What temperature for ribs? Pork butt?

[Guest]

Here's a pretty fundamental question for the grizzled veterans!

What temperature do you like to maintain in your cooker for ribs and pork butts?

I did a batch of ribs this afternoon on my new cooker. Temperature control was amazing and I was able to hold the grate temps steady between 220 and 230 degrees for the five hours I cooked them (without touching the fire - just tweaking the vents).

The ribs were very good. However, despite being "toothpick" tender when I pulled them off after five hours, they were not "bite clean off the bone tender" like some ribs I cooked a couple weeks ago for about the same amount of time at 240 to 250 degrees. I thought that today's ribs could have stood another hour of cooking.

Clearly, I've got two options: cook at the 225 range like today and cook them longer or go up a bit on the heat (say to 250) and cook them about five hours.

My gut reaction is that I may prefer the texture of "q" cooked a little hotter. What do you guys think? What's your optimum temperature at the grate? Pros and cons of cooking at various temps? Can you overdo the "low 'n slow" thing?

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Hey Webb!

I smoke everything at 225?. Why? After going around and observing contests, I noticed almost all the cookers were hovering around 225?. Now, my first contests that I observed were MIM and I swear nearly every pit was right at 225?. After speaking to many of the cookers, it was also clear they all took 6 hours to finish their baby backs.

One big difference may be the type of cookers they are using. Many of the MIM teams, especially the top teams, use a Jim Maxey style water cooker. So, perhaps a moist environment adds to the cooking time?

I also had the good fortune to sit and chat with John Willingham several years ago and he is adamant about keeping his cooker at 225?.

So, in this case I have decided to do what the pros have been doing. Our contest results have had a direct correlation to the pit temps and how steady we have kept them. The lower and steadier the temps, the better we have done.

Now, I also know there are cookers on the KCBS circuit who cook their ribs as high as 275?...and win lots of ribbons. So, there appears to be no right or wrong way of cooking(but we all know that).

I did 2 racks of ribs last night and again held the pit steady at 225? and it took 6 hours to finish...just as it has for the last 6 years.

In the end, I would be surprised if there was a huge difference in taste and texture. Don't rely on yourself to do this kind of testing...you will have built-in, sub-concious preferences(you already admitted you like the higher temps better). BUT, let your neighbors do the testing and see what happens.

This sounds interesting enough that I may have to try this. I have 2 WSM's I can use and several willing neighbors to test. I'll let you all know!

 

[Guest]

I'm a fan of going just a little hotter and cutting a little time off the cook. I use a digital therm through the exhaust vent, and I try to keep it between 250? and 260?, which I assume to be 10? less at the grate. I agree with Stogie, either way it will be good. If you want to put a really fine point on your decision, I think you would have to factor in the amount of fat in the meat. If the meat is really fatty, go slower and longer, if on the lean side, go hotter and faster.

 

[Jim Minion]

Webb
I keep the cooker below 270? because I don't want burn the sugar in the rub. I find that the cooker will slowly increase in temp as more coals lite off, I normally use only one of the bottom vents for heat control and almost never have to make any adjustments unless it real windy.
BBQ range is 220 to 270? for me and as long as it's in that range I don't worry about.
Jim

 

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kevin Taylor:
[qb]
I smoke everything at 225?. Why? After going around and observing contests, I noticed almost all the cookers were hovering around 225?. Now, my first contests that I observed were MIM and I swear nearly every pit was right at 225?. After speaking to many of the cookers, it was also clear they all took 6 hours to finish their baby backs.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks, Stogie! That answered my question perfectly. I'm happy to cook at 225 and that was my target yesterday. Sounds like I just pulled them off an hour too early.

Just in looking at the thicker ribs that I ate, I would have guessed they needed about another hour to get "eatin' off the bone" clean. Some of the thinner sections of the slabs were already there.

The confirmation of a 6 hour cook time helps a lot. Much of what I read indicates 5 hours for baby backs, so that's what I was using as a rough guide. Five hours worked great the last time, but my cooker was probably averaging 240 degrees for that cook.

So I guess the lesson is cook at 225 and just wait for the food to be done unless you've got some pressing deadline and need to raise the temperature to accelerate the process.

Thanks again!

 

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jim Minion:
[qb]BBQ range is 220 to 270? for me and as long as it's in that range I don't worry about.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Very practical advice! My own inclination is to not worry much about temperature swings within a range -- an inclination probably born of cooking for 25 years without a themermometer!

Cooking in these temperature ranges is a learning experience for me, so I'm trying to hold temps a little more steady just to develop a feel for cooking times/results versus temp. Once I've got a feel for predicting cooking times, I'm likely to follow your practice: set the smoker to gradually rise to 250 or so early in the cook, which of course will be followed by a gradual decline later in the cook. That would clearly be the way to go on an overnight cook.

I didn't use your "Minion Method" yesterday. I have tried it and it works great. But, on the pork butt I did, I detected just the faintest hint of the distinctive aroma of charcoal briquettes lighting off. Yesterday, I was able to get 6+ hours of temperatures in the right range from 2 chimneys of lit coals without ever touching the fire, so I'm satisfied with that for shorter cooks.

With that much lit charcoal, the fire stabilized in the 190 range with the bottom vents closed/top vent open and stabilized in the 225 range by opening the bottom vents -- 25% open. It seemed pretty controllable.