Tried babybacks tonight.

[smoking b]

Sorry - they only had "plain ol' white" left at the sale price 

Oh man!  I feel for ya!  

   

 

[jds22]

I've only been doing ribs for about a year now so I'm definitely not an expert.

I too have experienced the same issue as you when using either the 3-2-1 or 2-2-1. Sometimes they came out really well, other time they were pretty bad.

After tons of reading about times, foil vs. no foil, temps, etc. I decided to start doing my ribs with no foil and temps around 250-275. Since then, they've all come out great.

What I learned after reading is that ribs are kind of inconsistent. 2-2-1 at 225 may not always be the best time and temp for a particular rack. So now that I don't foil, I don't stress over how much time I need to spend in each phase. Just put them on and relax. I don't even open the lid until about the 3 hour mark. I check them using the bend method and toothpicks. When I think they are almost done, then I paint them with some sauce for the last 30 mins or so. My cook times average 4-6 hours.

One poster said it best, ribs take as long as ribs take.

Good luck.

 

[ps0303]

You really need to remove the membrane, I'm sure that there had to be one on them.  That does help in getting them tender as well.  If you leave it on, you will end up with a tough rib.

 

[alexhortdog95]

You have to remove the membrane my friend. If you don't, you're doing a disservice to yourself and others, LOL

 

[cliffcarter]

I've only been doing ribs for about a year now so I'm definitely not an expert.

I too have experienced the same issue as you when using either the 3-2-1 or 2-2-1. Sometimes they came out really well, other time they were pretty bad.

After tons of reading about times, foil vs. no foil, temps, etc. I decided to start doing my ribs with no foil and temps around 250-275. Since then, they've all come out great.

What I learned after reading is that ribs are kind of inconsistent. 2-2-1 at 225 may not always be the best time and temp for a particular rack. So now that I don't foil, I don't stress over how much time I need to spend in each phase. Just put them on and relax. I don't even open the lid until about the 3 hour mark. I check them using the bend method and toothpicks. When I think they are almost done, then I paint them with some sauce for the last 30 mins or so. My cook times average 4-6 hours.

One poster said it best, ribs take as long as ribs take.

Good luck.

This is the advice you should heed IMHO, cook at a higher temp for there is nothing written in stone that you must BBQ at 225°. It seems that most first time rib cookers that complain of tough ribs cook at 225°, tough ribs are undercooked ribs, plain and simple. Foil if you want to, but whatever you do turn up the heat.

 

[PoPoNoMo]

Ok I'm trying again today.

Bought a new thermometer (maverick ET-73) I wanted the ET 732 but couldn't find one locally and didn't have the money earlier in the week to order online and I had to have it for today. I plan on getting one later on.

I tested the thermometer using the boiling water and ice water that I read on here. When the water was boiling it read 210* and in a glass of ice water, it read 34*.

I think I have found my problem. I am warming the MES-40 up now and have been for about an hour. The new thermometer says the internal temp on the smoker is only 216* and I have it turned up as far as it will go. I guess I'm going to have to call Masterbuilt tomorrow on that. Not looking forward to that from what I've read on the forums.

I'm going to go ahead and try to smoke the ribs. I will just have to monitor the meat better and ensure they get done this time, no matter how long it takes.

I guess worst case, I can smoke them for a while then bake them in foil to get them finished.

Here goes nothing!

 

[PoPoNoMo]

Ok, after messing around with the Internet, racking my brain and a few trial and error items, I may have fixed it.

I was attempting to be proactive (aka: Lazy) and put some aluminum pans in the smoker below the meat to catch any drippings in an attempt to make cleanup go faster.

I got to looking and the pans were resting just above the internal thermometer for the unit. I'm guessing that was catching the heat and channeling it directly to the probe causing a false reading. When I noticed this, my maverick thermometer was reading a temp of 151* and the MES was showing 280*. I removed the pans and the MES temp started to plummet and the maverick temp started rising!

It is currently sitting at a temp of 240* and smoking along!!! We will see how she goes from here.