BB Ribs, it has been a while

[magnus]

I have a couple racks of baby backs that are about to be smoked on my WSM. It has been a long time since I smoked ribs. Any tips would be appreciated.
I was planning on using the 2-2-1 method and monitoring the cook with the cyberq, a nice and thoughtful gift from the better half. That said, the cyberq setup is somewhat annoying. Any help with it would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

 

[WaterRat]

My 2cents: ribs always take longer than I expect they will. IMO, temp is a bad judge to determine when they are ready unless you really know your system (I know some guys here do, not a knock, they just really know their system). At 5 hrs I would start testing them - grab a bone, can you turn it a bit? If you pick the rack up in the middle will its own weight break it? No? Minimum another 0.5hr, probably 1hr. They're ready when they're ready :) Also, if you're going to sauce, don't do so by time, wait until you know they'll be ready, you don't want burned sauce. Good luck, I'm going all beef tomorrow.

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

2-2-1 is a great system especially if you haven’t done them in a while. Your on the right track. Rub them down at least a few hours before if not the night before your smoke.

Al has a nice system for ribs he posted last year that’s all about temp. If he sees this I’m sure he will post the link.

Good luck
Scott

 

[Bearcarver]

I have a couple racks of baby backs that are about to be smoked on my WSM. It has been a long time since I smoked ribs. Any tips would be appreciated.
I was planning on using the 2-2-1 method and monitoring the cook with the cyberq, a nice and thoughtful gift from the better half. That said, the cyberq setup is somewhat annoying. Any help with it would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

Here's a Step by Step that worked out Great. Details are all there:
Baby Back Ribs


Bear

 

[Chris1234]

I’ve used the 2-2-1 for baby backs and 3-2–1 for spares before. Although everyone else loved them, I wasn’t a fan. I’m just not a fan of that “fall off the bone” which happened every time I wrapped even though it maintained the same temp (+\- a few degrees). I like a clean bite through or maybe a slight, slight tug. I’ve found on my rig, usually 4.5-5 hours is when I notice the meat starting to separate from the bones. When I notice the separation, I pull them off, wrap, and let rest for 30 min to an hour. They come out perfect!

 

[SmokinAl]

I smoke my ribs by temp, we like them at 195.
Doesn't matter if you wrap or not, at 195 they are very tender & juicy, but not quite FOTB.
If you want them FOTB, then go to 200-205.
Good luck!
Al

 

[magnus]

My ribs turned out great and I have everyone here who commented to thank for it. I apologize for not replying and posting the results sooner.
The bend test is key. They took longer to cook than I'd like to admit - a little over 8 hours at 230. I wrapped after the 3 hour mark. Unwrapped and cooked for 2 hours. Internal temp wasn't climbing much so I re-seasoned, re-juiced and re-wrapped before putting them back on the smoker for another 2 hours. At 7 hours the ribs still didn't quite pass the bend test and the ribs just didn't feel done enough, so I unwrapped them, basted them and tossed them in the oven for an hour+15 at 250. The following pics of my ribs may not look as pretty as some of the others posted here on SMF, but I can not overstate how amazing they turned out.

It'd not easy to take a pic while holding these ribs lol.

Perfect bite-through with the bone one the verge of falling out. Nothing more than a light pull separated the meat from bone. Again, my pics may not be pretty, but these baby backs were nothing short of beautiful when they were done.

Thank you for your help everyone!

 

[sauced]

Boy, those ribs sure look real good to me....nice job!!

 

[gmc2003]

Fantastic looking ribs, pullback and color is on point. I use the bend test on all my ribs.

Point for sure.

Chris

 

[Bearcarver]

Your Ribs look Great, Magnus!!:)
I Like!!
Nice Job!

Bear