Baby Back fail x 2

[mrbbqnewbie]

Great info but I will add that baby backs (and all ribs) I get here are cut very thick and way thicker than you'd get at a chain like TGI Fridays. Half a rack of KC ribs and I am stuffed. So they take much longer to cook.

I have long abandoned any time based method and go by IT. 200F for me but 205F for FOB. Smoke one day and chill. Sear a bit and sauce on a hot grill when ready to eat. Grilling is absolutely essential for ribs to me.

Makes sense, I bought a 3 pack of Baby Backs from Costco and they were massive !

 

[gmc2003]

Baby backs aren't what they used to be. Lately they have been leaving a big chunk of the loin on them. You'll have to adjust you cooking method to accommodate for the loin on top. Someone must have thought it was a good idea.

Chris

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Someone must have thought it was a good idea.

It is a marketing ploy.
They'll leave that extra loin flap on and then pump 'em full of some sort of sodium phosphate concoction so they can be labeled as "extra meaty".
Who doesn't want extra meaty BBs, right??

 

[zwiller]

I was originally attracted to BB cause I didn't have to trim but ever since learning to KC spares, we actually prefer them over BB. That said, these are also still meatier but not as much as BB. I had real problems with ribs until I went IT. I think a LOT guys who take up smoking and use 321 or time instead IT and eventually give up because of inferior results. Learning proper IT pull and TBS is like 80-90% of your results and this is not just ribs, but everything you smoke. No rub or "secret" ingredient can make up for it. Lately I leave the remote in the box and just use my instant. Side benefit is that I am also probing for tenderness. Love this thing to death.

 

[schlotz]

Yup, measuring IT for doneness works. Now this assumes you get the probe in just the right position which some find a bit difficult given the lack of thickness. There are other methods as well. Grab the first third of the rack with tongs and see if it bends approx 45 deg with cracks showing across the meat. Then there is the toothpick. It should go in, like it was butter. Back to temps. Most built-in thermometers are notorious for being inaccurate. Many only rely on known calibrated thermometers. Like Bear said, get yourself a reporting therm like the Maverick.

 

[noboundaries]

I've got that ThermoPro TP03. Works first as a probe, second as a temp check.

I switched to spares, too, a long time ago. I can buy boneless pork loins for $1.68 / lb, + or - twenty to thirty cents. I can buy untrimmed spares for $0.98 to $1.88 / lb pretty much year round. I saw $2.28 / lb a few times this past Spring, which is usually the price for SLCs. I passed on by until their "sell by" date, when they dropped a buck a pound.

BBs are never less than $2.98 / lb in my area, and usually a dollar to three dollars more per pound. It's pork with bones. Yeah, yeah, supply/demand, blah blah. My wife was a diehard BB lover until I perfected my spares. Now she knows, when I say "ribs" I'm referring to spares.

I've been debating pulling a couple butts out of the freezer for this weekend. I think I'll do spare ribs instead!

 

[Bearcarver]

Yup, measuring IT for doneness works. Now this assumes you get the probe in just the right position which some find a bit difficult given the lack of thickness. There are other methods as well. Grab the first third of the rack with tongs and see if it bends approx 45 deg with cracks showing across the meat. Then there is the toothpick. It should go in, like it was butter. Back to temps. Most built-in thermometers are notorious for being inaccurate. Many only rely on known calibrated thermometers. Like Bear said, get yourself a reporting therm like the Maverick.

Yup, probing Ribs never worked for me.
Some people think it works, but if you take it out & stick it in real close to where you stuck it the first time you can get a big difference.
And again & again & again---All different.
That's why I don't trust it. I want to get the same thing each time.

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

I've got that ThermoPro TP03. Works first as a probe, second as a temp check.

I switched to spares, too, a long time ago. I can buy boneless pork loins for $1.68 / lb, + or - twenty to thirty cents. I can buy untrimmed spares for $0.98 to $1.88 / lb pretty much year round. I saw $2.28 / lb a few times this past Spring, which is usually the price for SLCs. I passed on by until their "sell by" date, when they dropped a buck a pound.

BBs are never less than $2.98 / lb in my area, and usually a dollar to three dollars more per pound. It's pork with bones. Yeah, yeah, supply/demand, blah blah. My wife was a diehard BB lover until I perfected my spares. Now she knows, when I say "ribs" I'm referring to spares.

I've been debating pulling a couple butts out of the freezer for this weekend. I think I'll do spare ribs instead!

Same here!
BabyBacks are always too expensive around here.
And I quit buying St Louis, and I never trim Spares to St Louis.
I just leave them as is & remove the membrane.
They stay juicier than St Louis cut. IMO

Bear

 

[noboundaries]

I don't even bother with the membrane any more. In the WSM I put that side toward the heat. The membrane becomes tissue paper thin by the end of the smoke. Comes right off.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Let me add.. I see where you said you stuck a probe in the hole of the smoker... The problem with that is... the tip of the probe is just inside the smoker an inch or two (against the wall) ... the heat travels up the sides (wall) of the smoker and hits the probe... this is telling you that what is coming up the wall is much hotter than what it is out in the center of the smoker where the meat is...

Myself.. I would not go with the cheap dial thermometer shown above as you have to open the door every time to read it.. every time you open the door you lose your heat.. it takes 15 - 20 minutes to come back up to temp.. now you've lost that much cooking time.. and when you are trying to cook by time (3-2-1... 2-2-1) you have to account for that lost time... and then when smoke is applied you won't be able to see through the glass to read it...

For these reasons I believe the wired probe type therms (probe placed at grate level in the center next to meat) are the way to go ... pretested in boiling water as Piney mentioned ...

 

[Bearcarver]

I don't even bother with the membrane any more. In the WSM I put that side toward the heat. The membrane becomes tissue paper thin by the end of the smoke. Comes right off.

Yup, but that doesn't happen to the Membrane in an MES---No direct heat.
I just peel it off. I hate the mouth feel of rubbery cooked Membrane.

Bear

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Speaking of baby backs...if anyone has a Kroger's in their area they are selling back ribs for $1.67 lb Friday and Saturday only. Food lion has STL's for $1.77 lb

 

[Carrie Waltz]

I'm sure you under cooked them!
We always leave ribs for 6 hours in my parents' electric smoker and they always perfect.