For years I've done my ribs at 275 deg. with a sptitz of AJ every 1/2 hr or so.
Now I'm thinking about trying 225 deg.
Has anyone compared ribs at those two temps and if so what are the differences other than time to finish?
TNX
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My 008 only gets to about 245. I have cooked ribs at 240 instead of 225 and there's not much difference except in time. I start my ribs, close the door and don't open again for 4 hours, no spritzing or anything. At four hours I can decide how much longer they need to go. I then put the ribs in a pan. Baste them top and bottom with some butter, honey and a little apple juice concentrate. I may or may not cover the pan with foil depending on how the bark looks. When I think they are ready, give them a bend test and go from there to eating or letting them go a little longer.
on my rig i get a little more smoke flavor at 225 vs. 275. otherwise, no discernable difference in tenderness, juiciness, barkiness, etc.
Great!
Thanks...........
I was hoping for a bit more smoke.
I've tried 225, 250, 275, and found I like the results better at 225, just in terms of tenderness and uniformity of doneness. In my SM066, the temp difference doesn't seem to affect the amount of smoke very much. I never sauce, baste, or wrap.
Jay, at 225, generally how long do they take to cook?
btw, I run at 250 and baby backs run 4-5 hours. Spares run 5-5.5.
I haven't done spares in a long time. We prefer loin backs (baby backs). The best I've found are from Sam's Club. Costco sells Swift which has a large portion of the "white meat" loin still attached which always turns out dry and tough. Second best is BJ's. Anyway, at 225, mine usually take 6 - 6 1/2 hours (no preheat). I always start them bone side down and flip and rotate them about halfway through, just seems to get a better bark on top. I start testing (toothpick test) at 5 1/2 hours and as soon as they pass I pull them and if dinner is going to be later, I double wrap them in foil and put them in a 200F oven, but for no longer than about 1/2 hour so they don't dry out. They are usually bite-off-the-bone tender and juicy.
Your timing at 250 matches mine, I just like the result at 225 better. Let me know what you think if you try it.
i do loin ribs almost exclusively, usually st. louis trim, always at 225. my wife likes fall off the bone style (allegedly happy wife equals happy life) so i typically do 3-2-1 method and at the end of that 6 hours they are fall apart tender.
i prefer having to tug off the bone a little, so when I do it my way w/o wrapping it takes an additional 1 to 1.5 hrs to get the tenderness.
plan for the longer time frame and follow jay's method in case they get done a little early and everyone will be happy