Traeger

[Hqly2001]

Im thinking about smoking my st louis ribs at 200 for 7-8 hours without wrapping. Will it dry pit my ribs? I’m trying to lock in juice while make it tender. I dont like wrapping it due to the juice loss. Figured a little longer time would make it more tender? Any thoughts?

 

[mike243]

Welcome to the site, I think you will be about 2 hours to long, wrapping does help render fat from meat , also it makes them tender and a lot of folks like to unwrap and put back on for another hour or so , there's no 1 method to please everybody, I don't wrap a lot of times unless I am in a hurry which aint often these days lol. the unwrapping and back on helps firm them back up and if saucing that's when you add that

 

[sweetride95]

Unwrapped with some frequent spritzing makes a nice bark and a bitier texture. When done right, unwrapped are hard to beat. I tend to wrap because I like being able to better schedule my finish window. Unwrapped can wonder around on cook times quite a bit. It really boils down to repetition and knowing what your looking for throughout the cook. Practice practice practice and enjoy the meats.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Try unwrapped at 225° for about 5- 6 hrs, until they pass the bend test. I think you will be happy with the results.

 

[Hqly2001]

Thanks for the responses. I tried no wrap at 225 for 5-7 hours twice, both times the meat was starting to dry out. I’m thinking about going lower and slower but figured i’d ask to see if anyone has tried 180-200 for 7-8 hours. Not sure if ribs would hit 190 at those temps or if the ribs would be too dried by then as well. I use a traeger so temps will fluctuate 10-20 degrees. I like the tenderness of wrap but don’t like losing the juice from wrapping.

 

[JC in GB]

Thanks for the responses. I tried no wrap at 225 for 5-7 hours twice, both times the meat was starting to dry out. I’m thinking about going lower and slower but figured i’d ask to see if anyone has tried 180-200 for 7-8 hours. Not sure if ribs would hit 190 at those temps or if the ribs would be too dried by then as well. I use a traeger so temps will fluctuate 10-20 degrees. I like the tenderness of wrap but don’t like losing the juice from wrapping.

I spritz the ribs every 45 minutes after the rub sets on the meat. That helps keep them moist and gives you a bit of glazing depending on how much sugar is in the spritz.

JC

 

[dubob]

Im thinking about smoking my st louis ribs at 200 for 7-8 hours without wrapping. Will it dry pit my ribs? I’m trying to lock in juice while make it tender. I dont like wrapping it due to the juice loss. Figured a little longer time would make it more tender? Any thoughts?

Aaron Franklin (Franklins BBQ; Austin, TX) discusses his technique in his book. He does this for a living. He always uses a water pan, cooks his pork ribs at 275*F, and ALWAYS wraps in foil at the 3 hour point. His total cooking time for pork ribs is 7 1/2 to 9 hours. Then they are rested for a least another hour before serving. Not sure how you came to a conclusion that wrapping causes juice loss. I always wrap and have never had dry ribs.