Second attempt at slow cooking ribs...


 
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DavidD

TVWBB Super Fan
The first time i tried this, i followed instructions from one of the members explaining the domino charcoal arrangement, which worked good but i regulated the temp down to 225 instead of 250 (at the lid). I decided to try again with another 4.25 lb rack of pork spareribs. I kept the temp at 250 this time, and noticed the meat pulled back from the bone witin a couple of hours. I turned them at 3 hours and slow cooked them at 250 for 2 more hours, turned them again and cooked for the final hour. I also maintained a tin full of water, but did not baste the ribs with cider or anything else during cooking.

the results, ...the meat was tender but dry. I suppose that just means i should have pulled them after 4.5 hours?? what do you think? what should i have done differently?
 
I used to have the same problem but someone here suggested the toothpick test. after about 3 hours I check every half hour with a toothpick and slide it in between the bones. When it feels like its sliding through room temp butter then they are done. I have noticed that the cook times vary alot from rack to rack and Ive had some take one or two hours longer than other batches. Also, when you take them off wrap them in heavy duty foil and then a towel and put them into a cooler for an hour or more. Then you can finish with sauce on a grill. The time in the cooler softens them up alot.
 
Give cider to the ribs, give JD to the cook
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Basting or spraying ribs or any other meat will not add moisture to them nor keep them from becoming dry. An apple juice and/or cider spray (they are water-based) will slow the cooking slightly because it cools the meat slightly. To get the most effect from this spraying must be fairly frequent. Using an oil-based baste can speed up a cook because evaporative cooling is blocked. Again, neither treatment adds moisture and, though an oil-based baste slows evaporation, it is quite possible to cook the moisture right out of meat if it cooks too long even basting with an oil. Intenal water and rendered fat/connective tissue drips.

If the ribs turned out tender but dry they were overcooked. If a bit tough but dry they were undercooked.

Meats shouldn't be cooked by time though time can be used as a guideline. Cook till done. (When cooking at high heats cook till almost done then let residual heat finish the cooking during a rest.) For ribs, test with a pick or probe, as Jim suggests, about an hour before expected finish. If I foil I start checking (in the foil) when they've had about 5.25 hours of cooking (I foil late in the process); for unfoiled rib cooks I check the first time after 6 hours. I cook ~265 grate. (I mostly cook spares that start at ~4.25-4.5 lbs. I'd check sooner for thinner, smaller slabs.) Cooking at a lower temp is fine but I wouldn't go lower than 225 grate with supermarket pork.

As Doud D aptly noted somewhere--lower and slower is not necessarily better.
 
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