Ribs on WSM: What am I doing wrong?

shames · Aug 4, 2012

Hi everyone!
So I'm having some trouble getting ribs done right. This would be my 5th attempt and out of those 5 I've had half a success so 0.5/5 is not looking good :/
I'll explain everything I do and hopefully someone can show me what I'm doing wrong and impart some wisdom
So I have a 18.5" WSM with a foiled water pan with water in it.
I have a wind barrier and a maverick therm probe at grate level to tell me the temps.
I took my spare ribs and cut them for the most part st. louis cut, took off the back membrane, slathered mustard, wiped off a bit, added dry rub. I cut the full rack into 3 pieces so maybe 3-4 bones per rib.
I did the minion method and got my smoker going in the 225 range. Throughout the cook it probably went from 210-240 but mostly in the 220-235 range.
I spritz with Apple juice/oil mixture every 30-45 mins.
I did the 3-2-1 and foiled the ribs with apple juice. Total cook time was pretty much 6 hours.
I put sauce on at the end only for maybe 30-45 mins.

Ok so here are my problems.
1. It's not fall off the bone.. in fact it's almost still tough. It's fully cooked I'm pretty sure and it tastes ok (maybe a bit too smoky if anything) but it's not really juicy/tender/fall off the bone. I did the bone seperating test but they don't really seperate easily if at all. I took them off for fear of burning and darkening too much which brings me to my next point...
2. It's very dark almost burned even before I put sauce on it.

If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do to improve or if I'm doing something wrong it would be great. It's getting so frustrating not being able to do this properly. I wanted to try to master ribs before I moved on to brisket/burnt ends but at this rate I don't think I'll get there before summer ends :/
HELP!

chef jimmyj · Aug 4, 2012

For the most part all you are doing is fine. First issue is you say about 6 hours, but opening to spritz is going to add time to the smoke. If you have meaty Ribs with at least some fat, spritzing is not really needed since you are going to foil. Next, the " Fall off the Bone " comes from Time in a Moist environment...Foiling Time. Since you say the Ribs are a bit too smokey, try a mild wood like Apple, smoke the 3 hours in the first leg, then Foil and back on for 2.5 hours, instead of 2. That leaves just 30 minutes at the end to sauce and finish up. If this is still not tender enough, go 2.5 in smoke- 3 in Foil- .5 to finish. You can go too far with the foiling time and end up with Pulled Pork instead of Ribs, the meat will get Too Fall of the Bone and simply fall apart. Apple Juice is fine but try this recipe it is popular and makes for some tasty Ribs...JJ

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110881/foiling-juice-chef-jimmyj

BTW: can you add your Location to your profile...It helps us help you.

bama bbq · Aug 4, 2012

I normally go 2.5 - 3 hrs without opening the lid at 275*. Then wrap for 1.5 - 2 hrs with tiger sauce, parkay, brown sugar, and agave nectar or honey. I unwrap at the 5 hr - ish mark and close the lid. In 20 min, I spritz with apple juice/vinegar mix as I check for the meat to "tighten up" a bit from the moist cooking in the wrap. I keep checking and sprintzing every 20 min like this until I get the color I want (dark mahogony). Then I brush on a light coat of sauce for household 6 and sprinkle with .

I normally use a cpl chunks of apple or hickory.

shames · Aug 4, 2012

Thanks for the replies guys.

I will try these tips and let you know how it goes.

sound1 · Aug 4, 2012

I agree with Jimmy, Every time you open the unit, you add substantial time. The 3-2-1 is just a great guideline but it is just that...a guideline. I prefer to go by what the meat tells you. I look for a small pullback of the meat from the ends of the bones to set my first stage times. Then the other steps/times seem to fall in line.

rob989_69 · Aug 5, 2012

I know everyone here leans toward the 321 method but I do not like to foil my ribs. I find that it makes the meat too mushy and if I do foil them it's for NO MORE than an hour. I find if I don't foil I get the nice "bite" I like. They're tender but not falling apart. If you don't foil them you'll need to add 1 to 2 hours to your cook time to be safe. I find I usually go 6.5 to 7 hours or so for st louis and 4-5 hours for bb's. Also you may want to cut your racks in half only instead of 3 rib pieces. The larger pieces will hold in more liquid and therefor be juicier and more tender. Lastly, I've learned this using my 22" WSM instead of a vertical propane, I don't use nearly as much wood chunk as I used to. I did a pork butt yesterday and only used about 5 large chunks with a whole ring of charcoal. Even that was a bit more than I needed. If you're using a lot of wood that could be the reason for the "burned" look you're seeing.

rowdyrawhide · Aug 5, 2012

These guys have you pretty squared away on the rib cook times, and suggestions. I try to leave my st louis style, and BB ribs whole and kind of bend them in a crown fashion and leave them on end in my 18.5 WSM, I can get five racks in on the top and bottom grates.......I do have to cut one in half though so 2 1/2 racks per grate.

As for the smokey taste....is it a bitter-ish taste? Are you running the top vent wide open all of the time, and adjusting the intakes on the bottom to control the heat?

As for the burnt color....Is your rub homemade, if so and you are using white sugar then maybe switch to brown sugar or turbinado sugar. They do not burn as easily. As stated above it is possible you wood/smoke are contributing here as well.

jirodriguez · Aug 6, 2012

If your peeking you aint cooking!

Basically every time you opened the lid you added 10-15 min. to your cook time. Also like Rowdy said you don't have to cut them up so much - if at all. The 18.5 can hold at least two full racks per grate with no problem, or if you buy some rib racks you can even fit 5 or 6 per grate!

Your set up and fire control are fine, just learn to leave it alone and trust your smoker to do it's thing. The WSM really does just plain work with little to no input from you. If you have heavy winds or cold ambient temperatures I highly suggest a 6 ft. x 8 ft. welding blanket, and some heavy duty metal spring clips (look like giant clothes pins). You get your smoker going and meat on, then wrap the welding blanket around your smoker and secure it with the clips, leave two holes on the top - one for the gauge and one for the exhaust. With that set up you can run in high winds and down to 32° with no problem. Here is my 22.5, it was about 35° (for a high temp.) that day. (with a 18.5 you could use a 6x6 blanket probably).

DSCN0101.JPG

jirodriguez
Aug 6, 2012

The other nice part is when you don't need it the blanket folds up into a small square that is easy to store, unlike a big wooden wind break.

sound1 · Aug 6, 2012

Now that's a pampered WSM

rowdyrawhide · Aug 6, 2012

JIRodriguez said:
If your peeking you aint cooking!

Basically every time you opened the lid you added 10-15 min. to your cook time. Also like Rowdy said you don't have to cut them up so much - if at all. The 18.5 can hold at least two full racks per grate with no problem, or if you buy some rib racks you can even fit 5 or 6 per grate!

Your set up and fire control are fine, just learn to leave it alone and trust your smoker to do it's thing. The WSM really does just plain work with little to no input from you. If you have heavy winds or cold ambient temperatures I highly suggest a 6 ft. x 8 ft. welding blanket, and some heavy duty metal spring clips (look like giant clothes pins). You get your smoker going and meat on, then wrap the welding blanket around your smoker and secure it with the clips, leave two holes on the top - one for the gauge and one for the exhaust. With that set up you can run in high winds and down to 32° with no problem. Here is my 22.5, it was about 35° (for a high temp.) that day. (with a 18.5 you could use a 6x6 blanket probably).

DSCN0101.JPG

jirodriguez

Aug 6, 2012

The other nice part is when you don't need it the blanket folds up into a small square that is easy to store, unlike a big wooden wind break.

OOOOOOOH! I gotta git me one of those!

jirodriguez · Aug 6, 2012

RowdyRawhide said:
OOOOOOOH! I gotta git me one of those!

LOL.... yeah they are handy, and not to bad in price - usually around $45. Also the nice part with the WSM is you just release the top 2 clamps and peal the top down just below the lid rim and you can open the lid to tend to stuff then just re-do the top two clamps. I also run my BBQ therm wires between the edges where they come together, so no worries there either!

damon555 · Aug 6, 2012

rob989_69 said:
I know everyone here leans toward the 321 method but I do not like to foil my ribs. I find that it makes the meat too mushy and if I do foil them it's for NO MORE than an hour. I find if I don't foil I get the nice "bite" I like. They're tender but not falling apart. If you don't foil them you'll need to add 1 to 2 hours to your cook time to be safe. I find I usually go 6.5 to 7 hours or so for st louis and 4-5 hours for bb's. Also you may want to cut your racks in half only instead of 3 rib pieces. The larger pieces will hold in more liquid and therefor be juicier and more tender. Lastly, I've learned this using my 22" WSM instead of a vertical propane, I don't use nearly as much wood chunk as I used to. I did a pork butt yesterday and only used about 5 large chunks with a whole ring of charcoal. Even that was a bit more than I needed. If you're using a lot of wood that could be the reason for the "burned" look you're seeing.

I'm with Rob on this one....no need to foil. Also leave them whole....Your WSM should be able to do them in one slab. Don't even bother looking for at least 4 hrs in my opinion. Go easy on the wood, I've noticed that ribs will really pick up the smoke and if you go heavy they just won't taste right. Mix 3 or 4 decent sized chunks throughout your charcoal and maybe put a chunk on top right when you start but you shouldn't need to add any more after that. Rub them down the night before, wrap them up and let them sit in the fridge over night. Throw them on the smoker the next day and leave the lid closed....no spritzing or mopping just leave them be. If you are going to sauce them you only need to do it 2 or 3 times towards the very end of the cook. The ribs will tell you when they are done....simply pick the racks up in the middle with some tongs and if they bend almost in half they are done. Wrap them in some foil and let them sit for an hour or so an viola...you will have some awesome smoked ribs that everyone will love....

It really seems weird to let such a thin piece of meat go for so long. But low and slow really works some magic on these things. 0.5 for 5 is a pretty bad record....time to try something different! I was really skeptical about not foiling and getting tender, juicy, fall off the bone ribs but it really does work.

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Ribs on WSM: What am I doing wrong?

shames

Newbie

chef jimmyj

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

bama bbq

Master of the Pit

shames

Newbie

sound1

Smoking Fanatic

rob989_69

Meat Mopper

rowdyrawhide

Smoking Fanatic

jirodriguez

Master of the Pit

DSCN0101.JPG

sound1

Smoking Fanatic

rowdyrawhide

Smoking Fanatic

DSCN0101.JPG

jirodriguez

Master of the Pit

damon555

Smoking Fanatic

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