Dry Baby Backs

[dons2346]

Did some BBs today and they were dry. I did the normal mustard, rub and on the rack at 220 and a apple juice spritz every 30 minutes. At the 3 hr mark, they were foiled with some sauce and more apple juice and they stayed that way for another 1 1/2 hours. Opened them up and stayed for another hour. They passed the bend test, bones pulled back, and were at 190. The texture was what I wanted, a little bite but not FTB.
But they were dry. Where did I go wrong?

 

[smokerjim]

You probably did nothing wrong, unfortunately they leave to much loin meat on ribs, more profit, loin meat will dry out when over cooked. That's my guess

 

[chopsaw]

to much loin meat on ribs,

I agree with Jim .

 

[banderson7474]

Did some BBs today and they were dry. I did the normal mustard, rub and on the rack at 220 and a apple juice spritz every 30 minutes. At the 3 hr mark, they were foiled with some sauce and more apple juice and they stayed that way for another 1 1/2 hours. Opened them up and stayed for another hour. They passed the bend test, bones pulled back, and were at 190. The texture was what I wanted, a little bite but not FTB.
But they were dry. Where did I go wrong?

I'm by far not an expert on baby backs but I've been under the impression that they are done a lot faster than pork ribs.

Basically 2, 1, 30ish is what my basic times are.

 

[1MoreFord]

I'm by far not an expert on baby backs but I've been under the impression that they are done a lot faster than pork ribs.

..............

Not if you open the 220°F pit and spritz every 30 minutes.

 

[Astralogics]

Jim is right, baby backs are leaner and easier to dry out. @banderson7474 is right as well, they finish cooking earlier. At least they should. My times are fairly close to his (2-1-30/40). Sometimes even 2-1-and then 15 mins to tack up the sauce.

Might I ask why you felt the need to spritz every 30 mins? Nothing wrong with spritzing, but if I recall, many of us only spritz if parts of the meat are cooking too fast, or just don't spritz at all. In my experience, I haven't needed to spritz when cooking that low.

 

[SMOKEOCD]

Depending on what’s in the bottle, I can taste the spritz on the ribs. I’ve gone to 270-275 for ribs, you can start saucing them a little over the 3 hour mark. I’ve had less dry ribs since switching to this way over the 3-2-1 at 225.

 

[dons2346]

I spritzed because I thought that would help in tenderizing the ribs plus keeping them moist during the cook.
Next time, I'll cut the cook time and try the 2-1 - 30/40

 

[Elf@shore]

Did some BBs today and they were dry. I did the normal mustard, rub and on the rack at 220 and a apple juice spritz every 30 minutes. At the 3 hr mark, they were foiled with some sauce and more apple juice and they stayed that way for another 1 1/2 hours. Opened them up and stayed for another hour. They passed the bend test, bones pulled back, and were at 190. The texture was what I wanted, a little bite but not FTB.
But they were dry. Where did I go wrong?

HI! IMO :
Use a water pan during the cook, Apple Cider/ Juice .
Keep it an 1 inch level, so it does not dry out ! just like yur product
Kinda like what we say @ shore?
Catching a wave, that's already gone ?

 

[chopsaw]

I spritzed because I thought that would help in tenderizing the ribs plus keeping them moist during the cook.

It does . Can also help build a crust / bark . Nothing wrong with spritzing if you understand that it adds cook time . I spritz and mop . No wrap .
Already been said , but most likely to much loin meat on the ribs .
BB's with loin meat ,

BB's without loin meat .

 

[voyager 663rd]

Same as others: 5 1/2hr too long for BB. Plus the added meat on there does not have the same fat/tendons that spares do to help keep them moist. My fav part of spares is the skinny end where those tendons really criss-cross--so so very tender there.

Generally speaking: 2-2-1 for bb and that is IMO upper limit. I don't wrap either kind as a general rule BUT you also can't go by time. Pull-back and rip/separation is a better indicator.

 

[newbrian]

You probably did nothing wrong, unfortunately they leave to much loin meat on ribs, more profit, loin meat will dry out when over cooked. That's my guess

Yes, you cannot find a good cut of baby backs anymore. It's a shame I only do ribs about 3 times a year anymore cause the ribs you start with are shit.

 

[smokerjim]

Yes, you cannot find a good cut of baby backs anymore. It's a shame I only do ribs about 3 times a year anymore cause the ribs you start with are shit.

Maybe try the st. Louis ribs

 

[Astralogics]

I spritzed because I thought that would help in tenderizing the ribs plus keeping them moist during the cook.
Next time, I'll cut the cook time and try the 2-1 - 30/40

Rich is right, there really is nothing wrong with spritzing/mopping. 2-1-30/40 is just a guideline for my cooker, so you'll have to dial it in for you. But again, there's a pretty good chance it isn't on you, baby backs having too much loin meat are the reason I normally just go for spares now.

Generally speaking: 2-2-1 for bb and that is IMO upper limit. I don't wrap either kind as a general rule BUT you also can't go by time. Pull-back and rip/separation is a better indicator.

This. Otherwise, here's a guide I've used many times in the past while I was figuring out my own way to cook ribs. Pretty fail safe, and the part to highlight in that guide is determining how long to foil after the initial 3 hours.

 

[SmokyMose]

I could and can be wrong, but I think cooking at a low temp for a long time will dry out meat before it's done.....

 

[civilsmoker]

I'm just going to add another perspective on baby backs......

- point - baby backs do not have to be cooked for very long to be out of this world good. Example is cooking a Rack of Pork roast.... The roast below was just under a 2 hour cook at 265 to an INT of 145. you can see the center is still pink, ie perfect loin temp. The next thing is the section of bone is effetely a baby back rib...At an INT of 145 - 150... they are out of the world juicy and tender....Note the loin meat is perfectly cooked in this case

In the case of just ribs....and for a cook "above" 145-150 INT then remove the loin meat. The example below shows it removed. The rack on top comes that way the rack on the bottom I removed the loin. Stay away from the packages that say "extra meaty"... this is just more loin meat that doesn't want to be cooked to a higher INT temp....The exception here is you want to "grill" them and finish them at a lower INT around the 150 then they are tasty!

Next up is Baby Backs usually don't need more than 4 hours unwrapped to be cooked enough to be rendered and tender.... In the case of the two above the top is 3 hours total cook and the bottom is 3.5 hours total cook time. I cook baby backs at 235 chamber temp.

My steps.... I like to section them in portions to get serving size with two edge cuts per plate. I do use mustard to get a dropped in the sand rub coverage, but mustard isn't required.

Next I smoke them rib side down for the 2.5 or 3 hours depending on rack size, this is two hours in

then flip (the 2.5 hour mark for small and 3 hour mark for larger) and mop

Once that is set I flip over and mop the meat side....I plan on a 15 min set time so this takes a total of 30-35 mins.

Next I transfer to the kitchen oven and hold at 140 till dinner time if needed. I usually end up holding them for 30 to 45 mins. and then I glaze and broil finish them (I watch them like a hawk so they don't burn) Usually 5-6 mins of broil time. You can go right to the broil if you don't want to hold. You can also finish them on the grill to glaze them if you want a bit of char on them, you just may loose some glaze...

Perfect baby backs virtually every time

I will note that these are not FOTB ribs as I don't think baby backs are good for that (spares are if you like them that way) These will be 90 pull from the bone with a bite, but tender and juicy.

IE so my advice is to remove the loin meat, reduce the time of cook, mop at the end, and then glaze finish...

If you can get your hands on these they are worth their wt in gold! These are the small rack example above......

 

[gmc2003]

I wrap BBs if they have a large lion on top.

Chris

 

[banderson7474]

I could and can be wrong, but I think cooking at a low temp for a long time will dry out meat before it's done.....

Lord I hope you are wrong otherwise low and slow would be an epic fail across the board

 

[masssmoke]

You probably did nothing wrong, unfortunately they leave to much loin meat on ribs, more profit, loin meat will dry out when over cooked. That's my guess

I did two racks of BB on Sunday and same thing, dry. Did 4.5 hours with 1.5 in foil. They were dry and FOTB, I did them too long and they had too much loin meat on them. I had avoided BBs for a long time due to the loin meat issue but I tried them again. Going back to St. Louis style.

 

[dons2346]

Thanks for all the tips. Gonna try another rack when I get home in a month or so