Basic Ribs Questions

Cowboy,

Welcome to the forum. It would be helpful, when you need a diagnosis on a cook, for you to provide us with as much info as possible, e.g. type of meat, weight of meat, thermostat setting, length of time of cook, etc.

All that you really said was the ribs "came out pretty good, but not great." What was wrong, too tough, too dry, etc.

Ribs are probably one of the trickier things to master because there are so many variables. Many, if not most of us, do not use a thermometer with ribs because temp with ribs is not necessarily a good indicator.

Were your ribs full untrimmed ribs, St. Louis style trim, Kansas City style trim or were they really baby backs? It all makes a difference!!!

For an initial primer, try reading Smokin Okie's 101 guides listed in the drop down tab at the top.

Like Mike says.

The cookbook is ok for recipes,but not for times.

The rib archives and Smokin's 101 are your best bets.

Smokin's 101 s

Yes,a remote therm will prove invaluable on most things you cook-but most folks do not use them on ribs.

Mike,

Thanks for the reply and the forum tips. These were untrimmed spareribs (about 4#/rack). I smoked them over one large chunk of hickory at 225 for 4 hours. I then wrapped them in plastic wrap and foil and froze them (they came out of the smoker at 11:30 p.m.) and reheated them for about an hour in a 275 degree oven. They were a little dry, but tender with good smoke flavor.

I guess I'm not as concerned about how they turned out, though, because I just sort of threw them in after seasoning the smoker to get a feel for the process. I am more interested at this point in the general mechanics of using this nifty machine. The 101 guides are great, as are the posts in this forum. I'm really looking forward to learning the secrets of great Q.

The biggest problem for me with leaving ribs whole is that they take up too much room. I can only get one slab per rack when they are whole, but it I cut them in half I can usually get three half-slabs on a rack. I haven't noticed any real difference between whole slabs and cut.

A lot of folks here also hang their ribs using the CS rib hooks. I do this sometimes, depending on what else I am cooking. If its just ribs, then I will hang the ribs, but if I have something else, I will use two racks for ribs and one rack for a fatty (breakfast sausage roll), some ABTs or whatever.

I have also seen guys roll the slabs and secure them with a bamboo skewers and then stand them on end. I haven't tried this method yet. You can also use a rib rack.

Also... I don't use a therm for ribs since its almost impossible to find a place to put the probe! I do use a remote therm for other meats, but this is so I can monitor progress and know when to start checking for doneness. Each chunk of meat is different, so one butt may be pullable at 185, but the next may need to go to 195. As Smokin' says "Its done when its done!"
For ribs, I seem to average about 5 hours for baby backs and 6 hours for spares (typically St. Louis trim).

Hope that helps!

Temp probes are great (essential) for pork butts, brisket, and other large chunks of meat. Ribs are so thin that the probe doesn't give an accurate reading.

With ribs, shoot for time. I do my spares between 6-7 hours at the highest temp. I think you'll also find they're more moist with a longer cook because the fat and callogen has time to break down.

I'm sorry, did you say "you froze them"?

Yeah, in the freezer. I figured it was probably a no-no, but what's the alternative?

Cowboy,

The alternative is to eat them!!! Yeah, I know you said you took them out at 11:30pm but really... gotta tease you on that one.

Lots of us freeze left overs, but that's usually larger cuts with lots left over. Personally, once I cook ribs, I eat em. I have never frozen them after cooking. I am guessing that given the amount of meat, the process of partially cooking, freezing, thawing and reheating spares is likely to result in drying them out.

As to times, 4 hours for an untrimmed 4 lb. rack of spares is way too short a cook time. More realistic is 6-7 hours for spares, and probably closer to the 7 hour mark if they are untrimmed.

I refrigerate left over ribs on occasion. I reheat them in the microwave with a bit of plastic wrap over them and wet them with a bit of water before nuking. Not as good as fresh, but pretty darn good.

Cowboy

Another good...um great piece of photo journalism about how to use your new niffty device is MainelyDave's Cookshack BBQ site: http://www.lamaine.com/bbq.

The pictures and narration plus Dave's unique humor is fantastic.

Opus

Most of the spare ribs I have cooked have taken about 5-6 hours at 225 degrees. They are the darnedest things to master, but my wife and I have no problem eating my newbie near-misses .
Most valuable info that I have taken off of the forum for ribs, skip the thermometer, and plan to open the door at four hours. Then do something. Evaluate them, pick them up and turn them, sauce them, grab a bone and wiggle it, but get to know them. If the meat is just starting to pull back, close the door and come back in an hour or two. If you suddenly feel pressed for time, take 'em out and finish them in the oven. You already have all the smoke you need, and you can monitor them all you want inside.

One other tip: note-taking. I have one continuous document on my computer entitled "smoker logs." Anytime I open the smoker, I open the document and review any pertinent episodes. During and after the cook I enter notes. I will either get better at this or I will make a fortune when I publish "The Smokin' Diaries."

Thanks for the kind words Opus.

I think you have a period on the end of the link -which doesn't work.

The correct link:
http://www.lamaine.com/bbq/

Looks like I'm gonna finally have some time during the next month to finally update it again.