Ribs

[Preston Davenport]

A lot of seasoned vets on the Forums discuss temperature of the meat as controlling when you take the ribs off the smoker.

Too long and the meat literally falls off the bone (which is what the judges at contests don't want...they want tender but not mush)

So I have found the best temperature to be at 180 F. I take a meat thermometer and insert it between the rib bones in the meat in the middle of the slab. Its the right balance of tenderness and you still have something fo ryour teeth to grab!

If the ribs are starting to turn real dark then just foil them for a while until the meat temps reach 180F.

What I do is:

1) Chill rib and take the membrane off with a screwdriver
2) Rub French's Sweet Onion Mustard on the rib and then sprinkle liberally with a dry rub and wrap in pastic wrap and chill overnight in fridge.
3) Next day fire up smoker and place on smoker for about 2 hours
4) I then wrap in foil until temp reaches 180F in the meat.
5) I then take the ribs off and then crisp them on the grill for a few minutes and baste with barbecue sauce during this time turning frequently.
6) I then let them rest for about 10 minutes...

Good Luck,
PrestonD

 

[Guest]

Jim and Kevin, you guys have been doing this a long time and are cooking your ribs for at least 6 hours. How many racks do you have on the grill at one time? I have done ribs four times with either one or two racks only. The first time I cooked them for 6 hours, the next 7 and the third for eight. I found the ribs tough, on the outside, and pretty dry. The next time I did them for four hours and they seemed great. My temperature is at 230.

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Hi Martin!

You must look closely at our methods......we use the Minion method to light the coals and we put our meat on immediately. It may take up to an hour just to get up to temp...225? for me. So, there is one hour of time before the cooker is even at our temp.

I also foil after 3 hours and let em cook for another 2 1/2 in the foil. Almost impossible to dry them out using this method.

I usually do between 3 and 6 racks per cook. The amount shouldn't really matter. However, my baby backs are always 2 1/2 and down..that is pretty big and you may be buying ones that are slightly smaller.

Just remember, Martin...whatever way generates the best ribs for YOUR taste is how you should cook them.

Good Luck and have fun!

 

[Konrad Haskins]

Notes from a voyage of discovery in BBQ.

Ribs have taken me from the spring of 2000 until this summer to figure out. No blue ribbons yet but a 2nd and a 3rd place finish. I only cook spares trimed St. Louis style. Nothing against baby backs, I'm waiting until this winter when the season is over to learn how to cook them.

I'm with Jim on the 2 hours for the rub layed "salt and pepper thick" over a super thin coating of French's mustard. The Lady who won the USA BBQ Championship in Shrevesport on FoodTV was also a two hour rub person. People like my ribs best when they are a little saltier than this non smoker would like. Not over powering salt just at the high end of my tolerance as a non smoker while still tasting good. I've got my best results by using a Weber rack, starting thin end up and then flipping after 2 hours. That step may no longer be needed now that I'm using my new black smoking bots /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif I aim for a six hour cook but start checking after four with Apple juice misting every hour. When I'm checking for is very easy penetration of the thermometer probe like it was going through hot butter and around 180. I'm floating between 225 and 275 for a cooking temp. They are done when they are done, if that is early get over it, don't fixate on the clock. Apply finishing sauce wrap in film and/or foil, wrap in a towel and place in a small dry cooler to stay warm. For ribs no visible smoke to a thin blue is the target. Too little smoke is just as bad as too much and I aim to have smoke present through out the cook. Ribs seem to work best for me with Pecan or Hickory and Oak blend. Finishing sauce is your BBQ sauce or KC Masterpiece if you don't have a favorite mixed from one to four parts sauce to one part honey. There are winners at both ends of that ratio.

How I trim them is on my website which is the little house by my name.