Ribs are Tough

Hey Louie.. Part of this smoking is an art. An artist must learn HIS tools to be good.. and I believe that applies to the art of smoking.

I think you are correct, the smoke seems to penetrate and give a better smokiness the next day.. least that's been my observation.. but, I've definitely appreciated the smoke absorbed 30 minutes after I pull the meat from the smoker. The bone wiggle should work for you if you twist it. If you cook it to " fall off the bone" the bone will easily twist in the meat. If the meat is not quite done for "fob" it won't. That's been my experience.. others may have different experiences.

Taking good notes is very important.. Did you do this with these cooks? Find what works for you. It WILL take experience, derived from YOUR experiences.

I've never done loin backs.. only spares.. and I do something that some of the gurus here don't find any validity to.. but it's my process. I DO use a probe thermometer for my ribs. I put the probe in the thickest part of the meat and cook, first meat side up for about 3 hours and flip to bone side up and cook until the thermometer reaches my temp. Then I open the smoker and and look at the pullback (shrinking) on the ribt ips and twist a bone. If it twists easily.. they are done.. if not, I close the box and smoke about another hour, watching the thermometer to rise another 5ºF.

I usually never have to close the box as the ribs are usually done to my liking when the probe records my initial temp. Personally, I'd rather NOT have "fall off the bone".. but close to it.. as it's more satisfying for me and my family and guests to be able to "work the bones" a bit rather than simply sucking it off the bone (to each his own). That's another thought.. ask your family and guests what they like the best. It's kinda like the "smoke ring" issue, makes a difference to some, no differnce to others. Personal preferences.. not what the conventional wisdom seems to promulgate. Pork shoulder is another variation here.. if you like it "pulled" pull it.. if you like it sliced, slice it and vary the finish temps accordingly.

Oops, rambling

It seems like 5 or 6 hours should have been enough for loin back ribs.Did you keep the door closed the entire time? If you peeked alot, that could be the problem. I cook mine about 5 hours and check for a little pull back of the meat on the bone.Being such a moist cooker, the meat will not pull back as much as it would cooked by gas or wood. I found that if you can push a tooth pick or wood skewer through the meat between the bones with very little resistance,they are done. I like my ribs cooked to the point where the meat pulls off the bone cleanly but does not fall off the bone.I also will leave the ribs holding in my Amerique at 140 degrees if they finish too early.They won't cook more but will continue to get more tender. Good luck!!

Personally I'm trying to get mine to the mushy stage. I want them to be like the ones you get at resturants where you can eat them with a fork and when you try to pick them up they fall apart. I will leave them in for 7 hours next time and see what happens. Are you laying them on the racks or using hooks? I have only used hooks so far.

The fall apart, when picking up at restaurants, often comes from boiling,or steaming, slabs to cook them.

A pressure cooker/canner will also produce this.

They will sauce them and finish on the grill,or griddle.

They may also hold them long periods in foiled steam pans in the oven,or steam tables.

Others may quick cook and hold in foiled pans,on racks with some liquid under them for long periods at 140*.

These will all give you "mush" that falls apart when you try to pick it up.

I did some spares last week for July forth and they were fall off the bone eat with a fork type of ribs. I cooked 6 lbs worth for 8 hours and opened the door at the 6, 7 and 8 hour mark, basted every time.

I think the CS smokers are extremely moist cookers and based on my experiance, over cooking will make the ribs mushy.

I guess I will have to experiment and determine the best time for the pull clean from bone type of texture.

Smokin, I agree again, letting the smoked product rest over night really gives a nice flaver.

Louie

Louie,

I have a question. You start off by saying that you had two racks of loin backs for a total of 4 lbs. So that means that each rack was two lbs. each. Or does it mean that each rack was 4 lbs a piece?

Will respond more after I see you response.

Yep, sounds like they were overcooked.

I don't see a point in opening the door to baste in these smokers. But then again, you didn't say what kind of smoker you cooked these 2 pounders in. A brushing of sauce immediately upon removing the ribs from the smoker will do it. They will be moist if not overcooked.

Hi,

The ribs were 2 racks each rack weighing 2 lbs cooked on an Amerique. The mush term means very tender but when cutting they mushed all over the place.

I'm thinking of going for 6 hours next time but since I'm going to entertain this Sunday and have to cook 6 racks (loins @ 2 lbs eack) I think I will do my tried and true methoid that gave me great ribs. That is cooking until mushy, refrigerate overnight, saurce and put on the gaser.

Louie-Q

And what kind of smoker did you cook these on?

Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna shoot for the 8 hr mark next time. Louie, is that at 225, or do you set it lower than that.

I'm no expert,but I'm wondering if a semi-commercial cooker,like an AQ, took eight hours to cook loinbacks,what would be the bankruptcy date for the cook.

Sorry,

The cooker is an Amerique set at 225. I judged the doneness by meat exposed from the bone and the tong/meat cracking method. It took 8 hours on the forth of July cook to achieve this and 7 hours on my last cook. I suppose I need to evaluate my donesness method.

I've got a big rib party coming up this weekend and I'm really considering cooking the day before for 7-8 hours and warming them on the gaser the day of (loins, 6- 2lb racks). This method turned me on to some wonderfull flaver and texture the last time. I don't want to experiment for this party.

Thanks for the advice,

Louie-Q

I'm no expert,but I do cook with some.

Smokin' would tell you to learn to cook with your cooker first,and then worry about all these tricks you hear about.

Just think if you were cooking ribs by the case,or two,you would need to allow the cooker to do what it was designed for.

I haven't had the chance to cook on the AQ yet,but have cooked on a bunch of Cookshack cookers.

Have you used an independent remote probe to check the actual temp at the rack you are cooking on?

Have you checked the accuracy on the remote therm?

I'd check all my racks,so I know my cooker.

Weigh your slabs,as this will help you learn times for the next cooks.

Take good notes.

If I were going to cook a day in advance,I'd do a practice with a couple racks.

Find the setting that keeps that rack about 240*-250* after being prewarmed.

Put your loinbacks in,meat side down for 3 1/2 hours.

Open ,take your slabs out onto a sheet pan,and close up the cooker.

Study the racks for pullback,toothpick tenderness,twisting the end bones,lifting with tongs in the middle-to check for cracking.

There is a learning curve on ribs, and your cooker, and this is where you gain the experience.

It will take several cooks to gain your comfort and timing level.

If you like to baste,now would be the time to spray them with a little apple juice and maybe a shot of bourbon.

Put them back in,meat side up,and figure about an hour.

Go through the above exercise again.

You may want to remove some thin ends and put the thicker pieces back in for 1/2 hr,or so.

The reason we taste more smoke the next day,could be that our sense of taste/smell is desensitized from being around a smoker all day while we are cooking.

They won't be as good as fresh off the cooker,but they can be rewarmed a few days later with acceptable results.

Hope this helps a little.

That Tom knows his stuff!

Louie-Q
I have an AmeriQue, and do babybacks and beef ribs all the time. After removing the membrane and putting the rub on both sides, I take them from the fridge to the AQ, hang them on CS rib hooks, set the temp at 250* for 2 hours. After 2 hours, reset the temp to 180* for 3 more hours. At this point, take them and wrap in heavy foil for about 30 min. to an hour. They are always done in that time frame and come out just like we like them. I use 4-5 ox. of wood, a mixture of hickory and apple or hickory and cherry. Sunday did 2 racks of babybacks and 2 racks of beef, came out wonderful!

Kind words from Ribdog,who just happens to have some state championship wins under his belt.

Tigerfan,

Based on your proceedure what type of texture do you like your ribs? Fall off the bone, pull clean from bone or mushy fork tender?

Louie-Q

Between pull clean from the bone to fall off the bone!! Give it a try! Good luck to ya.