Can't get ribs right, what am I doing wrong.

oldschoolbbq · Nov 6, 2014

Patience, my man. Patience. I do Ribs , well , the 'Oldschool' way.

As Kevin says, leave things alone and let them cook.

I know I will have them in for appox. 6 hrs.(Spares) and at hr. 5 or 5.5 ,I'll do a bend and poke test , then if ready to my specs. ...eat:

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oldschoolbbq
Sep 6, 2014

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oldschoolbbq
Nov 1, 2012

Explain your technique , I feel you look too much , just MHO.

gitaryzt1985 · Nov 6, 2014

I'd eat 'em anico1613!!! haha

How often do you open the lid to check on them? I've smoked ribs a grand total of 4 times and have similar results as you. The flavor is spot on, and I've been able to nail down that aspect in just a few tries. The second time I smoked, I ran out of wood and had to have my wife watch the smoker while I ran to the store. In all, they probably went about 2 hours before I even lifted the lid. Best bark I'd had. I try to open the lid every 30 minutes to spritz with Jack and Apple juice, but that is probably too often!

My thought on this is to let them go without lifting the lid so much...probably need to cook longer since the heat escapes. Something I struggle with since I'm a newbie!

noboundaries · Nov 6, 2014

Trying to work the smoker by looking constantly at the meat reminds me when I was a Navy flight instructor. The students who tried to fly the jet when cruising straight and level were all over the sky. I'd tell them "Relax! Trim it so it flies itself. Monitor the instruments and make minute adjustment's on the stick with pressure from your fingertips. You only have to fly the plane when yanking, banking, shooting, bombing, skimming treetops, or landing on the carrier. We ain't doing any of that right now so STOP FLYING THE AIRPLANE CAUSE YOUR MAKING ME SICK BACK HERE!!!

Set the smoker to cruise and trust it will do its magic.

foamheart · Nov 6, 2014

Noboundaries said:
Trying to work the smoker by looking constantly at the meat reminds me when I was a Navy flight instructor. The students who tried to fly the jet when cruising straight and level were all over the sky. I'd tell them "Relax! Trim it so it flies itself. Monitor the instruments and make minute adjustment's on the stick with pressure from your fingertips. You only have to fly the plane when yanking, banking, shooting, bombing, skimming treetops, or landing on the carrier. We ain't doing any of that right now so STOP FLYING THE AIRPLANE CAUSE YOUR MAKING ME SICK BACK HERE!!!

Set the smoker to cruise and trust it will do its magic.

So funny, so true...... A slight smack to the back of the head works wonders.

ak1 · Nov 7, 2014

anico1613 said:
I have done ribs 4 times. Each time I did the 321 method. 3 times I did spares and this last time I did loin backs. For some reason every time I take them off they are tough. I thought with adding cold liquid and bbq sauce that they maybe weren't getting done so this time I warmed both up a bit, but it didn't matter. I went an extra hour this time so 322 and that still didn't matter. They seem tough and a little dry. I cut them in half racks so the bend test doesn't work the best but even when I try it or pull two adjacent bones apart they barely split and are very tough. I tried probing a rib and it seemed to glide in effortlessly and it was around 165, though it was hard to get an accurate temp. I know they are supposed to be around 180 -190 so do I really have to go even longer? Seems like they will be completely dry.

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I'm going back to your original post for a reason. Bear with me.

I've been doing ribs for 30 yrs, and to this day I still screw 'em up sometimes.

Ribs is meat. Sometimes you have more meat than fat. Sometimes you have more fat than meat. Sometimes it's warmer, sometimes it's colder, sometimes it's windier than other times.

I have a good idea that gets me good ribs on my UD, it's different to what can get me good ribs on my gasser. Then too, what you may think is tough, I may think is OK...

Without actually being there and seeing the ribs...and tasting... all I can say is keep making them, keep trying, at some point you will figure out what works with your cooker at your location...with your taste.

anico1613 · Nov 7, 2014

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

To answer a couple of questions. I actually never look at the meat on the smoker unless I have to remove it. I normally do the 321 method and remove it after 3 hours then 2 hours then 1 hour, that's it other than when I think it's done.

So I will be doing ribs again this weekend for 6 people. I am going with extra meaty loin back 2.5 lbs - 3 lbs each. I usually use a rib rack but I have a feeling the way I am packing them is over packing the meat and the way I am foiling may be leaking a lot, if not all the liquid out. I am going to try 4 racks, 2 on top 2 on bottom with the 321 method and no rib rack, just flat full rack right on the grate. I will wrap to ensure they don't leak at the 3 hour mark, and use the bend test to tell when they are done. I am not going to sauce them at all as they are lately sitting on the smoker for a couple hours with sauce on them as I don't know exactly when they are done so that toughens them a bit more. I will report back the results on Sunday and provide pics of course!

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sqwib · Nov 8, 2014

Anico. Try rotating your racks every hour. No liquid needed for the foiling stage. Pullback is more prominent when foiling. Foiling does change the texture. 3-2-1 is OK for trimmed spares at 225-235. For untrimmed 3-2-1 at 250.
Everything you are doing seems spot on.
As you are doing some this weekend I just wanted to give you that bit of advice.
However I would like to give this post the attention it deserves but will not have access to my notes till Monday.

anico1613 · Nov 10, 2014

Ribs turned out great Sunday! I put 4 whole loin backs on the wsm and did 3-2 and took them off as they passed the bend test. For the 2 I made sure there was plenty of liquid and that they were foiled so they didn't leak. The bend test worked really well with the whole rack as it was really easy to tell when they were done, this didn't work nearly as well with the half racks I used previously. I also put my temp probe in the middle of the rack rather than by the edges so I may have been running it more accurately at 225-240 and I could tell a rack or two still could have stayed on a little longer, but all were still very good. I may try no foil next time to see the difference but the whole family was over this time so I wanted a foolproof method that I know would produce tender ribs as that is what they like.

All served unsauced with sauce on the side if needed

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jirodriguez · Nov 10, 2014

Nice - if you have a gas grill a great way to finish them off (especially if you foil them) is to put just a little bit of sauce on them and then toss them on the grill on high heat. Just about 2-3 minutes per side, just enough to caramelize the sauce and put a little bit of char on them.

5oclocksomewher · Nov 11, 2014

Great Job!!! Congrats on a successful smoke!!! Thumbs Up

ak1 · Nov 11, 2014

Glad you like them.

b-one · Nov 11, 2014

Sauce isn't needed it's liked by some! I usally like it on the side. I'm glad you had better results, congrats. Practice makes perfect so keep up the great work.

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Can't get ribs right, what am I doing wrong.

oldschoolbbq

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gitaryzt1985

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noboundaries

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ak1

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anico1613

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sqwib

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anico1613

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