Ribs - what am I doing wrong ?


 
D

DAMIAN

TVWBB Member
I am running out of ideas when it comes to ribs and need some assistance before I finally throw in the towel. I am doing them on my weber performer so I know that's not ideal and in the past had temperature problems and and they would shoot up over 300 and not come back down. Today I finally got that right, used the snake method and just did 2 lines each with 15 coals and 12 fully lit coals at the start, with top and bottom vent both open I got the temp stable around 225-240 for the entire cook and I think there was still a bit off time left in it at the end.

Now the ribs had a simple rub on them and did the 3-2-1 method, at the end of the time the meat didn't fall from the bone and was quite chewy and and tough and a bit dry, I couldn't even pull them apart by hand with ease ! I took one rack off and left the other one to see if it needed more time, I left them 2 more hours ( at least I got good temp control for the cook ) and when I took them off there was no major difference to the first rack.

Where am I going wrong and suggestions would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.
 
Damian~the first question I ask when people have problems with ribs is this~is your themometer calibrated correctly? I'm thinking that your thermo may be off 20-30° and your actuall cooking temps are low.
 
Before taking them off try the bend test. If the don't pass that they are not done. I agree with Earl that your thermometers may be off.
 
Hmmm. My guess is you are doing Spare Ribs as that's what 3-2-1 is usually associated with. If tough, the ribs are still under cooked. Maybe you look at the ribs every 15 minutes to see how they are doing, each time you open the lid it adds to the cooking time.
 
Try this method: Forget the temps, the fancy setup and all that other stuff, and cook until the ribs are tender.
 
Damian I'm doing ribs on a kettle often. It's a 26 but that just means more ribs. May I suggest you calibrate the lower vent adjustment in four settings. Closed, 1/4" open 1/2 open and full open. Do not be afraid to use some fire brick, and bank your coals on the other side. Use foil as shown below. This restricts air flow so that is comes up through the fire and also reflects back against the meat.

Place a drip pan on the foil with or without water. Play with your kettle closing the top vent as much as 50-75% in order to maintain steady temps after you confirm your therm is reasonably accurate. 275-300 is great. Your bottom vent should be somewhere between a 1/4 and half depending on the fuel you are using as well other variables. You have slowed the air movement. The 3-2-1 method should work for you as long as you are adding sauce or some liquid. The ribs should even out in the foil. After an hour check them. I just put them back on usually 20-30 minutes and they are tender and flavorful. You could be drying them out some with all the air moving by. The kettles don't mind being held back some.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaUUrc9rLmI
 
If you are going by the guage that came on the lid of your Performer, that might be your problem. Mine overstates the temp by almost 50 degrees.
 
JimmyE said:
If you are going by the guage that came on the lid of your Performer, that might be your problem. Mine overstates the temp by almost 50 degrees.
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This is a really good point. My lid thermometer is junk, I use a Maverick to keep an eye on the actual grate temp.
 
Dave/G said:
Try this method: Forget the temps, the fancy setup and all that other stuff, and cook until the ribs are tender.
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Good advice! I don't mess around with checking the temperature or fancy charcoal setup's when doing ribs either. I marketed the vent settings on the ash catcher for 1/4, 1/2, & 3/4 open. I like to use the charcoal baskets when doing ribs. They get good/bad reviews here, but I think they make long indirect cooks easier to manage. The coals burn slower and you can maximize your indirect cooking area with them. I use the baskets full of coals, vent setting about 1/2 open, and cook them indirect until they're done.
 
Gary S said:
Mine is pretty much right on given the location as compared to the grill level.

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Gary may I ask what you use in the vents? Wouldn't you accomplish the same if you rotated the vent cover to a 1/4 for each hole? Inquiring mind like me want to know...being a greenhorn and all with the Webers :) Thanks Roger
 
RogerS said:
Gary may I ask what you use in the vents? Wouldn't you accomplish the same if you rotated the vent cover to a 1/4 for each hole? Inquiring mind like me want to know...being a greenhorn and all with the Webers :) Thanks Roger
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I'm using 1" wooden dowl which is sacrificial and you're right I could just turn the vent but this helps me dial right in every time and depending on my bottom vent settings I can raise and lower temps by about 50 degrees just by adding or removing one plug. All they do is act as a vent stop. This is my LNS setting only for temps from 250-300. I also get a better smoke trail coming out of just one or two vents, not that that really matters much, just makes for better photos! :)
I have modified this kettle by adding Nomex and using a cast iron charcoal grate. It holds the heat very well and while some others may not agree the fire brick and tin foil over the area without coals really works well in temperature control and conserves fuel.

PS I get almost as much enjoyment from tinkering around with mods as I do from doing the cook itself.
 
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Gary S said:
I'm using 1" wooden dowl which is sacrificial and you're right I could just turn the vent but this helps me dial right in every time and depending on my bottom vent settings I can raise and lower temps by about 50 degrees just by adding or removing one plug. All they do is act as a vent stop. This is my LNS setting only for temps from 250-300. I also get a better smoke trail coming out of just one or two vents, not that that really matters much, just makes for better photos! :)
I have modified this kettle by adding Nomex and using a cast iron charcoal grate. It holds the heat very well and while some others may not agree the fire brick and tin foil over the area without coals really works well in temperature control and conserves fuel.

PS I get almost as much enjoyment from tinkering around with mods as I do from doing the cook itself.
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Thanks for the great info Gary...I'll have to try that
 
Mark Q said:
Good advice! I don't mess around with checking the temperature or fancy charcoal setup's when doing ribs either. I marketed the vent settings on the ash catcher for 1/4, 1/2, & 3/4 open. I like to use the charcoal baskets when doing ribs. They get good/bad reviews here, but I think they make long indirect cooks easier to manage. The coals burn slower and you can maximize your indirect cooking area with them. I use the baskets full of coals, vent setting about 1/2 open, and cook them indirect until they're done.
Click to expand...

Do you fill the baskets full with lit coals or a mixture of lit and unlit, if so in what proporations ? If I fill both baskets with lit coals my temps usually hit around the 375-400 mark, is this not too hot ?
 
DAMIAN: I did ribs for my first cook and lit with minion method, which is about 20 lit coals and a full basket of unlit. From what I have seen here, if you do a full lit basket, you will have trouble getting the 230-250 temps you need to cook ribs LNS. Minion method will ensure you can cook at the lower temps. Ribs definitely need to be done around 230-250 for nice tender finish.
 
Danny B (Albany said:
Try buying an inexpensive oven thermometer at the grocery store to set on the grate to compare temps with dome thermometer. Sounds like they were under cooked.
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THIS !!!
For about 3 bucks, grab one of these and just let it sit on the grate (away from the fire). Go by that and not the lid thermo and see what results you get. Also make sure your vent dampers are snug against the bowl and lid. I had one kettle that had a bottom sweeper-damper bent up just a little but it was enough to keep sucking in oxygen and wouldn't let the temp come down.
 
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