Will foiled ribs hold in a cooler?
- Thread starter JeffB
- Start date
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Jeff, I'd suggest cooking ribs til the racks bend good when lifted with tongs in the center. Then start checking for tenderness with toothpicks, and wrap in foil upon pulling.
I wouldn't try to keep the ribs too hot for too long though. For holding about an hour, a good idea I've found is to simply put each foiled rack in a paper bag and leave out on the counter. You want them to stay hot, but not continue cooking and dry out. As long as the bark is right upon pulling, I don't mind the texture after a little holding at all, but I'm not a fan of hard and crunchy ribs.
I wouldn't try to keep the ribs too hot for too long though. For holding about an hour, a good idea I've found is to simply put each foiled rack in a paper bag and leave out on the counter. You want them to stay hot, but not continue cooking and dry out. As long as the bark is right upon pulling, I don't mind the texture after a little holding at all, but I'm not a fan of hard and crunchy ribs.
Russ Sylvester
TVWBB Pro
My $0.02
Ribs don't hold much if at all. You can stretch a little bit if you have a cooler spot in your cooker to just keep them over 140. But again, they won't last long before they start drying out.
If you must go a long time then I would suggest putting them in a zip-loc bag and quickly chilling them to below 40. Then at the last minute throw them back into the cooker to fully re-heat to 140.
Russ
Ribs don't hold much if at all. You can stretch a little bit if you have a cooler spot in your cooker to just keep them over 140. But again, they won't last long before they start drying out.
If you must go a long time then I would suggest putting them in a zip-loc bag and quickly chilling them to below 40. Then at the last minute throw them back into the cooker to fully re-heat to 140.
Russ
Chris Bjork
TVWBB Fan
cook the ribs as normal but call your guests right before they are done and make up an excuse to cancel the meal and eat them yourself
Matt Sanders
TVWBB Pro
Chris is correct.
JeffB
TVWBB Pro
Chris, that may be the obvious solution to an otherwise difficult problem.
It's 3:15 and I'm calling them done but I'm going to give them an extra 1/2 hour at 255 and then pull them. I don't think the extra 30 minutes will ruin them.
Now, off to Google a decent homemade BBQ sauce recipe. Photos to follow.
It's 3:15 and I'm calling them done but I'm going to give them an extra 1/2 hour at 255 and then pull them. I don't think the extra 30 minutes will ruin them.
Now, off to Google a decent homemade BBQ sauce recipe. Photos to follow.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jeff Bryson:
Chris, that may be the obvious solution to an otherwise difficult problem.
It's 3:15 and I'm calling them done but I'm going to give them an extra 1/2 hour at 255 and then pull them. I don't think the extra 30 minutes will ruin them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Whoa, Jeff. If they truly are tender you need to shut the dang vents and leave 'em be if you don't want to foil 'em and hold. They're ribs, not pork butt, and at the price of 'em nowadays, I don't want to cook any more juice out of 'em than necessary.
Chris, that may be the obvious solution to an otherwise difficult problem.
It's 3:15 and I'm calling them done but I'm going to give them an extra 1/2 hour at 255 and then pull them. I don't think the extra 30 minutes will ruin them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Whoa, Jeff. If they truly are tender you need to shut the dang vents and leave 'em be if you don't want to foil 'em and hold. They're ribs, not pork butt, and at the price of 'em nowadays, I don't want to cook any more juice out of 'em than necessary.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jeff Bryson:
It's 3:15 and I'm calling them done but I'm going to give them an extra 1/2 hour at 255 and then pull them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Wasn't a tough call at all, but personal experience is the best learned bbq lesson. You just learned for yourself that you simply can't cook "done" ribs, as you called them yourself, half an hour longer, not to mention then holding them hot in foil for any length of time. Personally, I'm getting more and more confidant in my timeframes but would still prefer to reheat ribs on site if taking to some friends house. Pulled pork and brisket will keep hot much better than ribs or chicken, but like I posted earlier, an hour wrapped in foil, inside a paper bag is fine...as long as they're not overcooked already.
It's 3:15 and I'm calling them done but I'm going to give them an extra 1/2 hour at 255 and then pull them. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Wasn't a tough call at all, but personal experience is the best learned bbq lesson. You just learned for yourself that you simply can't cook "done" ribs, as you called them yourself, half an hour longer, not to mention then holding them hot in foil for any length of time. Personally, I'm getting more and more confidant in my timeframes but would still prefer to reheat ribs on site if taking to some friends house. Pulled pork and brisket will keep hot much better than ribs or chicken, but like I posted earlier, an hour wrapped in foil, inside a paper bag is fine...as long as they're not overcooked already.
JeffB
TVWBB Pro
Thanks Dave. I was a bit frustrated too after spending all day working on the ribs only to get to their house and have to wait another 30 minutes until the husband got off the phone to eat. I did as you suggested, wrapping in heavy foil and into a paper bag, but they just didn't hold like a BB, and they had begun to dry out and get hard.
Ideally I would have started them later in the morning but timing is an issue on a school day.
Ideally I would have started them later in the morning but timing is an issue on a school day.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jeff Bryson:
I did as you suggested, wrapping in heavy foil and into a paper bag, but they just didn't hold like a BB, and they had begun to dry out and get hard. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Just my .02 cents: I know you had to hold 'em longer than anticipated, but in my experience nothing gets "hard" in the foil. Folks complaints are rather that it'll ruin and soften the texture of the bark, and I'm pretty sure that "hardness" happened from overcooking, especially if letting the edges get in the outer grate hot zone and cook unevenly, or too quickly. At least that's been my reasons for hardness. Don't like to cook over 275* without foiling, either.
Anyway, residual cooking in foil, just like foiling too much during the actual cook, will definately dry out ribs if they get overcooked, but the texture will go to the mushy side as long as not too hard on the outside to begin with.
Better luck next time, and I can guarantee ya that they were 100X better than my worst rib cook and just as good as many others I've turned out. Ribs can be tough, truth be told, especially when toting to folk's house that don't know what time it is.
I did as you suggested, wrapping in heavy foil and into a paper bag, but they just didn't hold like a BB, and they had begun to dry out and get hard. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Just my .02 cents: I know you had to hold 'em longer than anticipated, but in my experience nothing gets "hard" in the foil. Folks complaints are rather that it'll ruin and soften the texture of the bark, and I'm pretty sure that "hardness" happened from overcooking, especially if letting the edges get in the outer grate hot zone and cook unevenly, or too quickly. At least that's been my reasons for hardness. Don't like to cook over 275* without foiling, either.
Anyway, residual cooking in foil, just like foiling too much during the actual cook, will definately dry out ribs if they get overcooked, but the texture will go to the mushy side as long as not too hard on the outside to begin with.
Better luck next time, and I can guarantee ya that they were 100X better than my worst rib cook and just as good as many others I've turned out. Ribs can be tough, truth be told, especially when toting to folk's house that don't know what time it is.
Chris Bjork
TVWBB Fan
If I overcook ribs, instead of telling people that, I call them "good eatin ribs".
JeffB
TVWBB Pro
A couple of photos of the ribs nearly completed and the finished product. Good bark but a bit dry. Lesson learned.
2 racks were fresh but frozen for about 1 month and thawed a couple of days ahead of time. The other 2 were loinbacks my wife picked up in cryovack seal which had also been frozen but only for about a week. I don't know if freezing has any effect on the final product.
The final product:
A quick peek around the 4 hour mark:
http://i601.photobucket.com/al...RibsNearlyDone-1.jpg
2 racks were fresh but frozen for about 1 month and thawed a couple of days ahead of time. The other 2 were loinbacks my wife picked up in cryovack seal which had also been frozen but only for about a week. I don't know if freezing has any effect on the final product.
The final product:
A quick peek around the 4 hour mark:
http://i601.photobucket.com/al...RibsNearlyDone-1.jpg
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Jeff, ever tried smoking ribs at 250* with water in the pan? Not 225-250, I mean 250*. The idea is to keep that water pan really simmering and it's the only way I go unless I foil during the cook. Might try it sometime and see if you don't think the bark ends up a little less dry and chewy.
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I wouldn't try to keep the ribs too hot for too long though. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Agreed.
I really don't hold them. If I am cooking ahead I just cook till tender then remove and let them cool, unwrapped. If I need to serve later I wrap and chill; if serving sooner than that I just tent to keep off flying critters. For service I reheat either indirect or direct, till serving temp (which is lower than cooking temp), so it only takes minutes. No overcooking, no hardness, no mushiness.
Agreed.
I really don't hold them. If I am cooking ahead I just cook till tender then remove and let them cool, unwrapped. If I need to serve later I wrap and chill; if serving sooner than that I just tent to keep off flying critters. For service I reheat either indirect or direct, till serving temp (which is lower than cooking temp), so it only takes minutes. No overcooking, no hardness, no mushiness.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
To paraphrase what I heard a competitor at Memphis in May say about ribs: "Ribs are the hardest category. Twenty minutes either way of pefect doneness IS gonna make or break 'em." Obviously, depends on the cooking temp. Faster we cook the smaller the doneness window, but thirty minutes longer than needed at ANY temp sure isn't gonna help.
A Cleland
TVWBB Super Fan
I use the wooden toothpick method to check for done. When it goes in like it is going into a stick of butter, they are done. I then lower the temp to 200 and sauce or glaze for no more than 20 minutes. Take them off, wrap them in foil for another 20 minutes, and they are good to go.
I use a cooler as a cambro by filling it 3/4 full of very hot water, closing the lid, and letting it sit for 30 minutes. Empty the cooler, dry it well, line it win some bath towels, put in my still wrapped ribs, and cover with another towel. This will hold the ribs for an hour or more. Secret is not to open the foil until ready to serve.
I use a cooler as a cambro by filling it 3/4 full of very hot water, closing the lid, and letting it sit for 30 minutes. Empty the cooler, dry it well, line it win some bath towels, put in my still wrapped ribs, and cover with another towel. This will hold the ribs for an hour or more. Secret is not to open the foil until ready to serve.
Monty House
TVWBB Pro
In the last 30-60 minutes, I like to open the vents and let the heat rise and get a crisp on the outside. Then, when tender, I sauce 'em & serve 'em immediately.
Nothing wrong with those ribs in that pic.
Nothing wrong with those ribs in that pic.