Second Try at Spare Ribs

[ddave]

I decided to try a rack of spare ribs on Super Bowl Sunday. The first rack I did when I first started smoking last spring didn't turn out so good so I have been kind of gun shy. That thread is still here . . . it wouldn't have broke my heart to lose that one.

(severe understatement)

Well, I figured it was time to try again.
Here's the full rack . . .



trimmed to St. Louis style . . .



and rubbed and on their way to the fridge for the night.



Put them on at about 11am on Sunday The drum was acting WAY different than it normally did. Temperature was wanderng more and seemed to need a lot less intake. Wandering between 230 and 250 with the ball valve 1/2 open and both caps on. Made a few changes since last time I used it -- eight 1/2" exhaust holes are now 3/4", using Kingsford Comp Briquettes and painted the lid black. It's windy but the wind never seemed to bother the drum before.

Here's a pic at foiling time . . .



and the completed rack.



They were pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself. 3-2-1 was a little long like folks here have said. The bones were falling out. I prefer them a little more on the firm side. Will make adjustments next time.

 

[morkdach]

good job dave them do look great

 

[dforbes]

great looking ribs, good job

 

[grothe]

Great job Dave!!
Too tender is an easy fix

 

[davidmcg]

Look good. I sometimes have problems with the 3-2-1, sometimes mine are more like 3-1.5-.75 Falling off the bone isn't a bad thing, its just that sometimes I prefer to grab bone and expect it to hold the meat. But other times I don't mind digging in with the fingers, getting messy or using a fork.

I did 3 slabs Superbowl Sunday. But due to time constraints, the amount of food I was smoking and still being a knee hobbler after surgery I ended up doing mine KC style. Had photo's of all of it but I have no clue where my wife dumped the pictures too.

It was a great day to have a yellow towel in the house.

 

[skwerl]

Glad you gave it another try, nothing like good ribs and those look awesome.

 

[ddave]

I'm with you there. My daughter (8) likes to gnaw the meat off the bone "cave man style" so I will shoot a little more stay on the bone. Just getting a reference point this time around. Plus, I started using the juices from the foil and mixing a bit in with some store-bought BBQ sauce to use for a glaze but haven't really got it to "set" yet. So I am thinking next time, 3-1.5-75 (or 1) and let the temp creep up on the last part ought to be moving in the right direction.

Been doing babybacks since I messed up my first rack of spares so bad.

Which reminds me. I did a rack of BBs on the drum just a little bit before the crash. May have to dig into Photobucket and do some reposting.

Dave

 

[bbq bubba]

Those look VERY familiar.......

 

[ddave]

I'm sure they do.

I like lots of feedback -- helps me learn.

Dave

 

[krusher]

looks good bud, in my opinion you just can beat those spare ribs st. louis style.

 

[pineywoods]

Good looking ribs Dave

 

[two-eyes-up]

I did the 2-2-1 on spares last week-end but I foiled and I almost couldn't get them out of foil without them tearing apart.

 

[bman62526]

I agree - for Superbowl Sunday I did three full slabs of spares trimmed to ST.L Style. 2 -- 2 -- 1 was all I needed. However, I like to run my smoker at 235 - 240° and not usually any less than that. To me, that is a good range where the cooking and rendering takes place, and the meat doesn't seem to dry out like it does when I used to aim for 220 - 225°. That's just my opinion based on my taste and my equipment.

My wife had the camera that day so no Que View

but the ribs were fantastic. There were 11 - 12 people at this small party, and I cut all three slabs into two-bone appetizer portions. Keeping in mind that there was so much food at this party that we actually felt guilty looking at it all....still - my ribs were gone in 20 minutes, and the compliments kept rolling in. Isn't smoking meat great?

Anywhoo - IMO, 2-2-1 is damn near perfect for spares.

 

[pignit]

Shweeeeet!

 

[cowgirl]

Wow...those look great Dave! Bet they were tasty too!

 

[azkitch]

I eat mistakes. Well, as long as creosote isn't involved. I haven't liked that yet! Those do look yummy. I under cooked mine a bit--kinda like the AZ offense!--but after about 45 mins foiled in a 250* toaster oven at work, they pulled back and were yummy!

And it was a pretty good day for red birds, too. Especially given the history!!
Gives a whole new meaning to, "There's always next year...".
GO CARDS!!
azkitch

 

[curious aardvark]

looks excellent - lots of pullback.
I think it's got to be a temperature thing.
I'll give them another go in the summer when I stand a better chance of getting the smoker beyond 200.

 

[rickw]

Nice looking ribs Dave. Smoking in the cold is a different story for sure.