Ribs on a Treager

[StuntCarpenter]

Hey Guys new to the forum. I purchased a Treager this summer and have really been enjoying learning about smoking meats and have had some good results.

I did two racks of ribs yesterday and ran into a a time vs internal temp issues. I put the ribs on at 180 with me MEATER probe set for 165 finished temp. The ribs got up to 165 in 3hours but when we eat them they where a bit underdone and tough.

Should I care less about the finished temp and be more concerned with the smoke time?

Thanks

 

[browneyesvictim]

No. Ribs typically need to go much higher temp than 165 to be more tender. at 165 is about when "the stall" begins and many people will wrap at that time. Start probing at 190-195' but will be even over 200 if you want fall off the bone.

Depending on what kind of ribs they should take closer to 5 hours or so.

 

[kruizer]

Your ribs are under done. 3hrs is not enough time. ribs would be done at about 200 or so. You should also be cooking them about 225.

 

[browneyesvictim]

You should also be cooking them about 225.

Yes. That too. 180 is too low. But if I understand smoking with a pellet grill that may be beneficial in your case for the first smoking phase of the 3-2-1 method (or variants). Someone else with a Treager will have to attest for that. But once you go ~3 hours of smoke you should raise the temp in the 225-250 range or even higher.

 

[creek bottom]

Your ribs are under done. 3hrs is not enough time. ribs would be done at about 200 or so. You should also be cooking them about 225.

^^^^^^^^What kruizer said -- You didn't mention what kind of racks, (baby back, St. Louis, spares). I usually cook between 250 and 275 and even baby backs take roughly 4-5 hours at that temp...

 

[bregent]

Should I care less about the finished temp and be more concerned with the smoke time?

Neither. Cook till they reach the tenderness you want by using either the bend or probe test. Once you've done that a few times you'll have a better gauge of how long it takes on your grill for a given cook temp - but only use time to determine when to start checking for tenderness. Some folks like to cook ribs to a specific temp. That never worked for me as the internal temp is not what determines tenderness.

For me, unwrapped spares take about 4 hours on my pellet grill running at 275F. If you are running at 180, it would take MUCH longer. As others have suggested, start low for an hour if you want to get some more smoke in there, but then increase the temp to somewhere between 225 and 275.

 

[StuntCarpenter]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the reply’s.

They where St. Louis ribs. I must have read the recipe online wrong to get 165 as the finished temp.

 

[browneyesvictim]

They would be safe to eat at that temp. That's a typical target temp for many other pork cuts. You can actually go as low as 145 for things like loin and may be a little pink. Rules changed a few years ago. Could be why you were confused.