What am I doing wrong with Spares?


 
J

Jason Wayne

TVWBB Fan
The first time I did spares, I had my best result. The last 10 times I have tried them, they have all been terrible.

The first few times, I used mustard and then sprinkled rub on them. They were good, but the rub and mustard was too thick.

Now I just try to smoke them with a light rub and they are just way too tough. The meat pulls back down HALF of the bone on some of them. I don't think I am overcooking them because they are too tough to pull apart with the hands.

I don't know if I have given enough info for you guys to help out, but I am almost to the point of giving up on ribs.

That said, the local grocer has spares on sale for .99 per lb. this weekend. I feel like torturing myself again...

FWIW, I have cooked them from 225 to 300, but usually around 250. I don't know if it is the cheap ribs or what that makes the meat turn down the bone so much.

The last time I did them I tried the foiling method and they were the worst ribs I have ever had.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
I am no expert but others may need some more info...

Were the ribs tought when you cooked in foil last time or just too mushy?

How many hours have you been cooking them? Are you varying your time when cooking at 225 and 300?

and what is your method (just rub and put on smoker, or something like 3-2-1?)
 
When I tried them in foil, they were tough. By the time they started to pull apart easily, some of the ribs were literally 1/2 gone off the bone. Some in the middle had barely started to pull down the bone. The worst part is that with a spare, you're supposed to have a lot of meat. Some of the freaking bones had so little meat on it - the meat resembled a freaking doggie treat...LOL

I kid you not, those were the worst ribs I have EVER had. I just threw them away.

As far as time is concerned, I try to go by appearance and feel more than anything. So, the times have been from 4 hours to 7 hours depending on temperature, size of the sections, etc.

My method has varied. At first, I just applied mustard to both sides, rubbed, and put on the smoker. Checked after 4 hours or so and kept checking until they pulled apart fairly easily. Like I said, those were the best ones, but the mustard/rub was way too thick. So, then I started doing more of a Rendezvous style where I applied little or no rub and just smoked them, then applied stuff. I should add that I like mine DRY. I hate wet ribs.

Thanks for the questions and I hope I answered them a little better.

Jason
 
Hmmmm... this may not be the solution, but one thing I have noticed about ribs in general (I'm a BB fan myself) is that it is impossible to get fresh ribs, meaning they have never been frozen. If you are getting ribs that have been previously frozen and thawed, and then freezing them again, this will cause them to be tough, no matter how well you cook them.

The more you can find out about the journey your meat is taking from slaughter to plate the better. Some stores will receive them frozen, thaw them for selling, then refreze them if they don't sell fast enough, and sell them frozen, or even thaw again. You may want to find a smaller shop where they are less likely to pull these shenenagins. The price may be higher, but the end result would be worth the extra cost.
 
Rich - good point, although I usually go for the well-trimmed racks that look the most meaty.

Jason - I am starting to think that maybe I should skip the value ribs. I mean, .99 is hard to pass up, but if they're as inedible as the last few have been I might as well pay 10 bucks a lb. for good ones.

I actually have a good friend that manages the local grocer, so I should ask him the process. He usually goes in the back and gets me the freshest produce and butts when I buy them there.

BTW, I need to try BBs on the WSM. Being in TN, it is super easy to get great spares from restaurants, pit houses, etc. A well-prepared spare is much better, IMO. BBs seem easier to cook, though. I have given thought to only trying BBs. The .99 is still really enticing!
 
This may really be a dumb question but... Did you pull the membranes off the back? Spare rib membranes are tougher than BBs.

I'd also skip the "sale" ribs. They are on sale, that low, for a reason and its not because they think you're a good guy and they want to save you money.
 
I would go to a good butcher and get what I know are good quality ribs. If they come out good you know the quality of the meat is the issue, if you get the same results then you know it's something you are doing.
 
Jason - If you can try buying the ribs untrimmed in cryovac. Look for racks that are meaty and have some fat, but not too much. When you prep the ribs you'll want to remove any large deposits of fat with a blunt object - NOT a sharp knife.

It sounds like you've gotten a few racks of overtrimmed ribs. It happens and from time to time it'll happen again. I cooked four racks about a month ago. They were the absolute BEST ribs I've cooked to date. These ribs were just perfect. Cooked four more racks of spares and three racks of baby backs two weeks later. BB's came out pretty good, but the spares were subpar by my standards. It happens. Some times the cook is off, some times the cooker is off, other times you get a piece of meat that just won't give you the results your looking for.
 
Russ - that could definitely be the situation too. With the .99, you can either get them in cryovac to trim yourself or already trimmed. The last time, we bought already trimmed because we figured why do it ourselves for the same price?

That makes sense actually.

What is the deal with a blunt object v. a sharp knife?

Thanks a lot!
 
Sharp knives tend to slice through the membrane, while blunt objects do a better job of getting underneath it. Once underneath you can gently pry upwards just enough to get a finger under the membrane and start pulling it away from the bone.
 
OK. Thanks for explaining that. I usually have no trouble with the membrane, but the last ones we bought were extra trimmed. LOL

I guess I am going to stick to the butcher or Sams's/Costco now on.
 
Hi Jason

I had a problem with tough, nasty ribs after for a while as well, but I found out that my problem was that I wasn't cooking them long enough. Sure they had pulled back from the bone and all that, but they still needed some more time to become tender. Now, when I do ribs, I rely exclusively on the pull test. I take a couple of ribs on the slab in my fingers and see how easily they pull apart. If they don't pull apart, they aren't done.
 
Jason,

Spares for me usually take at least 7 hours at 250 or even a little lower temp. I think spares do have a better taste but it's a different "tougher" meat than baby backs and therefore takes longer to cook even at a higher temp. I have tried the 3-2-1, 3-1-2 and all that and tried them without foil at all and not touch them for 7 hours and to me they are just harder to cook. And I can't get 2 racks to turn out the same on the same cook, one rack will ge good and another still a bit tough. Spares are a good example of practice makes perfect or at least better. It took me 15 or 20 cooks to get where I am at now which still isn't always great.

Randy
 
Randy, each rack is definately different. I've also had some racks that just didn't cook all that well. Biggest problem I find is the inconsistency in the size of the racks. I'll open a cryo and have one meaty rack and another rack that's almost all bone. I always cooks ribs in a rack and put the meatier ribs towards the outside of the rack and thinner portions on the inside. This is usually enough to alleviate the difference in size. If I'm using both racks in the WSM then I'll also put heavier spares on the top rack and thinner on the bottom. This usually works out pretty well for me. Once in a while I'll have to remove a couple of slabs while others need more time to cook.

What I can tell you is that the window of opportunity to remove ribs from the smoker is fairly tight. Too soon and they're tough, too long and they're dry. I've found that window to be around 20 minutes, maybe a half hour at lower temps. There really is very little margin for error.
 
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