- Feb 13, 2016
- 66
- 35
Hey everyone,
I smoked a few wings, sausages and a rack of spareribs a couple days ago.
I had dry pork ribs twice before, so this time I hoped it would turn out better.
The spareribs I had did not have a lot of meat on top. I could actually see the rib bones while seasoning the rack.
Ribs seasoned and ready for the smoker
Ribs stayed in the smoker for the first 3hrs at 250-275F.
The surface got a bit dry, so I spritzed twice; about 20min between each time.
Then ribs were wrapped with some of ChefJJ's foiling juice, placed in a hotter spot and cooked at the same temp range.
After two hours, I poked the ribs with a toothpick and they seemed hard still; so I let em stay in the smoker for another hour, checked on them once in a while.
Another hour'd gone by, I decided to pull them out.
Meat was falling off the bone. The rack bent. However, the fattier side felt like butter when poked through, but the other parts felt tough still.
As you can see the meats fell off the bone, so I decided to pull the ribs out even though the meat was still tough when poked thru.
After that, ribs were rested in foil then I refrigerated everything for a few hours as I didn't have anything in hand to hot hold food.
In the evening, when I pulled out from the fridge, ribs were damn dry. I was hoping after thawing they would get softer. I let the ribs thawed to room temp for 1 hour, then grilled them hot and fast while basting some honey mustard BBQ sauce.
Along with the ribs, I smoked a few wings and sausages and grilled up some more asian styled wings.
So far, everything was good, except for the ribs. They were dry, although flavorwise was good.
1. Is it because of the rack being too thin so that my ribs were dried?
2. Can you still have dry food after cooking them in foil with some liquid??? This is the 3rd time i had dry ribs.
3. Did I store the ribs wrong? Did refrigerating the meat affect its texture?
4. This question is serious tho. To my knowledge, most of the time the stall happens at 160-165F. Have you ever experienced the stall at 170-187F? I had wrapped ribs 3 times now, and everytime, it took forever to past that range. I usually had to pull the ribs out because it was too late for dinner. I wrapped ribs after the first 3 hours, then let them stayed in foil for 2hrs. Checked: 170-180F. Then after another hour. Checked: same temp range. Poked with tookthpick: tough. Then another half an hour, maybe close to 180 here and a little past 180 there. Then another half an hour maybe 179 here and >185 there. Like seriously it took forever.
I thought it was my thermometer. But the poking test also said it all. Sometimes Im literally confused if I undercooked or overcooked it. Fall of the bone but still dry and tough? Like how???
The only time I succeeded with ribs was when I smoked my beef ribs. But the ribs had a beautiful fat layer on top so I didn't even have to spritz or wrap them. I just left them in the smoker for 9hours straight, unwrapped, and they were dang good and juicy. But I never succeeded with pork ribs.
I know it's strange. Beef ribs or pork ribs, they should not matter if you understand the way smoking works. But I failed. A handful of times. So please let me know if I need to do anything.
As usual, any comments, suggestion and advice are greatly appreciated...!!!
I smoked a few wings, sausages and a rack of spareribs a couple days ago.
I had dry pork ribs twice before, so this time I hoped it would turn out better.
The spareribs I had did not have a lot of meat on top. I could actually see the rib bones while seasoning the rack.
Ribs seasoned and ready for the smoker
Ribs stayed in the smoker for the first 3hrs at 250-275F.
The surface got a bit dry, so I spritzed twice; about 20min between each time.
Then ribs were wrapped with some of ChefJJ's foiling juice, placed in a hotter spot and cooked at the same temp range.
After two hours, I poked the ribs with a toothpick and they seemed hard still; so I let em stay in the smoker for another hour, checked on them once in a while.
Another hour'd gone by, I decided to pull them out.
Meat was falling off the bone. The rack bent. However, the fattier side felt like butter when poked through, but the other parts felt tough still.
As you can see the meats fell off the bone, so I decided to pull the ribs out even though the meat was still tough when poked thru.
After that, ribs were rested in foil then I refrigerated everything for a few hours as I didn't have anything in hand to hot hold food.
In the evening, when I pulled out from the fridge, ribs were damn dry. I was hoping after thawing they would get softer. I let the ribs thawed to room temp for 1 hour, then grilled them hot and fast while basting some honey mustard BBQ sauce.
Along with the ribs, I smoked a few wings and sausages and grilled up some more asian styled wings.
So far, everything was good, except for the ribs. They were dry, although flavorwise was good.
1. Is it because of the rack being too thin so that my ribs were dried?
2. Can you still have dry food after cooking them in foil with some liquid??? This is the 3rd time i had dry ribs.
3. Did I store the ribs wrong? Did refrigerating the meat affect its texture?
4. This question is serious tho. To my knowledge, most of the time the stall happens at 160-165F. Have you ever experienced the stall at 170-187F? I had wrapped ribs 3 times now, and everytime, it took forever to past that range. I usually had to pull the ribs out because it was too late for dinner. I wrapped ribs after the first 3 hours, then let them stayed in foil for 2hrs. Checked: 170-180F. Then after another hour. Checked: same temp range. Poked with tookthpick: tough. Then another half an hour, maybe close to 180 here and a little past 180 there. Then another half an hour maybe 179 here and >185 there. Like seriously it took forever.
I thought it was my thermometer. But the poking test also said it all. Sometimes Im literally confused if I undercooked or overcooked it. Fall of the bone but still dry and tough? Like how???
The only time I succeeded with ribs was when I smoked my beef ribs. But the ribs had a beautiful fat layer on top so I didn't even have to spritz or wrap them. I just left them in the smoker for 9hours straight, unwrapped, and they were dang good and juicy. But I never succeeded with pork ribs.
I know it's strange. Beef ribs or pork ribs, they should not matter if you understand the way smoking works. But I failed. A handful of times. So please let me know if I need to do anything.
As usual, any comments, suggestion and advice are greatly appreciated...!!!
