Beef back rib debacle

[kpg]

I've had an OC Pecos for a few years and I finally got to the point where I can manage it pretty well. I normally do pork ribs, sausage, chicken, so I decided to branch out and got some beef back ribs. So I went with 250, and up to hour 3 all looked good, then when I checked on hour 4 the meat had pulled back way more than I would expect and the bark was really dark, like I would expect if I'd let my temps get up to 400 for an extend period (which they did not). So I wrapped at that point and let them go another 90 minutes, then unwrapped for 30.

The end product was dried out over done meat on top and tough thick cartilage and membrane on the bottom. I had scored the membrane longways rather than remove it because somewhere I read they will fall apart without the membrane.

So my thought was I did not leave them in nearly long enough to break down whatever was on the bottom of the bones but the top was obviously way over done. Had I not monitored my temps I would assume it was way to hot and fast, but that is not the case.

Now there is one possible explanation, I was playing with the baffle this time (which I had removed on the Pecos) where I propped it up with a firebrick so that it pointed up instead of down. This will force the hot air up, so maybe I was blasting the top of the ribs with heat and the bottom stayed cool. The problem with this theory is I have a temp probe at the stack and mid-grate and I had 220 to 280 the entire smoke.

So what would explain the thick tough Cartlidge like substance under the ribs, was I supposed to remove that? or did I just not have the temp and time right to melt it down?

Not sure it matters, I don't think I'll be doing beef back ribs anytime soon..

Here is a stock photo of the ribs, but they are the except ones I got, I may as well have taken the photo.

 

[tx smoker]

From the looks of it, there doesn't appear to be much meat on those ribs. They look to be all cartilage and connective tissue. That would explain a lot as I have run across ribs exactly like that and had the same result. Don't give up on beef ribs though. One less than perfect batch does not spoil them all. Try looking for some beef chuck short ribs (aka Dino Ribs) and you'll see a huge difference. They are super thick and tons of meat on them.

Here is a link to some that I did a couple weeks ago. Take a look at the ribs and you'll see a huge difference.

Dino Ribs: Inaugural Run With The New Hy-Fyre (Lotsa Pics)

I posted the new smoker build I did and broke it in last weekend with a rack of Dino ribs. I needed to make a couple of minor tweaks to the smoker the past few days but overall I am truly astounded with this thing. Primary heat source is a combination of charcoal and wood with the availability...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Robert