Baby Back Ribs... better.. but not quite there yet...

thegizzard

thegizzard

Knows what a fatty is.
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I followed a recipe I found online (btw.. is there a reason why I cannot search Q-talk?) Anyway... I had to search online and found some instructions.

Recipe called for 3.5 hours and maybe wrap the last hour. I went about 4.5 hours with the last 1.5 hours wrapped in foil. Everyone was pleased.. but it was not as fall off the bone tender as I would have liked...

A couple of things I think I did wrong...

1- I did not remove the membrane... I was having a lot of trouble.. then I figured it was not worth the effort... would it have made much of a difference?


2- I felt like I could have left it in there longer. I didn't bother with a meat thermometer... but the pit temp was steady at 225-235 the whole time. It wasnt burning or anything, I felt like I should have left it in longer.. but I was out of time. So... even tho the recipe said 3.5 hours, I went 4.5 hours and it still did not fall off the bone.

Any suggestions?

Here is what it looked like before I wrapped it.

tumblr_m9e574UTbo1rct7y3o1_1280.jpg
 
First, the built in forum search is enabled by the basic level subscription. There is a Google search near the bottom of the page that searches just this site that is available to everyone.

Second, you didn't mention the temp that you were cooking at. I do baby backs at 265 and they go for 2.5 hours no foil and 1.5 in foil and then finish out of the foil to set the glaze. I try to get racks that are close to 2.5 lbs.

Third, Removing the membrane will giving you a chance to get rub on the meat from both sides. You can take it off after cooking. If you didn't remove it at all that would make the ribs tough to get off of the bone.
 
Ron_L said:
you didn't mention the temp that you were cooking at. I do baby backs at 265 and they go for 2.5 hours no foil and 1.5 in foil and then finish out of the foil to set the glaze. I try to get racks that are close to 2.5 lbs.
Click to expand...

My target temperature was 225. If I can get'er done @ 265 in 4 hours then I'll go for that next time.
 
My personal preference is to remove the membrane. It takes no more than a minute for each rack of ribs. Use the back of a dinner spoon (rounded) to start the removal. Then grab that piece with a paper towel and slowly pull the rest off. I thought it was crazy the first time I did it, but the paper towel makes all the difference.
Did you add any type of liquid to your foil when you wrapped them? I try to add half a cup to a cup of apple juice during the foil stage which makes them very tender.
 
Your membrane might have been removed already. When you peel one off the first time you will know it. They generally come off pretty easy in one piece. Even after it is off it may look like there is still a membrane on their. When I buy baby backs at my butcher fresh the membrane is still on, if I buy them frozen from them at a better price they remove the membrane before freezing them. Not sure why but it took me a few times to figure that out.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
 
Rpf41978 said:
Did you add any type of liquid to your foil when you wrapped them?
Click to expand...

The recipe called for spraying with a 1/4 Olive Oil, 3/4 Apple Cider vinegar every 30 minutes. Which I only did 2x because I was more worried about maintaining temperature in my cooker, which turned out not to be that big of a problem. I sprayed right before the wrap.

But I will try the apple juice in the wrap next time. My #1 goal is to have the ribs fall off the bone.
 
jason p said:
Your membrane might have been removed already. When you peel one off the first time you will know it. They generally come off pretty easy in one piece. Even after it is off it may look like there is still a membrane on their. When I buy baby backs at my butcher fresh the membrane is still on, if I buy them frozen from them at a better price they remove the membrane before freezing them. Not sure why but it took me a few times to figure that out.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

The membrane was still there. It made cutting the ribs a bit difficult when they were done. But it was easy to remove after the ribs were done.
 
I am laughing because my profile now says I know what a fatty is... and I have no idea what a fatty is.. that's actually what I wanted to use the search function for. Ha!
 
You beat me to it Ron. One search and 5 minutes later... Now, I know what a fatty is... now I have to make one.. I cannot un-know what a fatty is... my mouth is watering.
 
If you cook them at higher temps around 260-300 the cook time will be a lot shorter. IMO cooking at 225 is too low for anything. Fat renders better at the higher temps, and your ribs will turn out more tender.

You are on the right track not wanting to spritz every 30 minutes, totally unnecessary. Just leave the cooker closed as much as possible and let 'em rip. If you want to spritz, do it when you are adding foil and removing foil if at all. I tossed my spritz bottle in the trash a long time ago and don't miss it at all.

Don't know if it'll make any difference, but you might try poking your thermometer through a small potato or something so it's not in direct contact with the grate. The time of your cook seems awfully long even at 225.

I don't use foil during cooks, but many people do when cooking ribs, maybe try 2 hours unfoiled, .5 to 1 hour foiled, then .5 to 1 hour out of foil to set glaze and finish at higher cooking temp. I can get baby backs to almost fall off the bone in 3 hours cooking at 300 with no foil.
 
I tried both, foil & no foil, I prefer no foil, but if you like "fall off the bone" ribs, you'll probably will need to foil for at least 45-60 minutes.

I like the ribs to be a bit more firm so now that I know how to replicate the 45min. in foil (little higher temp) I stop wasting foil.

I'm doing (loin) ribs at 250-275, around 3½ - 4 hours.

DSCN0169.jpg


DSCN0171.jpg
 
Rpf41978 said:
My personal preference is to remove the membrane. It takes no more than a minute for each rack of ribs. Use the back of a dinner spoon (rounded) to start the removal. Then grab that piece with a paper towel and slowly pull the rest off.
Click to expand...

I start in the middle, wiggle the spoon underneath the membrane, then pull it up (while holding the slap o' rib down from underneath the spoon), that way I pull of the membrane in about 5 seconds flat (and another 3-5 seconds for the initial 'insertion' of the spoon.
 
When you foil and add liquid, essentialy you are braising your protein. This will give you the "fall off the bone" tenderness you seek if you don't have the time to let it happen naturaly. I personaly shoot for somewhere between what competition judges consider to be perfect and "fall off the bone" when serving to family and guests. Taking a bite and having the whole thing pull off the bone and hang there down your chin is not a good thing. I like a bit of texture.
 
I did baby backs yesterday and they turned out pretty good. They were very meaty BB's. Cooked them at 250* unfoiled for ~3.25 hours. Started them bone up and I flipped them half way through. Applied a glaze after I pulled the ribs off the smoker. Final product pictured here with an ABT in the background and some other good grub. Not a very good pic with the I-Pad - the ribs actually had a nice cherry colored glaze and weren't as dark as they appear in the pic. If you haven't tried ABT's, you need to. That was my first go with ABT's and it certainly won't be my last.
 

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It looks like you're getting plenty of tips for your ribs. I wanted to throw something a little different in the mix too...

In the picture you have a temp probe laying next to the ribs. I'm assuming that it's there so you can get a reading of the temp in the cooker. I would suggest finding something to stick the probe through to keep it from touching the grill surface. Having it touch like that might be causing you to get a hotter reading. If that's the case, then you're likely cooking at a lower temp than you want to. That might be why it took longer to cook. I have a piece of wine cork that I stuck mine through. I've seen people used potatoes to accomplish the same thing. Just a suggestion.
 
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