Cooking at Temp Below 225

I forget to mention I have an AmericaQ

4Play,
We also do ribs in the AQ with a dry rub.
Temp at 190 and yes they do take some time.
Finished product is a lite to medium red to brown mainly from the paprika and brown sugar.
The rub i use is from the food network.
AB's chili powder.Great fresh taste!
Be carefull if you try this powder for it is PEPPER gas when you heat the chilis

Personally,before I dropped my temps,I'd drop the dark brown sugar.

Use turbinado,if you are concerned about scorching.

Some paprikas can also scorch and give too dark a color.

What wood are you using,as that can also darken the ribs.

I haven't had the pleasure of cooking on the Amerique,yet-but I'd personally be more prone to cook at a little higher temps.

Just a couple of thoughts.

I'm with Tom, look at your ingredients. Use light brown and less of it. Or even put it on later in the smoke.

A bit of a late reply to this but, I have been scanning the forum to catch up on things. I just did 3 spare ribs for 7 hours at 225 and they were fall off the bone fabulous. Outside temp was plus 4 degrees. Used 2 oz of mesquite. I used the CS Rib Rub the night before and wrapped them in plastic wrap. Smoked meat side down and never opened the door. Pulled them out and the skin was cracked and meat was pulled back from the bone. Sauced them, wrapped them in foil and a terry towel and they took a nap in the cooler.

Just a side note to the above, this was done at an elevation of about 1,000 feet. When I smoke at 8,300 feet elevation It takes about 10 hours.

An additional thought on Grilldaddy's reference to the rub. "Dried" chilis can be funny things. It's a natural challenge to find the exact chilis that may be called out in a recipe (specifically that one of 'A. Brown') and we tend to substitute.

SOME of the chilis do very poorly if they are oven, or even pan-toasted and get a bitter flavor and may even burn in a blink of an eye. Others take several minutes just to get some flavor going. And others still may be just right coming out of the package, seeded and stems removed, then whizzed up in blender, or spice grinder.

My point is that it is easy to ruin a rub if care isn't taken with the dried chilis. Get an ancho (for good taste), a hot one (for zing), and a black one (for depth of flavor), don't toast them, clean 'em and grind 'em and see how they taste before mixing up a whole batch of chili powder.

Just my fifth of a dime.