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Guest
Guest
My second time cooking spareribs on my WSM turned out to be a disappointment. The first batch I smoked (BRITU) were tender, but tasted a bit like ham. Reviewing some of the posts led to suspect that I had purchased "enhanced" ribs. Unfortunately, the wrapper had already gone out in the trash so I wasn't sure.
I went to three supermarkets looking for "unenhanced" spare ribs. I finally found a package that looked like it had been put together by the supermarket itself (not cryovaced, but in a foam tray and plastic wrap). They were labeled as "split spare ribs". They appeared to be spares cut up into 4-8 inch sections.
I cooked them at 220 - 250 (grate temp) for 5.5 hours. At the same time, I was cooking three turkey legs that I had brined.
The turkey legs came out fine. The ribs were another matter. They were moist, but tough. Lots of meat fiber adhered to the bone. I also noticed that I seemed to get an awful lot of of the sternum area in the pack and not very much of the smaller boned ribs.
My wife suggested that maybe these came off of some sort of "super tough" pig. That seems unlikely to me, as it seems that slow cooking should tenderize pretty much any animal. I'm guessing that I somehow didn't cook them long enough.
I still have several pounds of this tough meat in my fridge. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm thinking about wrapping the pieces I've already cooked in foil and putting them in the oven at 225 for a few hours.
Any other suggestions on how to salvage tough ribs?
I went to three supermarkets looking for "unenhanced" spare ribs. I finally found a package that looked like it had been put together by the supermarket itself (not cryovaced, but in a foam tray and plastic wrap). They were labeled as "split spare ribs". They appeared to be spares cut up into 4-8 inch sections.
I cooked them at 220 - 250 (grate temp) for 5.5 hours. At the same time, I was cooking three turkey legs that I had brined.
The turkey legs came out fine. The ribs were another matter. They were moist, but tough. Lots of meat fiber adhered to the bone. I also noticed that I seemed to get an awful lot of of the sternum area in the pack and not very much of the smaller boned ribs.
My wife suggested that maybe these came off of some sort of "super tough" pig. That seems unlikely to me, as it seems that slow cooking should tenderize pretty much any animal. I'm guessing that I somehow didn't cook them long enough.
I still have several pounds of this tough meat in my fridge. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm thinking about wrapping the pieces I've already cooked in foil and putting them in the oven at 225 for a few hours.
Any other suggestions on how to salvage tough ribs?
