Pork Ribs

My limited experence tells me that maybe you should do TOOTHPICK test.Don't think rest would have finished cooking them,IMO. It will take longer on spares then BB.Keep good notes.

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

How long did you leave rub on the slabs,had they been injected by the company?

How salty was rub,and how heavy?

Did they have enough fat to give them moisture?

Did you check temp at cooking point on the meat,with an accurate, tested therm?

Dial setting can mean the same difference as brand of tennis shoes the cook wears,

Pullback on the bone could mean something,or nothing.

Many of us like cal's approach,as well as picking them up in the middle with tongs,to see if the meat starts to break,when they bend in two.

Full spares are going to take longer than baby backs, say 6-7 hrs. Like Cal says, do the toothpick test. And always smoke to temp (or toothpick), never pull your product just based on time.

quote:

Originally posted by Jack from Scituate:
... Bought fresh at around 4 to 5 pounds a rack. I applied mustard then the rub... They had pulled back from the bone quite a bit, assumed they where done. They where good but a bit dry??? Any suggestions? Should I have rested them???

Not sure what you mean by dry, but 4 lb spares wont' be done in four hours. What you're seeing a dry, more likely is undercook.

Pull back means little in determining doneness. It's an indication that the ribs themselves shrunk and lost a lot of moisture.

I've seen a lot of places that tell people that pull back is a way of testing doneness. It's a function of the pork itself and the cooking method. Plenty of my ribs never get pull back.

I'd switch ribs, where they enhanced or not? That much pull back might be from the enhanced type ribs.

And don't put the rub on overnight, salt will draw out moisture.

Smokin'

I'm a newbie, I only have 1 smoke under my belt so far.
Can you explain the "toothpick" test?
I have 5 slabs of pork ribs to smoke. :-)
I will start with 1 slab and see how I can improve for the next 4...
Lots of piggy's will be sacrificed in the name of Q'n! :-)

nate,

I'll help you out, you'll still a newbie

We've got the forum set up by topic, so the answer is within this group (and probably every other question you have about ribs is also here)

Just go to the top of this forum, click "find" type "toothpick" and it will search on this forum only.

here's what you'll get (first search is free on me)

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...rum_scope=5691028883

When the meat has pulled back from the bone a bit, run a toothpick through the meat in several areas of the ribs. If you feel resistance, smoke it some more and test in 30 minutes. Once the toothpick slides through the meat like butter, she's done and ready to pull from the smoker.

If you're smoking at apprx. 250*, baby backs will be done in about 4+ hrs., St. Louis ribs in about 5.5-6 hrs., and full spares in about 7 hrs. But these are rough guidelines. They're done when you've tested their bend and toothpick tenderness. Start checking them about about an hr. before you expect them to finish and check them every 30 minutes. When they're close but not quite done, you can test a little more frequently.

Read Ribs 101 for more information on ribs and determining when they are done. That and the many posts in the Ribs forum will be invaluable to you.

Since your a Newbie like me, let me offer this tip. When you toothpick test the ribs should finish quicker on the ends. This is where you will learn what it feels like when toothpick passes through like butter.Remember that feeling for the middle part. It will take only a little practice and good notes to be able to reproduce your Q consistently

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
When the meat has pulled back from the bone a bit...

Okay, time for a Smokin' post.

Don't worry Pags, it's not you...

For 2010, one of the topics that will be on my list is this statement. Not from you Pags, but the whole "pull back from the bone" concept.

For me, and I've cooked a few ribs, this is not an indication related at all to when ribs are ready.

How much is enough?
How much is too much?

It's just an indicator, for me, that the cooking method has caused the rib to shrink up and lose some moisture. Maybe they're done, maybe not.

My issue with it is personal, mainly because it's something I can't teach to others, make it repeatable for the newbies and those wanting to improve their rib cooking. The challenge is how to explain what situations cause it, what don't, how to measure it, etc, etc.

How do you explain to someone that doesn't get rib pullback that their ribs are good.

FYI, my ribs that I win with (and I win a lot ) don't have pull back, certainly not much.

It's kinda like the bend test, works for some, not for others, because it's subjective. That's why I started, and as far as I know, I'm the first to tell people to use a toothpick. I've been doing that almost since the forum began, more so than the bend test. It's something that's teachable and repeatable.

Enough Smokin'....

So, agree, disagree?

Smokin,
I have a question on the pull back? Isn't it more of a matter of if they are fresh or injected with a solution or are there other considerations such as spraying with AJ? Thanks for helping clear up the pull back theory!

Smokin. I fully endorsed the toothpick method, use it all the time and recommended it in my post above. It is indeed THE WAY to see if ribs are done. But something, besides time, has got to tell us to check with the toothpick. Doesn't a little bending and a bit of pull back tell us to get out the toothpick and check to see if they're ready?

Signed,

Confused

Oh confused, Where do we use all these fine notes that I have been taking, which Smokin' has told us many, many, many times to keep?

My notes tell me the ribs had a bit of pullback so I checked the ribs with a toothpick. Some I pulled, and some I rechecked a few minutes later.

I just want to know how Smokin makes those ribs without having just a bit of bone exposed.

It is confusing enough that I have seen a fine cook almost disqualified for amount of pullback.

SOMETIMES,folks cooking hotter[above 275*] will get more pullback,and so might some folks with long oilfield pipe style offsets that flow a lot of air,as might folks cooking previously frozen ribs.

SOMETIMES,folks cooking fresh ribs,down around 225* might not get much pullback.

Interesting. Thanks. Do you think all of Sam's baby back ribs in the cryovac have been previously frozen?

Sam's coldkeeper equipment should be at 28*,and they would not intenionally freeze any ribs,to my knowledge.

Many comp teams get their meats from Sam's.

Something I do is when I remove my ribs from the smoker oven is place sauce heavy on them and foil them and place in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.Very tender,moist,fall off the bone!