ribs...when to foil


 
D

DW Frommer II

TVWBB Fan
I read that using a probe is near onto impposible with ribs and that when ribs are done they will have pulled away from the boone a bit.

If you're using the 3-2-1 method what should the ribs look like when you go to fil them?

thanks...
 
Are you talking spares or BBs?

For Spares roughly 3 hrs naked, then 2 or so hours foiled (maybe with a little apple juice) then up to 1 hr naked to firm up.

But that depends on the temp you are cooking at too. More that 250 may require less time , and so on.
 
DW, if you are using 3-2-1 then just foil them after 3 hours of cooking (if you are cooking them low and slow, between 220* and 250*). Sometimes the meat will be pulled back a little and sometimes not at all. After sitting in the foil for 2 hours the meat will definitely be pulled back. The last hour will firm up the ribs as they tend to get a bit tender in the foil.

Tony
 
I never foil for 2 hours.

I do foil when the ribs are getting tender and the meat begins to pull back from the bone. The color of the ribs is usually my first indicator.

Spares are foiled for maybe a little over an hour, and baby backs around 30 minutes.

I cook a little hotter than most do (260-270 grate).
 
DH,

A lot of this is personal preference and you will find what tastes best for you. I personally foil after 3 1/2 hours of slow cooking. I foil for 1 1/2 hours, then finish with no foil the last hour.

Before foiling, I spray with a mixtuire of apple juice and pineapple juice (as recommended by Kriger). This subtle flavor really enhances the ribs.

Ray
 
3-2-1 works every time for me. Sometimes the meat pulls away before I foil, sometimes it doesn't. After they come out of the foil, they are always failing off the bone tender.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I do foil when the ribs are getting tender and the meat begins to pull back from the bone. The color of the ribs is usually my first indicator. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Ditto. I look for deep coloring so it's well into the cook. I foil with a juice blend the cook till just tender in the foil, 45-75 min depending. If I'm glazing I remove from the foil, apply the glaze thinly and return to the cooker for 3-5 min; if not, I remove from the foil and rest a few minutes. I don't care for fall-off-the-bone so the ribs are done, for me, when they just test tender. For FOTB they'd need more foil time.
 
My last 3 cooks with bb's went like this -
3-1-1- these came out ok but not falling off the bone.
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Then i thought i would try 3 hrs. unwrapped 2 hours wrapped - very tasty but way too tender. Ribs fell apart when it came time to remove off the foil - might as well cooked boneless
Yesterday i went with 3 hrs.unwrapped - 1 1/2 wrapped - my best results so far. I was able to hold a full rack with my tongs with no tearing or falling apart
Smoker stayed at a solid 235 degrees for all 3 cooks. lightly rubbed with bad byrons rub - smoked with a small handful of hickory chips.
Still learning as i go along but thats expected.
 
Our best results have come from cooking the ribs at about 210 - 220 at the grate level for about 4 hours, foil with apple juice for 30 mins to an hour (until tender) and then naked for the last hour. We found that cooking higher (250ish) burned the edges and never gave us the color consistency we were looking for. We've tried few different ways and found the lower temp method to work best for us in the WSMs.
 
After all I went through this past weekend, I am in complete agreement with Doug KC. I know we live in super-fast, instant coffee, instant taters world, but I have learned the hard way that if you want good BBQ there is absolutely no alternative to low and slow. When I say low, I mean 220*-225* and when I say slow I mean however long it takes (as long there is guiness available!
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I can't stand instant coffee and have never had instant taters but couldn't disagree with you more--though I respect your right to your opinion wholeheartedly.

I nearly always have 'all the time in the world' when I cook so speed is not an issue for me. For me it's what works best--in my opinion--for the meat at hand. And for me those temps are too low for spares and waaay to low for backs. Imo, mass-produced pork not only does not need those temps but doesn't do as well at those temps as at higher ones. So--again, to me--there is definitely an alternative, and it is one that works better and, again, to me, the results prove it. For pastured pork, which is far more flavorful because it is far more fattier, I am in your camp. But for standard mass-produced pork I'm not. I often find that low/slow serves as beneficial for marketing, but not for cooking--not, anyway, for the lean pork and beef that is what most people know.

Again, my opinion. I'm not trying to ruffle feathers; just make my point. I know everyone has different tastes and approaches and I applaud that.
 
Kevin,

After years of BBQ'ing my back ribs at 250, I finally tried higher temps and foiling a couple of weeks ago. Best ribs I had made to date. I cooked them at 275-300. I realize you've probably posted your answer before many times, but could you just summarize the temp your BB and spare ribs at?

Thanks!
 
I usually decide when to foil my ribs by the color. For doneness I check for pulled back meat and the floppiness of the rack itself when handled with my tongs. Foiling is not something I do all the time, sometimes I prefer not to. I like to slice my ribs up before plating on occasion, this way I can use my fingers to pick each one up by the bone. I like the fact that I'm eating rib meat off of the rib itself and not just fall off tender on my plate with a fork. Don't get me wrong, I foil quite often, but usually in the 45 minute to 1 hour range. I will then firm them back up for glazing and the trip to the table. Just my way.
 
For those that like to cook them at a higher temp (250+) how do you avoid charring the outside? I know a lot of people advocate the higher temps on ribs but the ones we've done I've thought they were to dark for competitions. I guess I don't understand the difference in the ribs when cooked at a higher temp. I'm assuming it has something to do with breaking down the fat more than at low and slow.
 
Ed-- Briskets I do in the lower 300s. For butts, a cook temp of 265-280 or so (I don't like cooking them higher and I do not like foiling butts) but if more time works better for me schedule-wise then I will cook them lower for longer. Spares I cook at the same temp as butts (265-280 grate) but do include a foiling stage near the end. Babybacks I rarely cook but when I do it's ~325 grate.

Doug-- I'm not exactly sure what you mean by charring. The ribs I cook do get deeply colored but they aren't burnt-looking nor do they have burnt flavors. Quite caramelized in spots though. For burnt flavors and apperance you really need temps of 350+, the temps where sugars burn. However, whether the ribs I do would be considered too colored for comps I don't know.

My preference for higher temps is because I do not feel that commercial spares need low temps and a longer time for good rendering. they simply are not as fatty as they were years ago. For pigs I raise (which are much fattier, more like pork of yore) I do use lower temps.

It's the approach I would never say that it's the 'best' one; it's the 'best' for me. I've seen pics of Tony's foos and it looks superb. I am sure it tastes as good as it looks. My issue above was to make clear that I use high temps because I prefer the results, not simply because it is faster although many might find that a benefit as well. It still comes down to what you prefer (or, if comping, what you think the judges prefer). It is a viable approach, imo, and worth experimenting with.

Note too that the rubs I make for spares or backs are not high in sugar which can make a difference color-wise. They run about 8-12% sugar by volume, far less than a rub like the BRITU which is ~40% if I recall correctly.

Dino-- I'm with you. I don't look to cook to the fall-off-the-bone stage.
 
Kevin

So with all of your cooks basically being well over a 250 lid temp, which I guess is around 235 top grate temp, what set up do you use with your waterpan - empty foiled lined Weber pan, sand, or perhaps some other heat sink.

Thanks,

Paul
 
Kevin-

Fair enough. Thanks for the explanation. I will try them out that way for a practice run with less sugar and see how I like them.
 
Paul--

Empty foiled pan for all except the times I do butt overnighters. Those can be convenient--I am so not a morning person when I'm home; but for butts for dinner (rather than lunch) I do them higher and use an empty foiled pan as well. The temps above are all grate temps.
 
I might just have to try some higher temps in some of my future cooks. When I stop and think back of when I used to use the old Brinkman and had no way of controling heat, there must have been a bunch of times I was cooking in the 300 degree range. But I still had a decent edible result.
 
For BBs: I run 220 grill temps, 2.5 hrs no foil, 1 hr foil, 30 mins direct hot grill for saucing.

Recently I was asked to do ribs when visiting relatives...on their standard Weber grill. I used higher temps with some wood chips. They loved them...I thought they were too fatty and not smoky enough.

You get spoiled quick.
 
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