Finished product on smoker...What to look for.

[Oceantoad]

I joined this group a few years ago. It has been a plethora of information when I started making sausages 2 years ago. I have now taken the plunge and bought an offset smoker. In researching the art of BBQing ribs, (I thought I was starting with something easy), is there a checklist someplace that people use to complete the finished product? I know that everyone develops their own style, but as a newbie, I was wondering if there is a list that I can work from. After watching around 150 videos on just smoking ribs, there is the decision to spritz or not to spritz. If you do, what do you use? Another is to wrap or not to wrap. If so, when do you do it and for how long? Is there a list that shows what a judge is looking for in the final product? Points to hit such as; is the rack flexible? or have some bounce to it while grabbing it with the tongs? Did the meat shrink or pull up the bone? I understand that this knowledge and talent all comes with experience and mistakes will be made. I'm just looking at getting started in the right direction.

 

[DemonPit]

Ribs...my arch enemy! Superman has kryptonite, I have ribs.
I tried 4 seperate times for perfect ribs. All were somewhat fails. I haven't even looked at a slab in the store in over a year due to my unhappiness of the results. They were edible, just not what I had expected.

I'm pulling up a chair for this one.

 

[smokerjim]

I'm sure you'll get lots of different opinions and none are wrong all up to your personal preference but I usually add my rub the night before, smoke them around 250 degrees, st. Louis style usually 6-7hours, baby backs 4-5 hours. I dont wrap or spritz. I like mine fall off bone tender.

 

[Texas Cookin']

Good general guideline is 3-2-1 for spares and 2-2-1 for baby backs.
Smoke-wrapped-unwrapped

Fred

 

[Oceantoad]

Thanks for the replies. In the videos I watched before were mainly how they do their own rubs/sauces. Then they slap them on the BBQ, wait for a bit, Spritz, Spritz, pull them off, slather with more sauce, wrap in butcher paper or tinfoil place back on the BBQ, then pull off to to taste. I was looking for more of an explanation about each of the steps. Why spritz, what to spritz with, when to spritz, what to look for during the cook, when to pull off to wrap, why to wrap, when to unwrap, how long to put them back on, when to pull them off to rest, how long to rest, what to look for in the final hour/minutes of the BBQ. I ran across a few YOUTUBE channels that explained this in detail; Meat Church BBQ, Mad Scientist BBQ, Tony Tone BBQ and Chuds BBQ. I'm sure there are plenty more out there, but these were the ones that I was grabbing some info from. Thanks again for all the replies. DemonPit, I hope you don't give up. Good Luck.

 

[tbrtt1]

Man, have you opened a Pandora's box. I will throw my cent and a half in for kicks.

1-get some of these

Sometimes I double them if I think the food is real hot. Get some nice stretchable rubber gloves to go over them. You will have excellent tactile feel and not get burned handling your meat, err food. You may already use these. They are washable and cheap. I keep a bunch around.

2-What is your end goal with the ribs? Competitions? Just good eats for you and family and friends? This matters, because everyone has opinions about what competition ribs should look, feel, smell and taste like. It not for comp, go for what you like.

3-Are ya getting quality meat? It doesn't have to be expensive and might even have been previously frozen ( I get those from the H-E-Bs here in TX sometimes when on sale).

4- I look for even thickness along the whole rack. Better even cook, of course.

5- To wrap or not to wrap, that is the question? I do both. When I do, it can be foil or sometimes pink butcher paper. When do I wrap? Well...........when I feel like it and want to speed the process along. Opinions vary on when to wrap. I always wrap (any meat I am wrapping) based on color and smokiness.

6- Back to #1- the glove liners. When they get close to done, pick em up and proceed as if you are going to eat them. Hell, you can pull bones, flop them around, toss them in the air, etc. The reality is you can get a really great feel for the tenderness and doneness.

7- Keep at it. Ribs aint rocket surgery. Also, consider the taste, flavor profile and doneness of the ribs you have eaten that you really liked. Maybe from a friend, restaurant, etc. Shoot for that.

I am sure I bored you to death. Steadfast in your journey my fellow smoker.

 

[gmc2003]

I've done a ton of ribs in my day and I've basically settled on these basic guidelines. Time is dependent on temp that the ribs are cooking at.

1. No spritzing
2. Foil at 165* if we want FOTB ribs
3. Use the bend test to tell when the ribs are done for bite thru.
3A. Temp between bones should read 195* when ribs are done for bite thru
4. Temp between the bones should read 203* for FOTB ribs

The bend test. Ribs should easily fall to a 90* angle and the bark should start cracking.

 

[Oceantoad]

Man, have you opened a Pandora's box. I will throw my cent and a half in for kicks.

1-get some of these
View attachment 670255
Sometimes I double them if I think the food is real hot. Get some nice stretchable rubber gloves to go over them. You will have excellent tactile feel and not get burned handling your meat, err food. You may already use these. They are washable and cheap. I keep a bunch around.

2-What is your end goal with the ribs? Competitions? Just good eats for you and family and friends? This matters, because everyone has opinions about what competition ribs should look, feel, smell and taste like. It not for comp, go for what you like.

3-Are ya getting quality meat? It doesn't have to be expensive and might even have been previously frozen ( I get those from the H-E-Bs here in TX sometimes when on sale).

4- I look for even thickness along the whole rack. Better even cook, of course.

5- To wrap or not to wrap, that is the question? I do both. When I do, it can be foil or sometimes pink butcher paper. When do I wrap? Well...........when I feel like it and want to speed the process along. Opinions vary on when to wrap. I always wrap (any meat I am wrapping) based on color and smokiness.

6- Back to #1- the glove liners. When they get close to done, pick em up and proceed as if you are going to eat them. Hell, you can pull bones, flop them around, toss them in the air, etc. The reality is you can get a really great feel for the tenderness and doneness.

7- Keep at it. Ribs aint rocket surgery. Also, consider the taste, flavor profile and doneness of the ribs you have eaten that you really liked. Maybe from a friend, restaurant, etc. Shoot for that.

I am sure I bored you to death. Steadfast in your journey my fellow smoker.

tbrtt1, Thanks for all the info. I had a hell of a time finding a pair of gloves to use as hot pads when I started tinkering in the kitchen a few years ago. I couldn't stand using a tea towel, large cloth hot pads or bulky oven mits, if I could find any at all. I found some grill gloves, silicone XXL that I was able to fit into. Some what comfortable. I'll have to start scouring the internet for some XXXL ones again. Having a pair of Gorilla size hands comes in handy except when you need to reach into small spaces or cover your hands for protection. Thanks again for all the info.

 

[tbrtt1]

tbrtt1, Thanks for all the info. I had a hell of a time finding a pair of gloves to use as hot pads when I started tinkering in the kitchen a few years ago. I couldn't stand using a tea towel, large cloth hot pads or bulky oven mits, if I could find any at all. I found some grill gloves, silicone XXL that I was able to fit into. Some what comfortable. I'll have to start scouring the internet for some XXXL ones again. Having a pair of Gorilla size hands comes in handy except when you need to reach into small spaces or cover your hands for protection. Thanks again for all the info.

I have a pair of nice silicone or some space aged material gloves that work well. But after feeling up a butt, bird or brisky, I have to wash then like I am washing my hands.

But I usually put a couple clove liners on and break out the disposable latex gloves. That is certainly a nice thing about that setup. Just pull off the latex/nitrile/rubber gloves and slap some new ones on if you are working with different foods, etc. And again, the tactile feel to me is a great benefit. Certainly not necessary for ribs or anything else, since I smoked meats long before I ran across those cheap liners. But they are handy.....pardon the pun.

Oh, I have large hands too. Vinyl will not work for me. Not stretchy enough. I rubber/nitrile whatever they are called work. I get the largest I can.