Tough Spare Ribs

How big were the spares?How were they trimmed?

I've seen grocery store promos of large slabs,previously frozen,that could take 8 hrs at 225�.

If they come off an 18 yr old dairy cow,they require a lot of cooking.

212� is lower than I do spares,but I'd think that foil at 300� would cook them pretty quick.

Try again and let us know.

Tom,

Spares were thawed but previously frozen. They were not trimmed at all except for the membrane being removed. The part that I would have trimmed to make them into St. Louis Cuts was what I had a problem with being tough. The meat on the ribs themselves was pretty tender. The only other times that I have done spares, I par boiled them and then baked (I swear it was in my younger stupider days)so all the meat was tender. Is that part of the cut more difficult to get done? How do you trim your spares?

Thanks,
Mark

Smokin's Ribs 101 is a great guide and ChrisA does a good job on his Virtual Bullet site.

Spares

Yep, those trimmin's may need more cooking to

render and tender.

If we were to vend a bone at a time,we'd leave them untrimmed-because it looks like you get more.

At home I trim to St. Louis and focus on them.

The trimmin's are the cooks snacks,or go into the bean pan for flavor.

Hope this helps a little.

Mark,

Almost 90% of the time when someone tells me tough, they just need to cook them longer. The other 10% of the time, they over cooked them and they're rawhide.

Good news is I'm working on an updated Ribs 101.
Bad news it will a month or so.

But we're here to help. Like Tom asked how big were they?

The difference between a spare slab of 3 lbs and up to 5 lbs can be more than a few hours.

In my notes, I always weigh my slabs and I see a LOT of variation in weights.

Hence "it's done when it's done". With practice you'll know when.

Since it's your first batch, don't try to over work them your first time or two. For me, I would smoke them all the way through so you'll know if that works for you. Then try foil, then try variations. If you don't smoke them the whole time, you won't know what they would have been.

Put them in the smoker, let them go for 4 hours and then check them. Do they look dry, is the meat pulling back from the ends of the bones. This is the time to do what your mom told you not to do...play with your meat. Pick them up and see how stiff or flexible. You can also just try to twist a bone to see if they are getting tender. You can mop/baste them if they look dry, there's lots of options, including the "texas crutch" also known as foil.

I know a lot of people say don't open the smoker, but you have to. Until you have your own time and temps down, you can't do these like clockwork. It's VERY, very subjective.

We'll help you, after all you're not BOILING them anymore

Slabs were spec'd out at 4-4.5lb. They looked dry. As in Jerky dry. Not inedible, just that you found yourself working around some parts. I think I will work on trimming a little better. Not quite St. Louis cut but closer than just pulling them out of the case. Stupid question of the day. What does a Memphis "dry" rib taste like? Do they tend to be spicy since they don't have sauce on them? Being a Kansas City Boy I don't have much experience with no sauce.

Thanks,
Mark

They typically are basted/mopped/sprayed with a vinegar/water bath to keep them from drying.

They often are cooked high over direct heat,maybe 325�,and can drip on the coals.

The spice is sprinkled on ,as they come off the cooker.

Sorta like heavy seasoned salt,without much salt in the mix.

Gives them a "sorta light crust"?

Used to be they were down around 20-24 oz. slabs.

Thanks for the info. I am definitely looking forward to the day when I can start traveling a little more and experience different styles of cooking and smoking.

I am trying my next batch of spares today so we'll see how the do.

Thanks
Mark

I'm not a rib person but I recently did a couple of cases of frozen Danish ribs I bought from Safeway. The first batch I threw away because they just were not properly cooked enough. After doing some more reading I went to the foiling method of 3:3:1 which seems close to what you did. The finishing hour reheated in a 350 oven. These came out acceptable to very good depending on the rub and the sauce I used, and definitely much better than the typical chain restaurant.

My thoughts now are to watch carefully the quality of ribs you start with. With the best of these batches they were still very stringy like from old pigs. But like I said, I'm no rib expert. Next time I will go to some baby backs and see if my thoughts are correct.

Jerry

Smokin' made a point above that often slips by.

The Cookshacks are very moist cookers and usually don't need much help.

His suggestion to put them in and just cook ,without foil or other tricks is great.

I always recommend trying a few slabs,keep good notes,and make small variations in the cooking time -until you get where you want to be.

We may find that we are creating problems that didn't exist.

If the ribs go in meat down and you don't open until four hrs,you will probably find a pool of liquid in the curve of the ribs.

Open again in about 1.5 hrs and spray a little apple juice.

Try again in another 45 mins.

After 4 or 5 tries,you will have a pretty good feel for it and good ribs.

Some fine comp cooks try to teach me to learn to cook the meat and then worry about tricks for timing,rubs,sauces,presentation.

Not that it means anything,but I don't foil when homecooking in a CS-unless I might be trying to speed a cook.

Usually I accept Smokin's "its done when its done"

I'm stillo a rookie, but I agree with Tom and Smokin'. I did some spares a coupke of weeks ago (St. Louis trimmed). I put them in at 225 and let them cook bone side up. I had also put in a couple of breakfast sausage rolls that I wanted to pull at three hours, so I opened the door, pulled out the rolls, flipped the ribs and gave them a quick spray of AJ. Then I let them cook for two more hours, opend the door and sauced them, then gave them an hour. They were just right. Tender and moist, but not quite to the falling off the bone stage.

My basic thought it this.

For new users, instead of jumping to all the various methods that work for others, you can try the time and true, no foil method to see if you like that or not.

That way there is a reference point.

THEN, have fun with foil, basting, marinading, whatever.

Just my 2 cents.

Hi all,
Been smokin since early December 04. Read alot here, asked dumb questions here, and SmokinOkie is right. The family, friends and I all LOVE rubbed, sprayed with apple juice, smoked till they are done. No foil, no sauce except for dippin. This just WORKS for the newbe and makes everyone that tries the ribs just plain stuffed and rubbin their belly!!! It will cause people to over eat every time. Dj

dont know if this helps or not but try babybacks alot easier to cook i foil my babybacks after about 2 hours and cook another 11/2 hours or until internal temp 205 always spraying with apple juice.Try this site www.dannysbbq.com click on ribs he has the best info always has his site ready and filled with info.And he dont care what your cookin on he just wants to help also www.texasbbqrub.com those folks are willimg to help and love helping someone get started Happy cookin to ya'll