To foil or not to foil that is the question


 
P

Paul H

TVWBB Gold Member
I'm going to pick up my new WSM this Saturday.On Sunday I plan to inaugurate this baby with some ribs on Sunday.My question is-do you have to foil the ribs to get the tender ,fall off the bone results??? I've cooked ribs on my due to be extinct Brinkmann. They were good but kind of chewy. What are the advantages to foiling versus not foiling??? Thanks for the help
 
Have to? Usually--pretty much, but it kind of depends on the ribs. If you want fall-off-the-bone I'd highly recommend foiling with a liquid addition. It's faster and reliable. Not using foil is preferred if you don't want your ribs cooked quite that tender.
 
Using foil will get you fall-off-the-bone tender. The problem is being careful not to foil too long and end up with fell-off-the-bone tender. Rack weight and cooking temp interact to make getting it right difficult. You've probably read about the 3-2-1 method which implies 2 hours in foil. In most cases, 2 hours in foil is too long. There has been a recent discussion thread here about a ratio of 2-1-1, which would be worthwhile reading. If you are doing loinbacks, Kevin Taylor has a tried and true method for them described here.
 
To date, the only way I can get my ribs to the tenderness I desire is to use foil. I usually put in a 1/4 cup of some fruit juice in with the ribs when I foil.

2 hours is definitely too long for ribs. I foil
my babies (loin backs) for 40 minutes and my spares for 1 hour.
 
When I first started cooking ribs, I didn't use foil. Figured I had to learn how without the "crutch" first. I was able to get close to "falling off the bone" tender, but never let them go that long, 'cause I don't like 'em quite that tender. It's doable though.

Now I always use foil. Speeds the cook a little (not of primary importance, Q is supposed to be slow), but I just like the results. Maybe it's more moist, dunno.

For me, it's about 3.5 hrs, then 30-45 minutes in foil, then about an hour or so back out of the foil. (spares)
 
Well, I'll be the dissenting opinion. I only use foil when transporting or keeping meat warm(ribs, pulled pork, brisket...). Fall off the bone ribs are pretty good...but just about falling off the bone ribs are better. It's all about timing. The ONLY time I use foil when I'm not transporting food in a cooler is for brisket. If people don't show up on time, I'll foil it...and throw it in the oven at 150 degrees.


-brian
 
Foiling is personal preference. I like the 3-2-1 method; 3 hours naked, 2 hours foiled, 1 hour naked again.

However, in Paul Kirk's class, he does NOT allow the use of 'Texas Crutch'. And he makes pretty good barbeque.

I suggest you try it both ways and see what works best for you.
 
I don't foil loin backs; however I usually cook spares. I often foil spares after 3.5 hrs, but only for 45 min or so. These are usually the large spares from Sams. It helps with the tenderness, but even with the big ones they can become too tender if left in foil too long. Again, a personal preference.

Paul
 
I foil my spares for 2hrs and never had any problems!

I only foil my babybacks for 50 minuets to an hour at the most!
wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top