Tough bark on ribs! Ugh
 

I picked up a couple of racks of Walmart special baby back ribs ($7.00 per rack).... I was gonna cook them 1.5 hrs smoke, 1.5 hrs foiled, 1 hr back on smoke all @ 225*.

After the first 2 hrs (once the ribs were In foil) I left to to shoot skeet. I come back after 1 hr and the UDS has shot up to 315*. I figured no big deal ill just go 30min at the end instead of an hr. ribs looked good on the bend test. So I took them off.

The bark was rubbery and tough. Kinda like beef jersey. But other than the bark the meat was ok. Did I just buy crappy ribs from ole Walmart. Or did my temp spike ruin them?

I've cooked a ton of ribs.... This is a first for me.

Did the meat fll off the bones?

They weren't fall off the bone but they were tender. The bark broke good on the bend test. When I separated the ribs before eating some meat would pull all the way off the bone.

I would say what ever you added to the foil with the ribs caramelized in the foil. I'd loose the foil it aint rib law, in 30 + yrs I have used it twice once to make sure I didn't need it the first time.

I'm with Bludawg on this one - sounds like there was plenty of sugar to caramelize.

It was my standard rib stuff... Butter, brown sugar, agave nector.

I've cooked ribs like that for years. This was the first time I've had jerky bark

Was this the first time you used Walmart meat?

Well, did you find the ribs laying in the linen aisle at room temperature... that's where I sometimes find meat at ghetto-mart ;-)

I agree, I think you got too hot and your rub carameled on you, then when it cooled it hardened up. I don't foil, I feel like ribs get too hot and/or steam when they are foiled. No thanks, never foil and ribs always come out fine.

I have ribs do this on me, both wrapped and unwrapped, although much more often unwrapped. It was not just the heat. The meat on the surface of some racks can toughen, like jerky. I experience this problem far more often at lower temperatures too. I find that ribs that are not well trimmed on top do this most often, especially if there is a thin layer of meat, over a thin layer of fat.