First smoke ever....Baby back ribs

[kaveman42]

First time smoking anything and these ribs were excellent. Did the 2-2-1 method and slathered bbq sauce for the last hour. One hour at the end may have been a bit much. The ribs tasted amazing, but it could have been juicier.

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• kaveman42
• Nov 4, 2016

 

[crazymoon]

KM42, Nice looking ribs! 

 

[SmokinAl]

They sure look good!

Nice color!

Al

 

[crankybuzzard]

Great first for you!  Experiment a bit more with the different methods and you'll get to where you make them perfect each time.

Points for your first!

 

[seenred]

Hi Kaveman, those ribs look terrific from here! I'm sure my first try at smoking ribs didn't turn out nearly that good...nicely done! Thumbs Up

Red

 

[kaveman42]

Thanks guys, it was definitely the best tasting ribs I had ever eaten. Not that Im a good cook, its just that the options in Los Angeles are sub par.

BTW, what temp range do you guys set your Maverick for ribs? I set 203 internal and 220-230 range for the CC.

 

[SmokinAl]

Thanks guys, it was definitely the best tasting ribs I had ever eaten. Not that Im a good cook, its just that the options in Los Angeles are sub par.

BTW, what temp range do you guys set your Maverick for ribs? I set 203 internal and 220-230 range for the CC.

I like my ribs at 195.

It's pretty hard to get an accurate reading with a Mav.

I use a ThermoPop, they have a real thin probe needle.

I usually smoke them at 270-280.

Then start checking them after about 3 hours.

Al

 

[jetsknicks1]

Good looking ribs, great first try.

 

[joe black]

Good job. I usually smoke ribs at 250-275*. I don't try for any specific IT. The meat on ribs is sometimes too thin to get an accurate reading. I use the bend method. The meat will let you know when it's done.

Good luck and keep on smokin', Joe. :grilling_smilie:

 

[seenred]

Thanks guys, it was definitely the best tasting ribs I had ever eaten. Not that Im a good cook, its just that the options in Los Angeles are sub par.

BTW, what temp range do you guys set your Maverick for ribs? I set 203 internal and 220-230 range for the CC.

Ribs are the one meat that I don't monitor the internal temp.  As Al said, because of all the bones in a rack of ribs, its a challenge to get reliable readings, especially with a Maverick.  You can do it like Al does and use an instant read therm to get a internal temp in several places along the rack, but I've always cooked ribs by look and feel.  I'll look to see when the meat begins pulling back from the ends of the bones, then periodically probe the meat with a toothpick or a bamboo skewer to feel when they get tender enough for our taste.  And I generally like to cook ribs at a cooker temp of 250*.

Red

 

[bdskelly]

Yeah... What Red said. 

Those ribs look good for a first smoke. Did everyone eat them? If so then your smoke was successful ! B

 

[lemans]

Hey.. they look awesome. Keep a record of how you smoked them , then the next time tweet them a little
( wrap with brown sugar , honey and tiger sauce)
And see if they come out better)
Ps save the juice from the foil and use as a finishing /dipping sauce...

 

[kaveman42]

Hi Lemans,
That's what I did at the 2 hr mark. I hit them with parkay, brown sugar, and honey then cooked it wrapped two hours.

 

[kaveman42]

It

Yeah... What Red said. 

Those ribs look good for a first smoke. Did everyone eat them? If so then your smoke was successful ! B

It was just my wife and I, so outside of them being too spicy for her she enjoyed them.

 

[gonavy]

Good first smoke.  I pretty much did the same as you, but found out my smoker really like it around the 250 range, so instead of fighting my smoker, and since BB cook so fast I now smoke for 2 hours, then wrap (squeeze butter, brown sugar, and honey) for one and half hours, then back on unwrapped mop with bbq sauce for just 30 mins or so.  They come out much better now.  I also don't bother with temp, if the meat has pulled off the bone, they are done.  Lesson learned, when I wrap, I always do it meat side down, tenderizing happens during the wrap time, the longer it's wrapped the more fall of the bone it gets....If you use Jeff's rub you can't go wrong, plus if your wife thinks it is a little spicy, just back off some of the pepper in Jeff's recipe to tweak it, big benefit of making rub vs buying rub, the ability to tweak it.

 

[disco]

These look way better than my first ribs! Nice!

Point

Disco

 

[ryanloghry]

Man those ribs look great. Can you please post a link to a step by step of the 2-2-1 method you're referring to?

 

[mcokevin]

Looks delicious! 

I did my first smoke yesterday as well but opted for chicken.  Looking forward to getting some different means on there!  

 

[smokin218r]

 
Man those ribs look great. Can you please post a link to a step by step of the 2-2-1 method you're referring to?

If you do a search here for 2-2-1, you'll find tons of info.

Welcome to both and nice looking first smoke!

 

[disco]

 
Man those ribs look great. Can you please post a link to a step by step of the 2-2-1 method you're referring to?

You will see 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 methods of doing ribs. The first number is how long the ribs go in the smoker uncovered (3 hours or two hours). The ribs are wrapped in foil, usually with some liquid, for the second number (2 hours). They are taken out of the foil and put back on the smoker for the last number (1 hour). Often, sauce is added during the last hour or half hour.

3-2-1 is usually used for large spareribs and 2-2-1 is used for smaller back ribs.

These methods usually give a fall off the bone style rib.

People vary the times for their own tastes but these are the normal time periods.

Disco