Spare ribs

[Guest]

Here's a thought and a question. I've been grilling for 15 yrs now. Smoking is very new to me and I still have a hard time getting the temp low. In February, before buying my WSM I tried ribs in the oven, which I had never done before, over a water pan to see what BRITU tasted like. I had the oven at 250 for 3hrs and finished the ribs with a peach glaze on my grill about 30 mins ( I own a Jenn-Air). They were juicy and fell off the bones. What if I set my smoker at 250 lid temp and smoke the ribs 3 hrs thus recreating the oven experiment?

 

[Guest]

Ron, the ribs probably won't be done after only 3 hours. Think more like 5-6. If your lid temp is 250?, the top grate temp will be around 235? and the bottom grate around 230?. Mine are usually done (tested with a toothpick) in around 6 hours, at a lid temp of around 240?.

Steve

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Hi Ron!!

A couple things here.....

You must have had some VERY small spares to finish them in 3 hours! Another thread around here was asking why it took 11 hours to finish his!! LOL Go figure! Actually, I think your time would be closer to 3 1/2 hours because of the finishing on the grill for 30 minutes. And, that finishing on the grill was at a high heat I assume.

Anyway, I would say yes, nothing wrong with cooking ribs at those temps. I think the acceptable "norms" for low and slow smoking is any temp between 225-275?. Fast Eddy, who is a competition cook, cooks his ribs at 275? and finishes them in 3 1/2 hrs. and wins a LOT!!

I would warn you that a 250? lid temp will be 10-20? higher than what is at grill level. If it is 20?, that means you are only cooking at 230? which will extend your cooking time greatly.

Also, don't you dare peak!!! LOL Add 15 minutes every time you pop the hood. How many times did you open the oven door? Probably none.

I been cooking spares on my WSM for over 5 years and I can never get them done under 7-8 hours. Of course, I cook at 225? and I cook large bronto spares and I peak a lot....so that may be the reason!

Anyway, you should be able to cook killer ribs at the temps you mentioned...just remember the lid vs. grill temp variation.

One last thing........DO NOT plan a meal around these times!!! Just in case!

Stogie

 

[Dale Groetsema]

Ron,
Once again, I agree with Stogie regarding temp variances from grill.

I usually target my lid temp at 245-250, and my ribs take 6+ hours to completion. I rotate and baste at the 3 hour mark, and, if saucing, I begin that at the 5 hour mark, first on the bone side, then twice on the meat side, for 30 minutes each.

The nice thing about the WSM and the minion method is that I never have problems with temp variations--I know others talk about spikes, but if you can resist the temptation to peak, it is a very stable cooking process-not unlike your oven. At least, that has been my experience.

Enjoy experimenting with the WSM.

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Dale Groetsema
Big Daddy's BBQ, Fairbanks, AK & Vancouver, WA