Measuring meat temps

[bbqsmoke]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie, so forgive my simple-sounding question please. Yesterday I did my first babybacks in my new char-griller smoker. They came out good, in spite of myself! I could not accurately measure the temp of the meat, I kept getting different temps. How do you check the temp on babybacks? If I go between the bones there is not enough meat to masure & if I check on top of the ribs where it's meaty I'm afraid I'm too close to the bone for accuracy.

Thanks for any help!

 

[rdknb]

on babybacks I use the 2-2-1 method and do not measure temp.  2 hours at 225 in smoker, 2 hours in foil, 1 out of foil to firm up

 

[realtorterry]

Sound like good advice! You can also look for pull back on the meat or what I do to make sure is pick up one end & if it bends 90 degrees you know you good

 

[mythmaster]

Yeah, we usually go with time on ribs for this reason -- at 225*, 5 hours for baby backs, 6 hours for spares regardless of whether or not you foil them.  You can test them for doneness by picking them up, also, and they should start to rip apart in the middle.

 

[sqwib]

Ditto to the above 3-2-1 for spares, no more than 6 hours and I try to keep the temps at 230-240, havent done baby backs yet, but have done a ton of spares.

For a bit more tug on the meat try 3-1-1.5

Ribs have to be one of the easiest things to do in a smoker because you are cooking with time not an internal temp... no guesswork

 

[mballi3011]

You hear allot here that we smoke by temp not time well ribs are one thing that we smoke by time not temp. Now we do keep the smoker at about 230°ish maybe 250° but no more then that. Also allot of folks here (I'm one) foil their ribs after the first couple of hours. I did change the foiled time to maybe 1 hour and a quarter so that the bone are not falling out as I pick them up. I like a little tug to my ribs.

 

[choppermrt]

glad this came up b/c i was gonna use baby backs for my first smoking. you boys got any preferences on wood types for the best flavort baby backs. i think i might try a dry rub? any feed back.

chopper

 

[dick foster]

For pork, hickory is always nice. Maybe something milder like white oak or apple for the bulk of it with some hickory for flavor depending on taste.

It all depends on what you like really. The ribs I did this weekend were done with only hickory wood.

It also depends a on the rub you use, sauces if any, mops, etc. but in the end it gets down to what you like and how you want them to taste.  

 

[bbqsmoke]

Thank you everyone, for the advice. I'm not only a newbie smoker, but cooking in general hasn't been my thing up until recently. I was just worried about getting sick from the pork being under cooked. Y'all put my mind at ease!

 

[richoso1]

For pork, hickory is always nice. Maybe something milder like white oak or apple for the bulk of it with some hickory for flavor depending on taste.

It all depends on what you like really. The ribs I did this weekend were done with only hickory wood.

It also depends a on the rub you use, sauces if any, mops, etc. but in the end it gets down to what you like and how you want them to taste.  

You gave good advise, especially your last sentence. It's all good my friend.

 

[cliffcarter]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie, so forgive my simple-sounding question please. Yesterday I did my first babybacks in my new char-griller smoker. They came out good, in spite of myself! I could not accurately measure the temp of the meat, I kept getting different temps. How do you check the temp on babybacks? If I go between the bones there is not enough meat to masure & if I check on top of the ribs where it's meaty I'm afraid I'm too close to the bone for accuracy.

Thanks for any help!

The bend test. Pick up the rack with tongs from the large end, the tongs should be about at the 5th or 6th rib. If the rack bends at a 45 degree angle(or more) they're done.

 

 

[scarbelly]

Great advise Cliff - nice illustration of the process