Great big ribs in AmeriQue

Hi Donna,

The spares I mentioned in my post on the owners forum were done with the spicy chicken/rib rub combo too. Mighty good. I cooked by time and doness by not temp.

I'd be careful to get a real good probe placement. I would think some thinner sections might dry out while wating for the thicker ones to reach final temp. Never done ribs to temp, so I'm just guessing. Must be folks with more experince who'll have a better idea.

Never do ribs to an internal temp. The temp is too unreliable as the meat varies so much. Just have never heard of anyone consistently having a luck with temp because ribs themselves vary too much and they will be tender at different temps.

Either take a bone and twist it to see how it is; poke a toothpick through to test the resistence (you want little) or take a pair of tongs and from the end of the rack, pick up the entire rack and see how it bends in the middle (it will start to crack as it gets to final temp).

Okay! I will try Smokin's techniques to test for doneness. Thanks.

Donna

There used to be some expert that said take 'em to 202º,or maybe it was 208º,or maybe it was 212º,or was it 215º-if ya only cooked at 200º for 12 hrs,or something.

Then I tried to try it on some Danish babybacks,and the probe was bigger than the rib bones.

I never could remember,so I sorta do 'em like Smokin' says.

Donna, although you may not be able to use your probe for the ribs, you can still use the countdown timer as a fail safe in case you get busy and don't get around to checking them as soon as you planned. Seems to me that about 4 yours at 225 would be a good guesstimate. At least that's what it usually takes in my Smokette. Oops, that's for loin backs. Maybe 5 hours would be better for spares. Haven't cooked those critters in about 40 years.

After 8 hours, my giant ribs were perfect. Nice and firm, not falling apart but very tender and moist. Seems like an awfully long time at 225F, but they were pretty big.

I didn't get fotos of the cooked ribs because a horde of teenage boys descended on them and for a while it was just a blur of meat and teeth and bones flying.

Donna

8 hours is what the bronto spares I buy at Costco take too.

Yep,that's not out of the question.

There can be several factors to the timing.

Injected ribs ,may cook differently.

Previously frozen pork,may take longer to tender/finish.

Older hogs,may be tougher/leaner.

Naturally,opening the cooker door will extend cook times.