil, then another 30-60 min to firm up and they are done...very tender, still a bit of chew but all the meat comes easily off the bone.

 

[Bryan S]

IIRC, The 3-2-1 is for cooking at 225º, so it would stand to reason if running hotter than that, to cut the time that the ribs stay in the foil.
EDIT: Found this post by Stogie on the subject. Link to post.

 

[r benash]

I've foiled all my rib cooks this season. I use spares 99% of the time. Typically 250 deg. I found that foiling for no more than 45 min works best.

At this point I can judge when to foil by tenderness using a skewer. Once I feel they are about ready (skewer pushing through with moderate resistance) I foil until it pushes through with a little resistance then out of foil to firm up the crust/outside a bit. About 20 minutes or until they look right (not too wet).