Best temperature for ribs?

From my own experience, you are better off at 250 degrees to 275 degrees for the following reasons:

- Your ribs cook faster. They don't take on smoke after a certain point so why drag out the cooking time?

- You get much nicer carmalization/browning at 250 - 275 degrees. At 210 I bet your dry rub is still moist and wet which is not a good texture for ribs.

Give it a shot at 250 - 275 next time and let us know what you think!

The ribs came out surprisingly good for the first try. The ribs were maybe a little too smoky, but good. The thin end was a little dry. I think I need to trim it a little next time. The ribs were very thick at one side and quite thin on the other. The ribs were also a bit peppery. Maybe a little adjustment to the rub next time.

The dry rub was not still moist. The surface looked pretty good, but did not have the amount of caramelization that I have seen in some pictures. I will try a higher temp next time. Still, I am pretty happy about the outcome.

Thanks for the info Bacchus2b. I will post next time and let you know how it went.

You won't get much carmelization at temps in the 200's and in the moist environment of the CS.

If you want carmelization, just finish them on a grill, say 5 min each side.

One tag on,if you don't own a grill,could be to very lightly glaze them,and run them under your house oven's broiler for a VERY few mins.

Makes sense about the carmelization at low temperatures. I would still like to understand more about cooking time vs temperature and the effects on moistness and tenderness of the meat. The smoker gives me very good control over the temperature. My original thinking was that at temperatures below 212, there was no chance of boiling off juices near the surface of the meat and I would have a juicier result. It sounds like I picked a temperature that is a little low. Is the downside just the extra time for maybe no benefit, or am I losing out on dryness or tenderness as well?

Try and buy your racks as evenly proportioned as possible. It will help minimize drying out the smaller end. I smoke at 225-235* for about 4 hrs. They turn out great.

I'm no expert,but I do cook with a few.

Pags gave a good tip.

The end bones are what you pull off to check for doneness and the cooks' treat.

Work on getting the middle 10 bones right,and you will be pleased.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave in Tucson:
... My original thinking was that at temperatures below 212, there was no chance of boiling off juices near the surface of the meat and I would have a juicier result...

While logic tells you what you say is try, there is also the impact of duration on dryness. You can cook them at 180 long enough they will dry out. Realize the fat isn't "boiling" but the water will be.

You also have the variance of smoke flavor penetration. If you want more smoke, you need to cook lower.

Juiciness on the surface is a factor of a lot of things; direct vs indirect heat; humidity level of the smoker; airflow (convection effect); how much/kind of rub (salt?); thickness of the meat on the rib itself (thin will dry, such as the ends and that's why I always trim off the last bone)

I've won a bunch of rib ribbons in competition, and it's 275 @ 4 hours for spares that are 2.5 to 3.0 lb St Louis (how's that for details) LOL

To tag onto Smokin',who I know makes great ribs,the temp is part of the process-not the only thing.

He always says,weight,size,trim,age,shape,prefrozen,etc.

We have been fooling around with cooking backyard ribs, St. Louis spares and loinbacks,at 250* and been pleased.

Of course,it takes an hour longer,and not necessarily better.

Thank you all for the great information. I know this thread will never end if I keep asking questions, but I have to ask one more. My ribs were prefrozen. How much difference and what kind of difference does that make?

Probably not much, if any at all, but......

You said in your original post that these were spares. Are you sure?

Where did you get them? Were they Hormel by any chance?

I ask because I frequently see Hormel ribs frozen, or partially so, and if you're using them that would explain some of the other issues as well. They're injected to the point where they're basically ham, and they tend to be salty and seem to go from done to dried out in no time.

They were definitely spares. The package said "Previously frozen", but did not say Hormel. I got them at Fry's which is a Kroger owned chain of stores in Arizona. There was a fair amount of juice in the bag. No indication of what the juice was or if they were injected.

Like Todd says,in your case.

Now there are some technical issues that comp cooks sit up all night talking about.

There is a feeling,that prefrozen may take a little longer to come done.

They might well be injected with salt water.

Also,that juice in the bag, can be the water from all the broken cells from freezing,that are now more dry.

Think about the difference in the tenderness of a young 225 lb market hog,to a 12 yr old ,700 lb sausage hog.

They grind the whole hog for sausage,and sell the ribs,as "prefrozen specials".

Take good notes,ask the meat mngr if they are injected.

Cook a few more slabs,and compare your notes.

Outstanding information. I knew that these forums were good because I browsed them before I bought my smoker. Still the amount of help you guys have provided to me, a brand new member with no smoking experience at all, really says a lot about the friendliness and expertise of the members of this forum.

I really appreciate it. Can't weight to smoke the next batch!

quote:

Originally posted by Dave in Tucson:
... I know this thread will never end if I keep asking questions...

So?

Ask away, we don't have a limit on threads... LOL

I know Smokin cuts off the end rib, and that comes from experience at competitions. However, I like Tom's idea, "Cook's Treat". I find a drier end rib bone off my Cookshack to be superior to other "rib pretenders"--i.e. Chili's Restaurant, my inexperienced friends, et al. Just can't bare to discard the less than perfect but still pretty darn good stuff.

Just as an aside. When in Chicago, one of my friends heard from people who have visited us that I'm making a pretty darn good batch of baby backs. He, then, proceeded to excitingly and genuinely ask, "Do you par boil your ribs? You've got to be parboiling your ribs!" I was dumbfounded. I had to think for a few seconds so as to tactfully respond, not to be unintentionally offensive, still get him to listen and change his "evil" ways. Since he didn't have a smoker, which I advised he should get, I suggested slow cooking in the oven at 225* with a simple dry rub, toothpick test, and finish on the grill if he wanted BBQ sauce.

We've got a lot of work to do fellows!!! And gals!!!

Keeping in mind that there are plenty of restaurant chains,large and small,grocery chains,etc that proudly post their recipes for boiling/steaming.

They then proudly proclaim that their sauce is the secret.

Kinda like ketchup?

quote:

Originally posted by Dave in Tucson:
Thank you all for the great information. I know this thread will never end if I keep asking questions, but I have to ask one more. My ribs were prefrozen. How much difference and what kind of difference does that make?

I just did a test of frozen over fresh ribs yesterday as I've been wondering myself whether it is detrimental to the meat to freeze it rather than using fresh. In late August I purchased a fresh pork spare in cryovac and placed it in the freezer to be my frozen test rack. This weekend I purchased a fresh rack of spares and defrosted the other. Trimmed them both St Louis style and used the same rub on both. Cooked them side by side and rotated them through my 070 throughout the entire cooking time. At 225 it took about 5 hours. I couldn't tell the difference and neither could my wife or kids. Maybe a judge could tell but none of us could.
It might get easier to tell the difference the longer the ribs spend in the freezer.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
When in Chicago, one of my friends heard from people who have visited us that I'm making a pretty darn good batch of baby backs. He, then, proceeded to excitingly and genuinely ask, "Do you par boil your ribs? You've got to be parboiling your ribs!" I was dumbfounded. I had to think for a few seconds so as to tactfully respond, not to be unintentionally offensive, still get him to listen and change his "evil" ways. Since he didn't have a smoker, which I advised he should get, I suggested slow cooking in the oven at 225* with a simple dry rub, toothpick test, and finish on the grill if he wanted BBQ sauce.

I know this is an old post, but I couldn't help myself in responding.

I've had a couple people say the same thing... You boil your ribs first right? I just look at them like they are insane and say (In my best Dr. McCoy voice): My god man! These aren't lobsters! You don't boil ribs, you boil lobsters. Have you ever seen "Rib Boil" in the spice aisle? I rest my case.

Then I proceed to try to explain things in a nice way.

There are some major destination restaurants that proudly post their boiled rib recipes and then point to their world famous sauce as the secret.

Once you've blanched them, the sauce has to be the secret.