Smoking Notes: 3.5-1.5-1.5 Ribs With Two Rubs

[johnmeyer]

First, I'll cut to the chase:

I bought the St. Louis ribs at Costco. I decided to try two things: see how much difference a rub can make, and also alter the 3-2-1 timing to produce a result closer to how I like my ribs (a little bit of chew, not too gooey, and not completely off the ribs).

I applied Jeff's traditional rub to the ribs on the left, and some Trader Joes Coffee Rub on the right. I let them sit, covered, in the fridge for two hours.

I heated the MES 30 to 250 degrees, and used hickory pellets in the AMNPS which I put inside my external mod. I added enough pellets for 3+ hours of smoking, but then added about one hour of pellets to the other side. I lit both ends, using my heat gun.

Approximately halfway through the initial 3-1/2 hour smoke I swapped the top and bottom racks, and rotated all three racks front to back. I otherwise did nothing: no spritzing, mopping etc.

At the 3-1/2 hour mark I put all six sections into a disposable pan that I had put in there to catch the drips, covered the pan, increased the heat to 260, and let them cook for another 1-1/2 hours.

At the five hour mark I took the ribs out of the pan, put them back on the racks, and mopped them lightly with some Bullseye (original) sauce. I lowered the temp back down to 250 and let them cook for an hour.

The result?

The ribs were near perfect, but I think I can still do better. I like the Bullseye, but when I tried dipping the results in Sweet Baby Rays, Bullseye, and Jeff's BBQ sauce, I think I liked the considerable extra "bite" in Jeff's sauce. I also might try finishing the ribs on the grill in order to get a little blackening on the sauce.

Finally, my experiment with the different rubs confirmed what I have long suspected: the rub you use does make a difference, and Jeff's rub was better, but the smoke and the meat dominate, and the rub is more of a secondary player.

So, for me, this is getting close to what I want, and my next attempt will focus on the sauce and how I cook the ribs after I apply the sauce. However, this took a LOT of time, and therefore I won't be doing it again for quite awhile.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

First, I'll cut to the chase:

View attachment 370359
I bought the St. Louis ribs at Costco. I decided to try two things: see how much difference a rub can make, and also alter the 3-2-1 timing to produce a result closer to how I like my ribs (a little bit of chew, not too gooey, and not completely off the ribs).

I applied Jeff's traditional rub to the ribs on the left, and some Trader Joes Coffee Rub on the right. I let them sit, covered, in the fridge for two hours.

I heated the MES 30 to 250 degrees, and used hickory pellets in the AMNPS which I put inside my external mod. I added enough pellets for 3+ hours of smoking, but then added about one hour of pellets to the other side. I lit both ends, using my heat gun.

Approximately halfway through the smoke I swapped the top and bottom racks, and rotated all three racks front to back. I otherwise did nothing: no spritzing, mopping etc.

At the 3-1/2 hour mark I put all six sections into a disposable pan that I had put in there to catch the drips, covered the pan, increased the heat to 260, and let them cook for another 1-1/2 hours.

At the five hour mark I took the ribs out of the pan, put them back on the racks, and mopped them lightly with some Bullseye (original) sauce. I lowered the temp back down to 250 and let them cook for an hour.

The result?

The ribs were near perfect, but I think I can still do better. I like the Bullseye, but when I tried dipping the results in Sweet Baby Rays, Bullseye, and Jeff's BBQ sauce, I think I liked the considerable extra "bite" in Jeff's sauce. I also might try finishing the ribs on the grill in order to get a little blackening on the sauce.

Finally, my experiment with the different rubs confirmed what I have long suspected: the rub you use does make a difference, and Jeff's rub was better, but the smoke and the meat dominate, and the rub is more of a secondary player.

So, for me, this is getting close to what I want, and my next attempt will focus on the sauce and how I cook the ribs after I apply the sauce. However, this took a LOT of time, and therefore I won't be doing it again for quite awhile.

Did you get more pull away from the bone? I found 3-2-1 for me doesn't really pull away from the bone much, I think I'll try this next time.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Great comparison John! So many ribs, rubs and sauces and methods, and so little time...

 

[SmokinAl]

I love it!
Another rib junkie!
And here I thought I was the only one chasing that perfect rib!
Welcome to the club!!
Al

 

[johnmeyer]

Did you get more pull away from the bone? I found 3-2-1 for me doesn't really pull away from the bone much, I think I'll try this next time.

Yeah, if you look at my one pic, and stare at it for a bit, you'll see quite a lot of exposed bone showing. When I lifted the ribs out of the pan, one bone did fall out, but the others were still pretty firmly attached. This was almost exactly what I was hoping for: tender, but no falling apart like a pulled pork. Since I do like a "chew" in my ribs, I might even decrease the time in the pan by another few minutes. Having said that, one thing I didn't mention is the wonderful juice in the pan. I put that in a fat separator (60/40 fat/juice ratio), and the sauce that came out was unbelievably tasty. I could sell this on the streets next to the dope dealers, and beat them at their game.

I love it!
Another rib junkie!
And here I thought I was the only one chasing that perfect rib!
Welcome to the club!!
Al

Thanks Al. I was going to post this in your epic rib thread, which was my original inspiration for doing ribs in the first place. I based all my original smokes on what I learned from you. I decided to open a separate thread in order to focus on the rubs and timing issues.

 

[Will Smoke]

Perfection is greater than or equal to infinity, love the step by step breakdown of ribs so I don't get stuck in a rib rut

 

[SmokinLogs]

Those ribs are making my mouth water. I haven’t cooked enough ribs to become proficient at it just yet but there is a definit learning curve. You said it pretty well that everyone has a certain rib preference that is perfect to them, so the 3-2-1 method is just kind of a starting point. Everybody has to alter it some to their liking. It looks like you did great on those racks. Keep up the good smoke lol.

 

[ksblazer]

Those look really good. I bet you can't find better ribs than that at a resteraunt near you. I can't anyway around here. Lol

I'm still tweaking my ribs to my tastes. Think I'm getting close to a profile I like. Sounds like you are too.

 

[petehalsted]

, one thing I didn't mention is the wonderful juice in the pan. I put that in a fat separator (60/40 fat/juice ratio), and the sauce that came out was unbelievably tasty. I could sell this on the streets next to the dope dealers, and beat them at their game.

I did that with the Rib and Pork Belly Burnt ends smoke I did last week, since I use a lot of honey and brown sugar in my pan, I ended up with something I am calling Pork Syrup. I put a bit in the freezer bags when I froze them and saved a pint that we added to the beans at the river. I am telling you that stuff would be good on pancakes! Good news is if I can find a market for it, Pork Belly Burnt ends would be a "by product" of the production, that one heck of a great by product LOL

 

[oldsmokerdude]

I really appreciate your play by play on the ribs; one of the many things this forum is great for. I've not done a lot of ribs and the ones I have done are okay. Yours look amazing. Thanks for sharing.