First Ribs were amazing!

Hey JayB, Congrats! Betcha your ribs were better than most any Q joint you can name. If not, they sure will be there next time out.

Regards, Mike

Aren't those ribs amazing in the cookshack? I did my third batch of racks this weekend and they were the best I've done so far. Made a rub of 1 part cs rib rub, 1 part montreal steak seasoning and 2 parts raw sugar. The montreal steak seasoning is a new ingredient and it really added a nice kick. Cooked them 5 hours and they were just amazing. Just can't screw up ribs in the cookshack!

NJP, what pit temp and were you cooking STL cut spares? Are you saucing or basting them? When we cook STL spares at 225, they start to dry out past 3.5 hours...we put them in, close the door, and don't open it until we take them out. 5 hours for us would have them dried out.

Regards, Mike

Mike- I'm doing baby back ribs at 225 for 5 hours. The meat is just tender as can be-- falling off the bone. Some say falling off the bone is over cooked but that's how I like 'em. They certainly weren't dried out. I did not baste or mop. In fact I never opened the smokette for the entire cook. When I took them off I brushed them with a commercial bbq sauce, double wrapped in foil and put them in the cooler until we were ready to devour them, which was about an hour later.

Thanks, NJP. When we speak of "falling off the bone" we mean that all the meat easily comes off each bone, leaving the bone "clean". Is this what you mean, too?

Regards, Mike

Mike-Exactly. To me, a clean bone is a happy bone!

Mike: I see similar times to NJP. St Louis style spares for about 5 hrs, but baby backs about 4. That includes opening the smoker about an hour before to apply some sauce, then once again before they come out.

NJP, WB, et All, sure would like to see Stuart and Smokin' address this thread. There is just no way we can cook STL spares for 5 hours at 225 in either the 50 or 150.

Ours are rated 2.25 lbs and down per slab, with no rib tips, etc. These suckers cost us about $3 per lb. Are you cooking with somewhat larger ribs? We've seen them at Sams for about $2 but they are about 3.5 to 4 lbs and down.

Color me confused...

Regards, Mike

Hey, you guys are doing just fine, don't need me or Stuart all the time do 'ya?

I agree, if I put any slabs (spare, baby backs, trimmed, untrimmed, etc) they don't take 5 hours without drying out at 225. 3.5 and down spares have taken over 4 hours to get where I want, but I've also had them done in under 4.

My guess here is the foil he's using and the sauce. I've found at about the 3 hr point is where things can start to go wrong -- like drying out quickly. But saucing them and adding them to foil, they'll probably do fine to 5 hours (as evidenced by the results from JayB).

My suggestion on the ribs. I weigh each slab individually in my logs and keep track of the results. A difference of 8 oz. in a slab can add another 30 min to an hour.

Smokin' to the Rescue!

Smokin', that weight of slab thing keeps going through our mind...

We buy, by the box, the smallest slabs we can find. They are rated 2.25 and down and they are pretty lean without trimming anything from them...just remove the membranes. They average just about 2 lbs per slab with STL cut.

From what you've said about adding about 30 mins for each 1/2 lb of weight, we'd guess that a 5 hour ride in the CS would use slabs that weighed in at about 3.5 lbs each.

If that's the case, we can easily understand the added cooking time.

Regards, Mike

Hope it helps.

I haven't heard people mentioning it much, but there is a variance in weight if you buy the packed kind. For example: it says 11lbs on a 3 slabber, but what does each slab weigh -- I such a pack if seen a 1 lb difference between the larger and smaller.

I always weigh my slabs individually.

Smokin', we weigh each slab, too. However, our variance on 2.25 and downs is about 3 oz one way or the other...meaning that there has been no more than 6oz difference from heaviest slab in the case to the lightest slab in the case.

If you guys have never tried them, someone suggested Farmland ribs to us a few months ago and we love em...very small and very lean slabs. Well trimmed, too. We get them at restaurant and institutional food supply place. Haven't seen them at Sams, Costco, nor supermarkets.

Regards, mike

Michael,

I agree on the Farmland ribs. United Supermarkets in OK and TX carry them.

I am a little lazier than you guys. If I buy a package of 3 ribs and the labels says they weight 10 lbs, then I assume that each slab weights 3.3 pounds and cook them for 4 hours... They always turn out great, haven't had leftovers yet.

Stuart

Stuart, you just think you're lazy!

We buy spares by the box. The box weighs in at a bit over 30 lbs. That's about 14 slabs or so. That's about one trip to the store for every five of your trips.

Their people put them in our SAV. Jan brings them into the house. Samantha takes them downstairs and puts the box in the freezer. I delegate.

Regards, Double Lazy

It sounds strange, but the girth or thickness of the bone makes a difference in the cooking time. Also, were the ribs refrigerator cold or room temp when they were put in the CS? I hope this helps someone in ribbie land.

nsrok,

Good to hear from you.

Personally, I like to put my ribs in "cold." The idea is that, according to some, meat will not absorb the "smoke" after 140 degrees because of how meat and smoke interact.

So, the longer it takes to get to 140, the theory is more smoke. And I agree.

Smokin'