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6 replies

Rib Failure

H heynowMember
Well, it had to happen to me sometime. I've had nothing but success on my AmeriQue...until yesterday. I cut my Costco twin packer spares into St. Louis Style as usual. Rubbed them down with Cookshack Rib rub. Something just didn't seem right. The spares seemed smaller than usual and were somewhat thin and the meat just wasn't that thick between the ribs. I marched on, trimmed some fat, removed the membrane etc. Put in 2 oz of apple and 2 oz of hickory, set the AQ to 230 for 5.5 hours. Put a pan of Hog Apple baked beans in the top shelf to one side.

My confidence level is very high with the AQ, so I didn't check the ribs. My BAD! At the 5.5 hour mark I cracked the door and knew I was in trouble. I could see the ribs were over cooked. Not the AQ's fault. I should have listened to my first impressions that I needed to modify my cooking procedures to adjust to the skinny little ribs.

Oh well, one bad cook out of fifty in the AQ is acceptable. The Hog Apple beans were awesome though, so not everything was a failure.

I have some smokin' to do to make this up to the family Smiler. Can't wait.

Now that I have this off my chest, I feel better.. Smiler
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R ribdogMember
It sounds like you learned a lot from your experience which is the important part.

The weight of each rack of ribs, the amount of fat, the thickness of the meat are just some of the factors that come into play when cooking ribs. I go through the same process when I cook at competitions. Over time, you will get a good feel on how to adjust for these factors.

BTW, please post the recipe for the beans over on the recipe board. I would like to look at it.
FM Former Member
ONE failure? Man, if I kept count of my failures....I'd run out of ink.

At least it wasn't the smoker failing you.

One thing, I mentioned in another rib thread, is to keep in mind the rack weight. It's not scientific, but you can get around 30 min per 1/4 to 1/2 pound difference.

Just take great notes, you'll do better next time.
FM Former Member
To me ribs are the hardest to cook and get the same results time after time. I have an AQ and cooked spares for about 8 hours(@ 225) and the meat only got to 180, this was with the AQ probe and another remote probe as a check, the piece on the end always came out tough, should I have cooked to 190, that would have probably taken 9 hours. I cooked some baby backs the other day and they took 7 hours to get to 184, they turned out great.
FM Former Member
I`ve made my fair share of mistkes also, on my FEC 100 THE OTHER DAY I STARTED IT WAS IN A HURRY CAME BACK IN A COUPLE HOURS . THE FIRE POT AND SHUTE WAS FULL OF PELLETS. I HAD FORGOT TO GET THE ASHES OFF THE WHAT I CALL THE GLOW PLUG . IT DEFINANTLY WAS NOT THE EQUIPTMENTS FAULT .IT WAS MINE.


AND YES ON KERI C. BEANS I HAVE DONE BOTH WITH APPLE PIE FILLING THEN PEACE THEY BOTH HAHE DISAPEARED.AWSUM. Big Grin
T tomMember
Well now,Smokin' and Ribdog are both fine and EXPERIENCED rib cooks.

The mark of a good cook is being able to repeat the process well enough to repeat the satisfactory results each time.

Now many folks don't do ribs often enough to cook them by habit.

Thus, you hear the guys above talk about good notes-to refer back to,and attention to certain critical details-like weight,meat on the bones,etc.

Having cooked with both those guys,I can tell you they are almost scientific about developing their procedure and sticking to it.

Yes,their experience allows them to adjust their regular technique to each situation.

Just a thought.
Last edited by Former Member

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