Baby Back ribs...need advice

[bondo]

Hey Folks, I have perfected the art of smoking 40lbs of boston butt for large gatherings, and I am perfect in smoking my 25 LBs Turkey at thanksgiving for the past 5 years, but I absolutely suck at being consistent with getting fall off the bone baby back ribs. I have a 5 foot smoke hollow stack smoker. I have had success putthing the ribs on for 5 to 6 hours at 220 and leaving them, and then I have had times where they dry out or not get done enough. It seems like it's not an exact science with baby back ribs like it is for boston butt or Turkeys.

I was thinking to try this...Please tell me where I'm off base...and I appreciate all input....Thanks!!!

1. Put applewood and cherrywood chips in my wood box. Fill the Water bowl with cold water
2. Fire up Smoker to 220.
3. Remove Membrane from Ribs
3. Put ribs (covered in our favorite dry rub) in smoker (2 racks on top rack, 1 rack on next to top rack)
4. Keep smoker Temp at 220 and smoke for 3 hours
5. Wrap the ribs in Tin Foil (any suggestions on what to put in the wrap?)
6. Put ribs (still wrapped in foil) back in smoker for 2 hours at 220.
7. Remove ribs and keep wrapped in foil and put in cooler wrapped with towels for 3 hours before serving.

Again, I'm willing to listen here as I would really like to know what consistently works for fall off the bone baby back ribs. Thanks folks!! Bondo

 

[noboundaries]

I gave up on baby backs and switched to spares.

 

[BKING!]

2 hours in the wrap for baby backs seems like it would make them tender but also overcooked and dry. I do 3 hours at about 250 deg and 45-60 minutes in the wrap at 250 deg. They aren’t fall off the bone but I get a clean bite. Just keep experimenting. Spares have more fat and tend to not dry out as much while still achieving good tenderness. That’s why they’re popular in bbq conpetitions

 

[fivetricks]

Your smoker temp is prob too low. Especially if they are coming out tough

 

[Bytor]

I have had really good results with baby backs by:
Remove membrane and dry rub at least 1 day before.
Smoke for 2 hrs at 225
Wrap with butcher's paper, and a little apple juice then back for 2 hrs, or 1.5 hrs for smaller ones. Sometimes I will cheat and put in the oven for this time period, save some pellets/wood.
Then unwrap for 45_60 min at 225. Test for tenderness and bend.
A little rest then cut them up.

Both baby back and St. Louis are the only smokes that I go by time and look and not temp.

I haven't made a rib I haven't liked yet☺

 

[Sowsage]

What is your method to keep track of your smoker temps? I would start with that for consistency.

 

[desertlites]

2-2-1 is good for baby backs at 225 -240. wrap again and rest a while.i use the same foil.

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

Like stated above. I do 225 with 2-2-1 method 2 hours unwrapped. 2 hours warped in foil. The in foil , sauce and cook another hour for an hour has always worked for me! Love Jeff’s rub with sweet baby rays on the ribs for me

 

[SmokinEdge]

2 hours smoke, then wrap. Cook to IT of 205. Time is meaningless. IT is everything. If they are dry, it likely the quality of the meat. Not much to do about that.

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

I do mine at 2 hours on the smoker at 225, then double wrap in foil with apple juice for two hours.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I gave up on baby backs and switched to spares.

Me to. Except use St. Louis. They always come out good.

 

[radio]

Are you using the smokers factory thermometer to tell temp? Factory thermometers are notorious for being inaccurate, sometimes wildly so! A good dual probe remote thermometer is essential for monitoring the cooking chamber temperature as well as meat internal temp.

220° is a bit low to smoke anything at IMHO. Bump up the temp to 240-250, smoke 2 hours unwrapped, wrap tightly in foil with a wee bit of apple juice and cook 2 hours. Unwrap and back in the smoker for at least 45 minutes or more depending on doneness to tighten up the bark a bit.

for consistency I would start with cooking to 195-200° IT, unwrap and back in the smoker to finish and tighten up the bark a bit. Some racks will be tender at appx 200 and some need 2056 or so. Pullback from the bone and the bend test is the best judge of being done, so plan on babysitting them the last hour or so to get them perfect. This is a good starting point and will need to be adjusted for your taste and the smokers performance
Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[zwiller]

Around here, ribs are cut way thicker than those served in restaurants. I think BB are even thicker. At home, I usually eat 3-4 ribs and I am full whereas I could eat a full rack in a restaurant. Because of this, forget time and rely on IT. Last spares I ran went like 8hrs @ 275F... Prep and rub day 1, smoke to 200F day 2, sear on hot grill, sauce, and serve day 3.

 

[bondo]

Are you using the smokers factory thermometer to tell temp? Factory thermometers are notorious for being inaccurate, sometimes wildly so! A good dual probe remote thermometer is essential for monitoring the cooking chamber temperature as well as meat internal temp.

220° is a bit low to smoke anything at IMHO. Bump up the temp to 240-250, smoke 2 hours unwrapped, wrap tightly in foil with a wee bit of apple juice and cook 2 hours. Unwrap and back in the smoker for at least 45 minutes or more depending on doneness to tighten up the bark a bit.

for consistency I would start with cooking to 195-200° IT, unwrap and back in the smoker to finish and tighten up the bark a bit. Some racks will be tender at appx 200 and some need 2056 or so. Pullback from the bone and the bend test is the best judge of being done, so plan on babysitting them the last hour or so to get them perfect. This is a good starting point and will need to be adjusted for your taste and the smokers performance
Good luck, and keep us posted.

Hey Folks, I will take pics and share how it turns out...thx so much all who responded!! Bondo