Baby Back Ribs Help

[Geebs]

I normally do spare ribs and my wife complains about the fat and wanted me to try some baby back since they are a little cleaner.

I bought the 3 pack at Costco just like I do the spare ribs. 2 racks were rubbed and put in the smoker using the 2-2-1 method. When I foiled then I threw in some apple juice as I do with the spares. At the 5 hour mark they were bending a bit and I usually try to take a bone and turn it sideways to see how fall off it is. I pulled them off as the family was getting hungry and I didnt want to eat super late. They had great flavor but they were a little tough still and some of it had dried out. I wanted to keep them on longer but I didn’t think they would have some dried spots at 5 hours. My main thought is they werent cooked long enough, but would they have continued to dry out? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[chilerelleno]

"... bending a bit"
First thought is undercooked.
Second thought is I don't see many bones having 'popped', nor undulations between the bones.

But I'm not an experienced Babyback cook.
I'm a St. Louis guy, and these are two wholly different racks.

 

[gmc2003]

My best guess would be undercooked by your description. A successful bend test is when the ribs will fall freely to a 45* angle when holding them about a 1/3 of the way down.

Chris

 

[Geebs]

Thats what I was assuming but I figured the 2-2-1 would be pretty consistent. I wish I hadnt been crunched with time, as I would have liked to let them go longer.

 

[chilerelleno]

On my St.Louis I pick'em up in the middle and they should easily bend past 45'.
That and the bark should crack open, without them breaking apart.
That is almost a perfect Light Tug for tenderness.
Fall Off the Bone is when the rack comes apart and/or the bones slide or twist out easily.
But we prefer a light tug.

 

[tallbm]

Thats what I was assuming but I figured the 2-2-1 would be pretty consistent. I wish I hadnt been crunched with time, as I would have liked to let them go longer.

Smokin Al's approach works well for baby backs as well.
I like to take the ribs to an IT of about 198-200F or so.
This would make things very simple and very repeatable for you :)

 

[SmokinAl]

Yes a thermometer works very well with BB's.
The problem with BB's is if you get loin back ribs & they have a thick piece of the loin on the top of the ribs.
The loin part has very little fat in it, and when you cook it to 200 degrees there is a good chance that the loin portion of the ribs will dry out.
I have always been a BB kind of guy, but for the last year or so I have been smoking STL"S and have much better results with them, just because all the BB's I find have a very thick piece of loin on top & are very hard to cook since the loin should be cooked to 145 & the rest of the rib should be cooked to 200.
I resorted to injecting the ribs to get some more moisture in there, but finally decided to go with STL'S because they are cheaper & are easier to cook.
Al

 

[Geebs]

Yes a thermometer works very well with BB's.
The problem with BB's is if you get loin back ribs & they have a thick piece of the loin on the top of the ribs.
The loin part has very little fat in it, and when you cook it to 200 degrees there is a good chance that the loin portion of the ribs will dry out.
I have always been a BB kind of guy, but for the last year or so I have been smoking STL"S and have much better results with them, just because all the BB's I find have a very thick piece of loin on top & are very hard to cook since the loin should be cooked to 145 & the rest of the rib should be cooked to 200.
I resorted to injecting the ribs to get some more moisture in there, but finally decided to go with STL'S because they are cheaper & are easier to cook.
Al

This really helps me AL! I was surprised when I cut them how much meat it had sitting on top of the bone. My wife prefers these more since there isnt as much fat. I may have to try injecting them. I left the membrane on this time as well.