Ribs in a UDS

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cmwr

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My ribs in my masterbuilt electric smoker always turned out yummy and the meat flaked off the bone. I made my first set of ribs today in my UDS. I maintained 200-245 degrees for 6 hours today. They were yummy but they were not as tender. The meat didn't fall off the bone as usual. In the electric smoker I always had a small waterpan. In my UDS it was just a dry smoke but the moisture dripping off the lid was immense so I doubt that contributed to anything.

Only thing I wonder is we bought these ribs at the local grocer and in the past we always bought ribs from wal mart. Different brands. This batch I made today were a lot fattier than I normally get. They were pretty fatty pork ribs.

Could it be the poor fatty cuts of meat or is there something I need to do different in a UDS compared to my old electric? Hams and birds have been great in this UDS. I have never pre boiled ribs for the record.
 
Well, the ribs you bought at Walmart were prolly from Tyson and enhanced with X% solution. These prolly weren't, and were prolly the real deal... Cheers!!!
 
May want to try smoking in the 250 - 275 range. Also, ribs may have been slightly undercooked? Did they pass the bend or toothpick test? You could also try foiling your ribs until you break in the UDS a little more and get a feel for how it cooks.
 
You need to cook the ribs until they are tender, not by time. If you like fall off the bone you can twist a bone and to see when it pulls out easily.
 
The bones fell out if you pulled on them but the meat just wasn't falling off. I mean you couldn't just take a fork and flake it apart like normal. They weren't horrible just a little more chewy than normal. Definitely not my best.
 
HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
You need to cook the ribs until they are tender, not by time. If you like fall off the bone you can twist a bone and to see when it pulls out easily.
Click to expand...

^^^THIS^^^^


If they're not as tender as you like....let em roll.



And TECHNICALLY....ribs that are so tender that you can eat em with a fork and they sluff off the bone are overcooked. Not saying that's WRONG...many people like em that way. It's just that anyone can get that tenderness, they just have to cook em longer. If you want to try and add a water pan in the UDS on the bottom rack, try it and see if you like the results better.
 
prodano said:
May want to try smoking in the 250 - 275 range. Also, ribs may have been slightly undercooked? Did they pass the bend or toothpick test? You could also try foiling your ribs until you break in the UDS a little more and get a feel for how it cooks.
Click to expand...


Explain those tests please?
 
If you pick them up in the middle with a pair of tongs, and they bend over real limp or break they are done. Or stick a toothpick between the bones in the middle of the rack and if it slides through like buttah it's done also. This video Should help a little, bend test is @3:25
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMe2aLFyfTk&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]J$ BBQ vault ribs with charcoal - YouTube[/ame]
 
jmoney7269 said:
If you pick them up in the middle with a pair of tongs, and they bend over real limp or break they are done. Or stick a toothpick between the bones in the middle of the rack and if it slides through like buttah it's done also. This video Should help a little, bend test is @3:25
J$ BBQ vault ribs with charcoal - YouTube
Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it better myself
 
I have found that 275-300 is a great temp for not just ribs but all BBQ Try them a little hotter the next time. A water pan in a UDS isn't needed all it dose is limit your temps and wasted charcoal.

Bend test
bendtest.jpg
 
Bluedawg is spot on with the temps IMO. The bend test he shows is also just what you want to see for bite off the bone ribs; however, as you can see, fall off the bone will break apart and, well, fall off the bone if you try that.
 
I'm no expert, but to me falling off the bone is over-cooked and over-rated. I want a little tug. I want ALMOST falling off the bone. Just my opinion. Probably from all those years when I grilled ribs in an hour and a half and one had to chew the meat off.
 
so I should try upping the temps and cutting the time back? I always thought smoking was about super low temps and extra long times. I thought this made meat tender not higher temps and shorter times. I will try this next time.
 
At 275 a rack of St Louie bones will take 3.5-4 hrs on average to pass the bend test.
 
Bludawg said:
At 275 a rack of St Louie bones will take 3.5-4 hrs on average to pass the bend test.
Click to expand...


Gotcha! :wink: I will remember this. I half slabs up with tongs and they did not bend much. I know they were undercooked.
 
Yeah, bend test won't work so well with half slabs. Try the toothpick or bone tug test for those. Bone tug is an easy test, grab one of the exposed bones (if you don't see any exposed bones, they aren't even close to done), and give it a little tug and a wiggle. If it feels like it's ready to pull right out, the meat is probably ready.

On the subject of water, ribs, and just about every meat out there get's its moisture from within as it renders. The reason people use water pans is to regulate cooking temps (waste of fuel IMO). The reason people spritz, mop is for flavor, not added moisture. The reason people wrap is for flavor (adding stuff to the foil) and to speed up the cook via braising. I personally don't care for the flavor of steamed meat though.

Don't get me started on adding "flavors" to water pans lol.
 
El Ropo said:
Yeah, bend test won't work so well with half slabs. Try the toothpick or bone tug test for those. Bone tug is an easy test, grab one of the exposed bones (if you don't see any exposed bones, they aren't even close to done), and give it a little tug and a wiggle. If it feels like it's ready to pull right out, the meat is probably ready.

On the subject of water, ribs, and just about every meat out there get's its moisture from within as it renders. The reason people use water pans is to regulate cooking temps (waste of fuel IMO). The reason people spritz, mop is for flavor, not added moisture. The reason people wrap is for flavor (adding stuff to the foil) and to speed up the cook via braising. I personally don't care for the flavor of steamed meat though.

Don't get me started on adding "flavors" to water pans lol.
Click to expand...

I learned something. Never knew that fact about water pans.
 
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