Spare Ribs Question


 
M

M Saitta

New member
On Saturday I smoked some spare ribs and while they tasted great, I couldn't get the meat to stay on the bones.

Whenever I pulled the bones apart or tried to cut them, the meat would pull\slide right off the bone. How can I get the meat the stay on? Did I over/under cook them? Like I said, they still tasted great so I'm curious as to where I went wrong.

I smoked a single rack for about 3.5 hrs (2 hours unfoiled and then 1.5 hours foiled) at around 300*

Any tips or ideas?
 
Yep, they were just overcooked. Try testing them sooner with either a probe or pulling two bones apart. A probe should go right in without resistence. Keep in mind that foiling speeds up the cooking process. Don't concentrate on time or temp. The meat is done when it is tender.

Paul
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Paul K:
Yep, they were just overcooked. Try testing them sooner with either a probe or pulling two bones apart. A probe should go right in without resistence. Keep in mind that foiling speeds up the cooking process. Don't concentrate on time or temp. The meat is done when it is tender.

Paul </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Thanks for the information.

Being that it was only my 2nd smoke, I was definitely concentrating on the temperature more than the tenderness. I have a fear of checking on the meat too often, but I guess after it's been smoking for 3+ hours removing the lid and checking the tenderness doesn't impact it too much.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by M Saitta:
I smoked a single rack for about 3.5 hrs (2 hours unfoiled and then 1.5 hours foiled) at around 300*

Any tips or ideas? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Sounds exactly the same process I started out with and my ribs were usually just over cooked. Now I try to stay close to 275*, cook until I get a good bark, foil, and start checking for tender about 1hr later. They are usually done around 3hrs. When they are close, some times I will take them back out of the foil to firm the bark, sauce or glaze, depending on what I want for that cook.
Just keep trying and you'll find that sweet spot!
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You just have to make small adjustments until you find what works best for you.
 
I do ribs at 300-325 with no foil and never had an issue. Foiling basically steams your ribs and speeds up the cooking process and you get a much smaller window between done and fall off the bone.
 
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