To wrap or not to wrap spare ribs

[Wasi]

I wanted to do a test of wrapped to unwrapped spare ribs on my smoker to determine which style me and the wife prefer. I used some St. Louis spare ribs that I trimmed up covered with mustard and then applied my standard rub to the ribs. I smoked them around 225 with a combo of hickory and Cherry wood for 2 hours spritzing with apple juice every 30 minutes. After two solid hours I took one slab off and foiled with butter, brown sugar, honey and a little apple juice and placed them back on the smoker for 1 hour. After 1 hour I took them out of the foil and let them both cook for another 1.5 hours with no spritzing. The end results were really good. After we tried both we agreed the we are going to wrap going forward. The only different thing I would do is to cook them a little longer in the smoker but that is an easy fix. See the included pics.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Good looking ribs! I prefer to wrap mine as well. End up more tender IMO. More of a pain in the ass but well worth it!

 

[bbqbrett]

I always prefer to wrap. It is an easy way to add some extra moisture and different flavors as well if you want.

 

[noboundaries]

Non-wrapper here. My wife prefers FOTB ribs, me a clean bite. I smoke 'em now to a point between both. By not wrapping I can easily find that point whether smoking at 225F, 300F, or anything in between.

 

[texomakid]

Those are sure good looking ribs. I'm trying to nail down the no wrap but I too find the ribs to be so good when I do wraps.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Al nailed that perfect temp in his post IMO at 195. Not FOTB but tender with a good bite through. Here are some spares I did that way that I wrapped a few months ago.