used 14.5" smoker for first time yesterday

[R Wood]

placed 30-40 charcoal bricks in. added a rack of st. louis style ribs--flat, on the cooking grids.

seven hours later, without adding any additional fuel, the ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender.

but . . . they were almost too fatty to eat.

other than buy leaner meat next time, is there anything i can do to cause the meat to turn out less fatty?

really like the smoker--it works great.

 

[Todd NC]

That was my wife's complaint, too, when I did St. Louis spares. I've read that a higher temperature will help render the fat better. I'm going to try around 275 or so next time to see if that helps. There are a lot of people that are much more experienced than me that can probably offer more advice.

 

[~Mark~]

This is why I've gone from St. Louis ribs to Country Style ribs. Much more meat, and less fat. I also quit trying to low and slow them. I give them a heavy rub, and put them on my Performer at 350 degrees. When they are almost done I give them a shot of my Rum BBQ sauce, cook them for five more minutes, then give them another shot of the Rum BBQ sauce. These are flat out the best ribs I've ever put away, and I've put away a lot of ribs.

 

[Jerry N.]

Have you ever read the BRITU recipe? It calls for the heat to be turned up about mid way through the cook. I never did that at first, but now I do and it makes a big difference. I think you have to turn the heat up to get the fat to render.

 

[Dave Russell]

I first trim fat from the first three ribs on the top side, and then remove any loose fat on the bottom after removing the membrane. I have good results smoking with water on the wsm's at about 250, no foil wrapping during the cook. I usually let the pan run low toward the end and ramp up the temp up a bit.

 

[Rick Body]

I do the same as Dave in regards to preparation. Some rib racks have more fat. I trim off as much excess fat as I can. If you have some thick spots on the top, definitely get them. After I pull the skin on the bottom, I take a butter knife or the edge of a spoon and scrape as much fat off as I can.

I also cook my ribs a little higher at 265-275. I don't use water, I use a foiled clay pot. I have recently begun NOT foiling my ribs and feel they come out better

Oh, and I also prefer baby backs to St. Louis

BTW, welcome to the forum!

 

[ChangL]

Just cook them for a shorter time. Of course, you can slow smoke them all you want until they are just mush, but no one wants to eat them like that. I find that the 4 hour method works best for me. Some of the ones at the ends still end up falling off the bone, but most of the ribs remain intact and they are still moist. Don't you just want to hold on to a stick of bone and gnaw on it like a bear?????
What I do in my mini-WSM for 2 racks of St. Louis style ribs: 1/2 water pan, 250 temps throughout, flip them at the 1 hour mark, foil them at the 2 hour mark, add bbq sauce at the 3 hour mark and refoil, take them out when it's been 4 hours. I've never need to spritz them as the water pan keeps them moist. I've resorted to using just a 1/2 pan of water as too much steam may end up perspiring off the rub.
One last tip: the St. Louis Style cut may keep your bones intact. IF you try to smoke the entire spare rib rack, then the whole thing will just fall off the bones as it has too much meat/fat. At this point, you might as well just cut some boneless pork ribs. But if you trim the spare rib rack to a St. Louis Style, then the meat will tend to stay on the bones.