Failure Holding Ribs in Oven

[tallbm]

Well I had a bit of a failure this past weekend and figured I would post about it to see what others do for holding ribs, what has worked, and what has not.

I smoked 10 pounds of baby backs for my nephew's birthday. I utilized my new extendable/adjustable "rib rack" which worked pretty well but I think I like how the ribs come out when I lay them flat on the smoker racks. More testing is needed there.

Anyhow, I took the ribs to 198-203F depending on where they were sitting (hot side of smoker vs cooler side). In any case the ribs were not fall of the bone but some were closer than others.
I wrapped each half rack of ribs in double foil and put them in my oven on the "warm" setting which should be below 200F but I'm not sure how much lower. I figured it would be fine to hold them for an hour on that setting while I showed up and got ready to take the ribs.
I held them for maybe a little over an hour. Wrapped in bath towels and then drove 1 hour to the birthday lunch.

When I opened the ribs in the foil they were very much overdone and wanted to fall off the bone. They also seemed to have lost juiciness, which is odd since they were tightly double wrapped in foil.

Nothing was ruined but they were definitely not the best results I have had.
I also saved 1 half rack that I double wrapped in foil and put it in my fridge while the others went in the oven for holding. It was night and day difference. The half rack that never got held in the oven was sooo much better and was what I was shooting for in the first place.

With all of that said, Have any of you ever held your ribs in the oven?
What worked? What did not work?

Ribs are so much thinner than meats like brisket and pork butts so I found out you can't really hold them for very long and would like to know what my best option is in the future.
Any other insight would be appreciated.


Here are pics of the ribs as I pulled them from the smoker (no bbq sauce on them at all) but I don't have pics after being held. I think the vertical rack cooked ribs always come out darker/blackish rather than reddish. I assume it's the vertical cook approach vs the horizontal on smoker rack approach but I need to do more to confirm this. (Like my expandable rib rack, best one yet!)

 

[indaswamp]

I would lower the heat to 150 or 170* in the oven. If you keep the temp above 180* the collagen continues to break down and thus the meat falls apart, and all it takes is one hour for ribs.

OR-you can use a faux Cambro...basically a well insulated ice chest stuffed with towels that you put the ribs in. I have done this for lunch parties at a different location with good success. Keep a meat probe in one of the ribs to monitor the temp. keep tabs on the ribs once the temp drops below 140* (should take a while with 10lbs. of ribs stacked on top of each other)

I pack towels in the bottom of the chest 3~4" deep, then add the ribs in double foil, then more towels on top. I then close the chest to keep the heat in and plug the temp probe plug back into the monitor. It should hold the heat for hours. Once below 180* you will not have to worry about collagen breaking down any more.

You will have to play with the final cook temp. Might have to pull them earlier then wrap and in the cambro for perfect ribs later.....

 

[SonnyE]

I've hauled ribs before, but I do mine a bit different.
I always do mine in half racks to cook, then cut them into individual ribs and stack them.
For transport, I use a roasting pan. And lay the ribs like cord wood. Then when at whoever's house, they will get set in the closed roaster in an oven as low as possible, to hold them till serving.
Usually they come out great, or so I've been told.

I did some the 3,2,1 method a while back, just for me. Loved them that way! Fall off da bone good. (Beginners luck)

 

[tallbm]

I would lower the heat to 150 or 170* in the oven. If you keep the temp above 180* the collagen continues to break down and thus the meat falls apart, and all it takes is one hour for ribs.

OR-you can use a faux Cambro...basically a well insulated ice chest stuffed with towels that you put the ribs in. I have done this for lunch parties at a different location with good success. Keep a meat probe in one of the ribs to monitor the temp. keep tabs on the ribs once the temp drops below 140* (should take a while with 10lbs. of ribs stacked on top of each other)

I pack towels in the bottom of the chest 3~4" deep, then add the ribs in double foil, then more towels on top. I then close the chest to keep the heat in and plug the temp probe plug back into the monitor. It should hold the heat for hours. Once below 180* you will not have to worry about collagen breaking down any more.

You will have to play with the final cook temp. Might have to pull them earlier then wrap and in the cambro for perfect ribs later.....

Thanks indaswamp!

This is what I was imagining but figured I would turn here first as my initial approach to hold in the oven went wrong. I didn't want to assume anything and fail twice hahaha.
In the future I will just double wrap in foil, then wrap in towels. That should work fine for me. I think I will also pull the ribs at no higher than 198F should I have to hold them. I will just have to pull them 1 rack at a time as we know they won't all cook at the exact same speed. I already had to pull 3 half racks that are not shown in the pics because they were on the ends and cooked faster than the ribs in the middle.

 

[tallbm]

I've hauled ribs before, but I do mine a bit different.
I always do mine in half racks to cook, then cut them into individual ribs and stack them.
For transport, I use a roasting pan. And lay the ribs like cord wood. Then when at whoever's house, they will get set in the closed roaster in an oven as low as possible, to hold them till serving.
Usually they come out great, or so I've been told.

I did some the 3,2,1 method a while back, just for me. Loved them that way! Fall off da bone good. (Beginners luck)

Thanks for the input Sonny :)

 

[indaswamp]

I've hauled ribs before, but I do mine a bit different.
I always do mine in half racks to cook, then cut them into individual ribs and stack them.
For transport, I use a roasting pan. And lay the ribs like cord wood. Then when at whoever's house, they will get set in the closed roaster in an oven as low as possible, to hold them till serving.
Usually they come out great, or so I've been told.

I did some the 3,2,1 method a while back, just for me. Loved them that way! Fall off da bone good. (Beginners luck)

I cut to order and serve when I get there...keep them really juicy that way.
I also cook them all without BBQ sauce, but provide that on the side. If they want a glaze, there is usually a pit there where I am going that is fired up so I grill them up for ~5 minutes and then cut and serve them up for those that want sauce.

 

[SonnyE]

I cut to order and serve when I get there...keep them really juicy that way.
I also cook them all without BBQ sauce, but provide that on the side. If they want a glaze, there is usually a pit there where I am going that is fired up so I grill them up for ~5 minutes and then cut and serve them up for those that want sauce.

I cut to order too. You can get anything you want, as long as it's black, like a Model T Ford.
Pick a short one, pick a long one, but pick your bones and move along, there's folks behind Ya waiting. :D
I'll try the rack haul next time and see what they say. Maybe they'll like them.
But I've been warned not to mess with da ribs. :confused:o_O
I'd been hoping to do them in the smoker for the ease of doing them that way, but noooo... Do NOT mess with the ribs! :(

 

[gmc2003]

You may want to let the ribs cool down to 170* before double wrapping. It helps stop the cooking process and your only keeping them warm. Then as stated into a cooler with towels.

Chris

 

[tallbm]

You may want to let the ribs cool down to 170* before double wrapping. It helps stop the cooking process and your only keeping them warm. Then as stated into a cooler with towels.

Chris

That's a good point too Chris.
I know it took a little time to wrap the ribs and such and I felt like they were cooling off quite a bit but in this case it is probably a good thing and then wrapping in towels and storing would keep them good to go for a while.
All avenues may be covered at that point.

I don't plan to hold ribs very often but they finished an hour early and I had an hour drive so it was an uncommon occurrence, but one I see happening again in the future as I take smoked food to little events. That is why I want to be ahead of the game :)

 

[SonnyE]

This is probably a good argument for a trailer mounted BBQ.
Cook as you drive.
But you'd probably have a trail of hungry drivers following you when you arrived. :confused::eek:

 

[tallbm]

This is probably a good argument for a trailer mounted BBQ.
Cook as you drive.
But you'd probably have a trail of hungry drivers following you when you arrived. :confused::eek:

I see it happen in Dallas. I just wonder how they keep from the air kicking up the heat/temp since it can't possibly be so air tight :)

 

[SonnyE]

I see it happen in Dallas. I just wonder how they keep from the air kicking up the heat/temp since it can't possibly be so air tight :)

Maybe they only do it once? :D

Say, where'd you get that rib rack gadgit.
And how do you like it?

 

[petehalsted]

As other have suggested, let them cool for a bit to stop cooking before going into the cooler would be the first thing. And if you are concerned about ribs not having enough thermal mass to maintain the temp in the cooler, you can preheat your cooler with a few jugs of warm water first or even leave the warm water in it.

I have one of the really nice soft side igloos that is just right for a butt or brisket. I did a full pork loin (so probably not a lot more thermal mass than a few racks) a couple of weeks ago (cut in half), each half wrapped in foil and a towel. And after 2 hours they were still serving temp.

 

[Bearcarver]

I'd do similar to what Inda said.
Try to keep them between 140° and 170°. That way they shouldn't continue to cook & will stay safely above the Danger Zone.
I do that often in my MES---To hold meat, I just cut the heat back to 150° and open the door awhile to get it down to 160° to stop the cooking. Then I close the door & the MES will keep them at 150°.

Bear

 

[tallbm]

Maybe they only do it once? :D

Say, where'd you get that rib rack gadgit.
And how do you like it?

Hahaha maybe!
I got the expandable rack thingy on Amazon but technically it is an IKEA item. I bought a 2 pack and if it didn't work out I was just going to use it as a pot and pan and lid rack as it is intended :)

As far as rib racks go it is hands down the best I have seen or dealt with. All because you can expand it and/or contract it to fit the size of the ribs perfectly, no slop.
As for cooking ribs in a vertical rack, the jury is still out. I need to do some more rib smokes and some good comparisons to smoking ribs lying on the racks the good old fashion way. Right now I'm leaning to the ribs on the racks the horizontal fashion but I need to make sure :)

As other have suggested, let them cool for a bit to stop cooking before going into the cooler would be the first thing. And if you are concerned about ribs not having enough thermal mass to maintain the temp in the cooler, you can preheat your cooler with a few jugs of warm water first or even leave the warm water in it.

I have one of the really nice soft side igloos that is just right for a butt or brisket. I did a full pork loin (so probably not a lot more thermal mass than a few racks) a couple of weeks ago (cut in half), each half wrapped in foil and a towel. And after 2 hours they were still serving temp.

That sounds good. Letting the ribs cool and then wrapping seems to be the way to go.

I'd do similar to what Inda said.
Try to keep them between 140° and 170°. That way they shouldn't continue to cook & will stay safely above the Danger Zone.
I do that often in my MES---To hold meat, I just cut the heat back to 150° and open the door awhile to get it down to 160° to stop the cooking. Then I close the door & the MES will keep them at 150°.

Bear

Thanks for the info Bear. Letting the ribs cool seems to be a popular approach before wrapping and such.
If I will hold my ribs I will go your approach at 150F in the MES onces the ribs have cooled. I have no problem doing this with bigger cuts of meat but these ribs just kind of threw me for a loop. I also know I can trust my MES to do 150F or lower with no problem. I have no clue what to expect out of my oven on the Warm setting :)

 

[SonnyE]

Right now I'm leaning to the ribs on the racks the horizontal fashion but I need to make sure :)

I was intrigued by it for that reason, adjust-ability. Are those plastic feet on every other one?
I was wondering about the ribs being upright. When tender enough they fall over?

But then again... I was told "Don't mess with the rib recipe." :mad: No Fair! :(
I always like looking at gadgets. :rolleyes:

 

[tallbm]

I was intrigued by it for that reason, adjust-ability. Are those plastic feet on every other one?
I was wondering about the ribs being upright. When tender enough they fall over?

But then again... I was told "Don't mess with the rib recipe." :mad: No Fair! :(
I always like looking at gadgets. :rolleyes:

The plastic feat are on every other one. I pulled them off with a pair of needle nose plyers no real hassle :)
They did not fall over the rack held them in place perfectly. The vertical prongs keep them in place because there are 4 prongs holding the ribs in place from the bottom of the ribs to the top of the ribs on both sides and there isn't a lot of slop for them to fall/wiggle around. They aren't pinned tight but there just isn't a lot of room for them to fall or move.

 

[SonnyE]

The plastic feat are on every other one. I pulled them off with a pair of needle nose plyers no real hassle :)
They did not fall over the rack held them in place perfectly. The vertical prongs keep them in place because there are 4 prongs holding the ribs in place from the bottom of the ribs to the top of the ribs on both sides and there isn't a lot of slop for them to fall/wiggle around. They aren't pinned tight but there just isn't a lot of room for them to fall or move.

Gonna have to look for one next time we are at Ikea in Burbank then. ;)
If I don't like it, I can try Hot Dogs, or Italian Sausages stacked in it.

 

[tallbm]

Gonna have to look for one next time we are at Ikea in Burbank then. ;)
If I don't like it, I can try Hot Dogs, or Italian Sausages stacked in it.

Yeah it can easily have some alternative uses for all kinds of things :)