Competition rib cook times

Carnivorous Endeavors BBQ said:
So..from the responses here time and temp aren't my culprit. I would have to guess that i am probably using too much liquid in the foil and/or foiling too loosely (i try to foil as tight as possible) which is making too much steam and causing the meat to rapidly retract/tense up causing bones to expose.

Thanks all. Your assistance is appreciated!
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You're spot on I think. I cooked 4 racks this past sunday because I was furious with how mine had turned out in comp on saturday. I didn't put any liquid in my foil when I wrapped on sunday and they turned out to be the best ribs I've cooked yet. I won't be juicing my ribs anymore, they create enough steam and put out enough juice on their own to get the desired pull back effect.
 
wormdrink67 said:
. I did this exact procedure 24 times from Novemeber to April in preparation for our first comp and it worked stellar everytime. Now that comps are here, it isn't working and I don't know what's going on. Thanks for the info.
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Just curious, in the comps are you cooking anything else in the cooker with the ribs that you didn't when you practiced? Just wondering if you were maybe in and out of the cooker at the comp and leaving it alone at home.
 
wormdrink67 said:
I'm going to look into the cambro thing. Seems like a great idea and I'd never thought about it for ribs. I had been cooking at 230 degrees, 2.5 hours open, 1.5 hours juiced and wrapped, and 30 minutes to glaze. I did this exact procedure 24 times from Novemeber to April in preparation for our first comp and it worked stellar everytime. Now that comps are here, it isn't working and I don't know what's going on. Thanks for the info.
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When you were practicing what other meats were in the smoker? What meats are in the smoker at a comp? I found my "practice at home rib" times were skewed opening the door to pull a pork but, then pull another pork but, the brisket flat, the point, and then adding the chicken. Toss in the spritzing of the ribs and your cooker is under entirely different conditions than it was at home. Add time and don't fret about holding them in the cambro for an hour.
 
Fatback Joe said:
Just curious, in the comps are you cooking anything else in the cooker with the ribs that you didn't when you practiced? Just wondering if you were maybe in and out of the cooker at the comp and leaving it alone at home.
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No sir, I do my ribs on the same wsm everytime and nothing else goes in the cooker. good question though.
 
Wormdrink67,

We are both cooking WSM 22.5's. Out of curiosity, are you running a dry water pan? I was running an empty water pan then switched to a little sand for a heat sink and now just put a few bricks in it as it seems to keep the temps a little more steady.
 
AZScott said:
When you were practicing what other meats were in the smoker? What meats are in the smoker at a comp? I found my "practice at home rib" times were skewed opening the door to pull a pork but, then pull another pork but, the brisket flat, the point, and then adding the chicken. Toss in the spritzing of the ribs and your cooker is under entirely different conditions than it was at home. Add time and don't fret about holding them in the cambro for an hour.
Click to expand...

I do my ribs on the same wsm everytime and nothing else goes in the cooker. good question though.
 
Carnivorous Endeavors BBQ said:
Wormdrink67,

We are both cooking WSM 22.5's. Out of curiosity, are you running a dry water pan? I was running an empty water pan then switched to a little sand for a heat sink and now just put a few bricks in it as it seems to keep the temps a little more steady.
Click to expand...

I'm using a nearly full water pan every time. 2.5 gallons to be exact. I've never tried using a dry pan....I'm curious to though.
 
I started doing ribs with a dry pan because it seemed to me that it was taking much longer to get the ribs to bark over to the color i was looking for prior to foiling with all the humidity the WSMs produce. Just my opinion.
 
MilitantSquatter said:
it might also be helpful if they noted if spares or babybacks were being used :wink:
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You read my mind. 3 pages and I think most folks are assuming we are cooking spares. 1.5-2.5 hours in foil could only mean spare ribs. Even one hour in foil will turn Baby Backs to mush. I'm with JD, 3-3.5 hours, no foil for BB's. The secret is in the technique. :becky:

5656795316_2540df4fbb_b.jpg


Just kidding, there is no secret. K.I.S.S!!! :thumb:
 
Timely thread..
We've been having some issues lately with the doneness of our ribs. I'm not even 100% sure what I'm looking for at this point. The best our ribs have placed was a 2nd place finish last year with ribs we didn't think were really done.
We cooked 6 slabs and struggled to find 6 bones to turn in that were done. And I still think that entry was borderline undercooked.
What we've always shot for was as tender as we can get but short of falling off the bone. Always a clean bite with a quickly drying bone after the bite. But since the 2nd place, we've always finished middle of the pack.

I guess my question is.. was the 2nd place an anomaly, or do we need to leave the ribs with a little more bite to them?

The cooking process was the same all year long...
 
Northwest BBQ, I'm not saying you are wrong because the results may vary depending on a number of factors, but I can assure you that foiling my back ribs for 1 hour does not turn them to mush. I have never turned in spares until this weekends comp and will probably never turn them in again. Cooking at 230 degrees, a variation of the 3/1/1 method works just fine for me most of the time, if anything I'll be foiling my ribs longer....
 
And another thing....how are you guys getting done back ribs in 3 or 3 1/2 hours?? My back ribs are barely up to a safe eating temp at that time, let alone being done for competition cooking....
 
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