Disappointed in my second try with ribs

If the ribs were not falling off the ribs, or very flexible it means they were undercooked.

1. You do not need to keep temperature at 225. Low and Slow is a nice way to relax with your smoker etc, but you can also do very good bbq cooking 250-325 degrees and even hotter. A lot of the brethren here like cooking their ribs at about 275 degrees and can knock out a rack of spare ribs in 4-5 hours. I prefer to cook my ribs at 300-325 degrees and can do a rack of spares between 4-4.5 hours.

2. You can not cook bbq and get consistent results if you are cooking by a hard timeline or by internal temperature. With ribs you are looking for about 1/4in pull back on the bone, and then do toothpick test (probe the meat with a toothpick and if it goes in with very little resistance they are done), or by the bend test. The bend test is if you pick up the ribs in the middle with your hands or tongs, the ends will bend 90 degrees without breaking.

Here is a rack of st. louis cut ribs that I did last week and you can see how they bend but don't break.


For the pork shoulder/butt you are doing. Since it is boneless the way to test for doneness is to either probe it with a skewer and it will go in like warm butter, or you can take a fork to the meat side and twist. If it twists easily it is done. If it had a bone, you could wiggle the bone and if it starts releasing easily, the pork is done.

I agree with above. Get your temps up to 250-275 and you'll get better results. Not only will they cook faster but you'll get nicer carmelization on the meat. When you got about 1/2" pullback and pick em up with tongs in the center and they bend 90* in half, they dun.

tamathumper said:

Thanks for the reply! That's a good looking piece of meat! Here's the picture of the finished product, definitely not enough "pull back".

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Your ribs have quite a bit of pull back in the picture. Just cook them till they bend nicely. I see you cut your racks in half. If you do that before you put them on the smoker, you might have to use the toothpick test for doneness.

Is this your smoker?


Looks like it should be able to fit a full rack of ribs on one of the shelves if you put it from left to right instead of front to back.

tamathumper said:

The thin pieces had some pullback, but they were still really stiff, and the really thick pieces did not have any pullback. I think I have to cut them in half to make them fit, but I'll try a whole one next time. I have an MES 30.

Click to expand...

Also if you look at the rack of spares i did, There wasn't much pull back on the bones at all. The thicker bones there was no pull back, the thinner ones had a little pull back. The pull back was very similar to the way your ribs looked.

Once you get the bend test down once, you will be able to consistently tell when your ribs are done and you will knock them out of the park!

Get back on that horse and grab a couple more racks to cook! Good luck with your next rib cook.

tamathumper said:

So it's the bend (or toothpick) over the pullback... lesson learned.

Click to expand...

Times are a guide, not a definite. Like those above have stated, only the cook can tell when they are done by bending or with the use of a probe (or as indicated a toothpick)

Good luck on your next cook.. I am sure it will be a success...

i have that same smoker, only way i can fit a full rack without cutting in half is prop them up with a can, although i never tried diagonal. i just did baby backs in it yesterday like that turned out very well. i did mine at 275 for a little over three hours. keep it up you'll get there!

to do the bend test, the ribs have to be twice as long (in length) to what you have in the photos

for that size, it's better to use the toothpick method

aawa said:

If the ribs were not falling off the ribs, or very flexible it means they were undercooked.

1. You do not need to keep temperature at 225. Low and Slow is a nice way to relax with your smoker etc, but you can also do very good bbq cooking 250-325 degrees and even hotter. A lot of the brethren here like cooking their ribs at about 275 degrees and can knock out a rack of spare ribs in 4-5 hours. I prefer to cook my ribs at 300-325 degrees and can do a rack of spares between 4-4.5 hours.

2. You can not cook bbq and get consistent results if you are cooking by a hard timeline or by internal temperature. With ribs you are looking for about 1/4in pull back on the bone, and then do toothpick test (probe the meat with a toothpick and if it goes in with very little resistance they are done), or by the bend test. The bend test is if you pick up the ribs in the middle with your hands or tongs, the ends will bend 90 degrees without breaking.

Here is a rack of st. louis cut ribs that I did last week and you can see how they bend but don't break.

For the pork shoulder/butt you are doing. Since it is boneless the way to test for doneness is to either probe it with a skewer and it will go in like warm butter, or you can take a fork to the meat side and twist. If it twists easily it is done. If it had a bone, you could wiggle the bone and if it starts releasing easily, the pork is done.

Click to expand...

That a man law rack? does it support the ends of the ribs?

Blownmope said:

That a man law rack? does it support the ends of the ribs?

Click to expand...

I gather you are talking about the rib rack on the grate?

It is a weber rib rack. It is very thin but it works. I put the racks in bone tips up initially so they don't flop over, and then flip them half way through the cook.

Here is a picture after the flip.


I'll have to get pictures when I initially put them on.