Ribs too dark????

[rcullison]

My spare ribs turned real dark almost black. Anyone know how to stop that. They tasted fantastic and real tender. I also did some babybacks but they came out the perfect color.

 

[ddave]

Less sugar in the rub maybe? Or a different kind of sugar? Some folks use turbinado sugar. Did you foil?

What were the differences in your prep/rub/methods between the spares that were too dark and the babybacks that weren't?

Dave

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Did you use the same rub, and did you change any methods or fuel type for the spares (ie: mop/spray, higher smoke chamber temp, charcoal fired vs propane/electric)?

Spares have a bit more fat on the meat side, but I have to add brown sugar to my rub if I want a darker colored bark...that is why I'm asking.

Also, I generally get deeper coloring with a charcoal fired smoke vs propane.

Eric

Heh...Dave's a bit quicker than me today...LOL!!!

 

[rcullison]

I used the same rub. Same prep. 3-2-1 on the spares and 2-2-1 on the backs. I had a fattie in there too and it looked fine. Ive never done spare rirbs before so im confused by the discoloration. However i enjoyed the spares alot more than the backs.

 

[mythmaster]

For me, they could be pitch black as long as they tasted good and were tender and juicy. Just my opinion.

 

[smokebuzz]

Did you burn all wood?
If so, what type of wood did you use?
Some woods can give a darker color to the meat or it could be from heat to high. Have you checked your pit thermo? It could have came from a nasty flare up, pit hit a high temp for a bit, you may not have seen happen.

 

[rcullison]

I used a combo of charcoal and wood. Hickory and a little cherry.

 

[danielh]

Were these cooked in a traditional offset? Only thing i can think of if there were prepped the same way would be a big temperature difference. Maybe on the hot end of a traditional offset and the sugar burning moreso than on the cool end or something along those lines. Just a thought. Other than a big temp difference, I'm stumped.

 

[corn cob]

Black meat is caused by one or two things..(or both) Over Smoked or burnt sugar. The sugar can come from any number of sources...brines, rubs, fruit juices etc. as well as sugary sauces applied too early in the cooking process. Since the Loin Backs looked "OK" to you, I would suggest sugar, (too much?) as the problem, plus the fact that the spares were exposed to the heat longer than the loin backs...That slight difference in time caused the sugar to burn/darken on the spares...HTH!!!

Fun!

 

[smokebuzz]

OK, was these "burnt" or just super deep dark mahogany or charred?
Big difference, If they tasted fine, I still assume, that it was deep mahogany colored. This can come from Hickory if used as your heat and not a supplement for flavor.OR was you burning a big fire too cool,creosote?

 

[rcullison]

I guess after lookin at pics on the forum they werent too dark. They just werent as pretty golden brown as the baby backs. However they did have twice the flavor