I'm having trouble figuring out when to wrap ribs. What's your tell signs that ribs are ready to wrap? And when are they done? I've tried following timelines on videos I've seen but they come out overdone and dried out. I think I'm giving them too much time... Thanks all!
Hi there and welcome!
I don't wrap. I get better tasting ribs when I don't wrap. I have tried wrapped vs unwrapped and the unwrapped win hands down 100x over for me.
I follow
SmokinAl
's technique of putting a meat probe in the center of the rack in the thick meat area. This approach makes things simple and consistent EVERY time!
In short Al takes his ribs to 195F internal temp. I take mine to 198F because I like mine a little more tender but not quite fall off the bone.
Now, I still check for overall tenderness by stabbing all over with a tooth pic or the thermometer meat probe itself when it reaches my 198F temp.
Why? Ribs are technically only done when they are tender. Not by time and not exactly by temp.
See it is easy to misplace a thermometer temp probe and miss getting a temp reading from the spot you were looking for (what if u put too deep, hit a bone, too shallow, or wrong spot??).
Now with ribs they are thin enough that you can more reliably nail the probe placement or use 2+ probes to help out so if you place your probe right then you basically ensure they are done at your desired temp (198F for me).
BUT, I would always urge someone to simply do the stabbing tenderness test to confirm it is tender and therefore done.
It cost nothing to stab and check, but costs you the quality of a whole rack of ribs to not check and to be wrong.
No matter if its a 2 pound rack or a 5 pound rack. St Louise vs Whole Spare rack vs Babybacks.
Al's technique along with tenderness check will consistently get you the ribs you desire.
You can use Al's method with wrapped or unwrapped.
I suggest you do 2 racks 1 unwrapped and the other wrapped both using Al's technique for consistency in tenderness. THEN you can see what I mean about flavor in wrapped vs unwrapped and boom you have begun to nail your ribs!!!
At this point you just need repeated success, some minor tweaks for your tastes, and to develop the overall experience to achieve the best and most consistent results possible!
I hope this info helps :)