What to do for Ribs that DON'T fall off the bone

Hi KathyE,

Others may chime in here, but I personally shoot for 180 F internal meat temp when I take the ribs out of the smoker...I take a meat thermometer and measure the temps in the meat between the rib bones...it always works for me. I dont care for that falling apart off the bone tender that they sell in the restaurants, rather I shoot for the right balance of tenderness and meatiness that they focus on in the competitions.

Preston D

Hey KathyE. My experience has been that the ribs have been more tender when you can cook them 'til they are cracking and receeding. They are still nice and moist also. They are not fall off the bone but close, just perfect in my opinion. My guess would be that the cracking and pulling occur at about the same time. I think that when the "skin" begins to shrink it cracks and pulls....

what "I" do when the meat do doesn't fall off the bone is......... drum roll please...... I eat it.

Not everybody is in agreement that the meat should fall off the bone. Personally I don't care as long as it tastes good!

Thanks for your opinions. The ribs I made are delicious but overcooked for me.Perfect for Mr. I think I relied too much on setting and forgetting in this case. I didn't check the ribs until 3.5 hours and then I foiled and left in too long after that.But they are good! I will just shorten time before I check the temperature or look for the cracking and pulling away.
PrestonD, do you use an instant m.Thermometer to check the temp?
You're right, Bodacious, I still had no problem eating them the way they turned out!

Kathy, why foil at all? Next time try one rack foiled and the other not--see what you prefer. I foiled ribs once--won't bother with it again.

dennis-Well I wasn't going to foil it but they got done a lot sooner than I expected! Now that I kind of have an idea of the time range I think I would be safe starting them closer to when I am wanting to serve them.