St Louis ribs...need help

[gmc2003]

No wrap or membrane removal here. The bend test tells when they're done for bite thru ribs. For those times I want FOTB ribs then I'll wrap at the 2hr mark for an hour or so. Then back on the grate to finish.

Chris

 

[noboundaries]

No wrap. No membrane removal. 275°-ish temp. Probe tender. Eat. For FOTB-no probe resistance. Roughly 4.5-5 hours.

 

[02ebz06]

I remove membrane when I can, some are difficult.
Cook at 275 for ~4 hours. looking for POTB.

 

[SmokinAl]

You just didn’t cook them long enough. No matter how you cook the ribs (although for FOTB ribs I would definitely foil them), if you check them with a therm, they should read around 205 IT & if probed all over they should probe like butter. When I make FOTB ribs for our friends I always foil until the IT is around 200, then sauce & finish in the smoker or on a grill to set the sauce.
Al

 

[1MoreFord]

I tried doing st Louis ribs in the past and they came out dry and tough( did the 3-2-1 method). I'm looking to get tips on how to get fell of the bone st Louis ribs.
I had some from a bbq joint in Florida and they were amazing.

Thanks

Somethings not right.
Tough and dry says to me they are under cooked but but by your method they should be mush and falling apart. 3-2-1 @225°F is for full spare ribs.
Next time check your cook temp with a calibrated thermometer to be sure in the future.
With SL spares I start at ~225°F for a couple hours and them bump to 250 or 275 and cook till they pass the bend test or the toothpick test. Don't peek at them until about 3 or 4 hours. Lookin' ain't cookin'. I'd budget 6 hours to be safe. They are done when they are done. You can't cook to time or temp.

 

[motolife313-2]

Ribs usually take me 4 hours at 225-250 without wrapping. When I first started bbqing I sprayed the meat with apple juice every 30-45 minutes and that just cooled the meat down and made the ribs take forever to cook seemed like

 

[babydocsmoker]

I realize that this will fly in the face for the 3-2-1 crowd, but 6 hours for ribs is just too long for me. While I prefer more of a bite than fall-off-the-bone, you can achieve either in roughly 3 hours total cook time. Cook at 300° for 1.5 hours, wrap and cook for another 1.5 hours. You can control tenderness with a liquid in the wrap, which will braise the meat and give you the fall-off-the-bone texture that you’re looking for, without overcooking. That liquid can be anything you want - apple juice, beer, butter pads (which will melt), broth, etc. It doesn’t take much - just a shallow layer at the bottom of your wrap with the ribs meat side down. The less liquid, the less braise effect you’ll get.

I personally like a layer of hot honey, a sprinkling of brown sugar or rub, and pats of butter. Lay the ribs on top of that, wrap ‘em up and enjoy when done! If you’re using an actual liquid, I suspect foil would work better than butcher paper.

View attachment 668212
These are baby backs, which are ready in about 90 minutes to 2 hours. St. Louis, being a thicker cut, take longer.

View attachment 668214

This is almost exactly what I do. I use foil over BP but I'll bet it about the same.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I've always spritzed my ribs and continue to do so. Ribs are not a large enough hunk of meat for it to impact cooking time, like a pork butt or brisket.

If a butt is in the stall, yes spritzing can/will delay the process. But ribs don't go into a stall.

Spritzing helps the meats attract and hold smoke. Go to Amazing Ribs and read Meathead's PHD talk about how wet attracts smoke. He even illustrates it with felt pads.

Spritzing can also add a small layer of flavor.

There's reasons people from Aaron Franklin to Tuffy Stone spritz their meats.

Besides that, I'm a patient fella. Even if it did prolong the cook, its no big deal to me.

 

[CyofClive]

I realize that this will fly in the face for the 3-2-1 crowd, but 6 hours for ribs is just too long for me. While I prefer more of a bite than fall-off-the-bone, you can achieve either in roughly 3 hours total cook time. Cook at 300° for 1.5 hours, wrap and cook for another 1.5 hours. You can control tenderness with a liquid in the wrap, which will braise the meat and give you the fall-off-the-bone texture that you’re looking for, without overcooking. That liquid can be anything you want - apple juice, beer, butter pads (which will melt), broth, etc. It doesn’t take much - just a shallow layer at the bottom of your wrap with the ribs meat side down. The less liquid, the less braise effect you’ll get.

I personally like a layer of hot honey, a sprinkling of brown sugar or rub, and pats of butter. Lay the ribs on top of that, wrap ‘em up and enjoy when done! If you’re using an actual liquid, I suspect foil would work better than butcher paper.

View attachment 668212
These are baby backs, which are ready in about 90 minutes to 2 hours. St. Louis, being a thicker cut, take longer.

View attachment 668214

I agree, I prefer more bite in my ribs. If they fall off the bone, it is a sign that they are overcooked. You might as well be fixing pulled pork! Many restaurants advertise that their ribs are fallen off the bone. I stay away from them. I'm a Kansas City BBQ judge and that's one of their rules, that the meat "doesn't fall off the bone".

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

Have you verified the temp in your smoker? I agree with others. It sounds like they didn’t get to the temp they needed. 3-2-1 is plenary of time for St. Louis and baby backs.

 

[schlotz]

I'm with CyofClive , I always look for a clean bite. FOTB means they are over cooked and because of that the peak flavor of the pork has been lost.

 

[mkorish]

Thanks for all the replys, I did the 2-2-1 with meat side down when wrapped and omg they were great. I know no pics..... Next time....

 

[scsmoker843]

Ribs usually take me 4 hours at 225-250 without wrapping. When I first started bbqing I sprayed the meat with apple juice every 30-45 minutes and that just cooled the meat down and made the ribs take forever to cook seemed like

I heard you do this to keep the meat moist so it's not dry? You don't spray any more

 

[801driver]

Another revived thread, but might help someone new here with questions or deciding what to do. I have a very slow airflow electric smoker. I just salt and pepper at 225' set it and forget it for 5-6 hours. Then take a look and see how pulled back from the bone they are and how flexy they are. For bite, an inch or so bone pull back and a little flex just cracking. For FOTB usually an hour or so longer. After doing them a few times you can get the feel for what you are looking for. And while practicing you should at least be able to eat your mistakes as you go. Only time I have had "tough" ribs is early on when I was not smoking them long enough. Good luck to all.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I heard you do this to keep the meat moist so it's not dry? You don't spray any more

One of the hardest things to do is NOT PEEK, trust your temp gauges. Every time you open the lid, you lose a lot of heat which will add to the cooking time. Dryness can be the result of cooking too long with too high of a temp. One sure way to avoid dry ribs is to wrap them after about 2-3 hours, especially if you want fall-off-the-bone, FOTB, ribs. Me, I like ribs with some texture and tug in the bite so I usually don't wrap unless I get in a time crunch. Unwrap after an hour and apply sauce, if using any, then let them go for maybe another 30 minutes to an hour...

 

[PulledPorkSandwich]

I did spare ribs last week they were the best I've made so far. I applied oil then Jeff's rub, smoked at 225 for 4 hours, then sous vide at 152 for 24 hours, then slather with Jeff's sauce and grill for 5 minutes or so to set the sauce. The meat was tender and juicy and came off the bone cleanly, but didn't "fall off the bone". Really tasty. I intend to do the same things for a couple batches of riblets I have from previous spare rib efforts.

It takes a long time but, for me, the results were worth it.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Well, I'm out of the league here I'm a completely no wrap guy. I do pull the membrane.

Warren