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15 replies

Ribs....Foil or Not - with Pics

FM Former Member
Okay, so I read & read then I read some more
The more I read, the more I was confused.

My first smoke in my new 55 was large Spares, (4-1/4 lbs, 225�, 5 hours), they came out tough!
My conclusion was, (after yet more confusing reading), that they were not cooked for long enough.

Okay second smoke�.. 2 racks of Baby backs, (2-3/4lbs ea.), aimed for 3 hours at 225�.
At 3 hours not much bone showing and still firm, (bend & toothpick test), so I foiled 1 rack and left the other.
2 hours later the following came out



The left hand rack,(Foiled last 2 hours), was pull off the bone at the thick end; fall off at the thin end.
The right hand rack,(No Foil), was pull off the bone at the thin end: chewy at the wide end.


Am I still not cooking long enough?
Should I have taken the thin end of the rack out and done the thick end longer?

Any help would be appreciated, as I am only willing to give this another couple of hundred attempts! Big Grin

Jolly tasty though!

1st Butt this weekend.... Cool

Regards,
By Eck Lad
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

S smokenitalyMember
WOW, they sure look good!!!!! Tom turned me onto cooking ribs at 250*. NOT the 225. I have had much better luck. try this: ribs in set temp to 250. start with a 5 hour TOTAL cook time. BUT included in that is a turn half way through. and I have started putting on a glaze 30 min before finished. I get good results with this.
Let me know how it works.
David
T tomMember
Just a couple of thoughts.

4 1/2 lb slabs probably came off a sausage sow ,or an old boar.

If they coulda ground them up in the sausage,they woulda.

I'm thinking 6- 8 hrs,cook a bunch of sausage snacks,get a neighbor to help drink the beer and go to the bathroom for ya.

There is no way a little rib is going to cook the same as a big rib on a slab.

Twist the little one off and taste it.

Cook's snack. Wink

The CS will handle most of the cooking,but 2-4 ribs ,out of 13,ain't gonna be perfect.

Just cook extra and learn by snackin' on the extreme ends.

Now after a few slabs,you will decide to cut that lower 4-5 ribs off,and throw the rest of the slab back in.

That is what foil was made for.

You can rotate towards,or away from the heat.

A cook team may cook nine slabs,to get the right eight ribs.

Trust me,after a few slabs,you will get a feel for it.

It sounds to me,like you are gettin' it figured.

Cook 'em some more.

It ain't perfect,but it's like ridin' a bicycle.

It'll work.
FM Former Member
I typically cook my baby backs at 225 for about 5 hours on hooks in my 009. They turn out pretty good but I would like them to be a bit more tender, not quite fall off the bone but close. I'm going to be cooking 5 racks tomorrow so I may try them at 250* this time. I just use a simple dry rub and brush a little sauce on them about 30 minutes before their finished.
T tomMember
You're out there where you can get good fresh pork.

But,somtimes previously frozen ribs are harder/take more time to tender.

If cooking them longer doesn't do it,then down the road you may wish to consider foiling one slab for part of the cooking time.

If they are injected ribs,this might change your cooking,as well.
FM Former Member
Thanks for the suggestions Tom. I'll definitely keep those things in mind. I go to a local farmers market and there's a guy that sells some pretty good BBQ. I tried his ribs and they were unbelievable. He uses a large offset. My goal is to get mine to a similar consistency like his. It helps to have something to compare mine to, something to shoot for.

jeff
FM Former Member
I just did my first ribs today. I don't have the hooks yet so I laid them on the shelves. I used a couple of different rubs on them and after 3 hours I went out to spray them with apple juice and found that the thinner end was done. I had to cut them before smoking to fit them on the shelves, so I took the thin piece in to try and went ahead and sprayed the rest and cooked them for half an hour or so more. I go my ribs double packed at BJ's wholesale. they were PrarieFresh and one package was 10.81 lb. the other was 7.7 lbs. Is it a lot different when you use the hooks? Should I turn and flip them when using the hooks? I rotate the shelves after 3 hours, but I did not turn the ribs because the had cooked faster then I thought they would at 225.

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