I did my second attempt at ribs on the smoker yesterday (Camp Chef pellet grill) and managed to only get 1 of the 3 racks of spareribs to the "fall off the bone" consistency. I was trying the Texas Crutch 3-2-1 method. Here is essentially what I did:
1. The night before: removed the membrane and applied a liberal amount of rub, plastic wrapped and placed in fridge overnight
2. Set to "Hi-Smoke" (225) and placed 2 racks on bottom, then 3rd above on the top jerky rack
3. At 3 hours, I wrapped all in foil and poured in 2 cups total of 1:1 apple cider and apple cider vinegar (1 of the bones punctured the foil on 1 of the bottom racks and spilled out some of the juice - I double wrapped it and added more juice. The 3rd rack did not get as much juice as the others)
4. About 1:45 after wrapping, I added some quartered potatoes to a middle jerky rack
5. A little over 2 hours after wrapping, I unwrapped (I noticed 1 of the bottom racks, I think the 1 w/o the puncture in the foil, had noticeable condensation on the top inside foil)
6. 1 hour after unwrapping, I checked and it looked like the meat was separating, so I pulled the ribs and wrapped them in foil on an cookie sheet, then a towel and placed in a soft cooler to transport (removed about 1 hour later to eat)
The 1st rack we ate was I believe off the top jerky rack in the smoker. It was tender, but not "fall of the bone". The 2nd was off the bottom, and must have been the one with the puncture. It was a little more tender than the 1st. The 3rd we left in the foil for about 4 hours until I divied out the leftovers. That 1 fell apart when I tried to cut it (with a very sharp knife).
I think my mistakes were:
1. Not throwing away the foil with the hole in it and starting over on that rack (too much steam escaped)
2. Not rotating the ribs from the top rack to a bottom rack part way through (I need to test, but it probably isn't as hot up top)
3. Not using enough juice on the ribs on the top rack
Any thoughts on the above theories? What might I be missing?
Should I have left the ribs on longer until the meat was more visibly separating?
1. The night before: removed the membrane and applied a liberal amount of rub, plastic wrapped and placed in fridge overnight
2. Set to "Hi-Smoke" (225) and placed 2 racks on bottom, then 3rd above on the top jerky rack
3. At 3 hours, I wrapped all in foil and poured in 2 cups total of 1:1 apple cider and apple cider vinegar (1 of the bones punctured the foil on 1 of the bottom racks and spilled out some of the juice - I double wrapped it and added more juice. The 3rd rack did not get as much juice as the others)
4. About 1:45 after wrapping, I added some quartered potatoes to a middle jerky rack
5. A little over 2 hours after wrapping, I unwrapped (I noticed 1 of the bottom racks, I think the 1 w/o the puncture in the foil, had noticeable condensation on the top inside foil)
6. 1 hour after unwrapping, I checked and it looked like the meat was separating, so I pulled the ribs and wrapped them in foil on an cookie sheet, then a towel and placed in a soft cooler to transport (removed about 1 hour later to eat)
The 1st rack we ate was I believe off the top jerky rack in the smoker. It was tender, but not "fall of the bone". The 2nd was off the bottom, and must have been the one with the puncture. It was a little more tender than the 1st. The 3rd we left in the foil for about 4 hours until I divied out the leftovers. That 1 fell apart when I tried to cut it (with a very sharp knife).
I think my mistakes were:
1. Not throwing away the foil with the hole in it and starting over on that rack (too much steam escaped)
2. Not rotating the ribs from the top rack to a bottom rack part way through (I need to test, but it probably isn't as hot up top)
3. Not using enough juice on the ribs on the top rack
Any thoughts on the above theories? What might I be missing?
Should I have left the ribs on longer until the meat was more visibly separating?