babyback help!

3-2-1 on baby backs is going the make mush. 2-1-.5? Ish. First time dont get fancy. Start the brisket the night before salt and pepper, cook til it kinda jiggles when ya poke at it, and probe tender

By the sounds of things your just getting your feet wet so keep it simple. 50/50 Kosher salt & course black pepper 10% granulated garlic. Pit at 300 deg the bones will finish in about 3-4 passing the *bend test brush with sauce give i 15 min to set up.
*Bend test


For the brisket( get a packer) trim off the HARD fat apply your rub( see above) on the pit point to the fire box. At 300 your looking at about 45 min lb but that is just a very rough estimate based on experience YMMV the brisket is done when it passes the* poke test.
*Poke Test> use a skewer or a thermo probe when it slides in like a hot knife cutting soft butter it's done. Do your testing in the flat as it is the last to finish. Good luck!

I say throw the ribs on and forget about them for 3 hrs, check them then sauce when they bend like Bludawg said.

Sounds like you haven't done babybacks before either.

3-2-1 will get you mush

I also do 2-1-.5 at 250 in a kamado.

Make it simple your first time. ..buy a rub. Use apple juice in the foil. Buy some BBQ sauce.

Spritz a couple times if you want.





Don't forget to pull the membrane

Ive always done a 2-2-1 method. When I wrap them in foil I also use about 2-3oz of beer as well in the foil. My temps are probably closer to 250 or 260 which is why mine might cook a bit longer. Plus I like my ribs falling off the bone and so do my guest.

The 3-2-1 method they used was probably for spares or St. louis cut and not babybacks.

Or maybe cooking at 225.

Remember, 99% of the youtube videos you see are made by people who have no clue. Listen to the folks here, they will set you right.

I agree with the person who said power through at 275-300 degrees for 3 hours without peeking or messing around. You will be rewarded.

LA 433 said:

ive done ribs on my weber kettle but after watching youtube people do the 3-2-1 method and the come out good so im a little confused but i will take your guys word for it and try 2-1-.5 on sat to test it before the big game....

Click to expand...

3-2-1 method is for St. Louis trimmed or even untrimmed ribs.
Baby backs are smaller than the above cut.

Please read this link http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6963

This is a sticky in Q-Talk.....Titled KCquers ROADMAP to Q-Talk. Tons of great info there. Check it out.

Also at the bottom of the main page is a Google...Search Bar. The answers only apply to this forum. Good luck! Any other ???'s you might have do not be afraid to ask away.

Cooking a brisket at 225, you are going to need about 1.5 hrs per pound. So if you get a small brisket at 8 lbs, that is 10 to 12 hours of cooking time (approximately).

LA 433 said:

i was going to throw the brisket on with the ribs and cook at 225 is this a bad idea then ???

still dont know what size brisket i was going to get

Click to expand...

Been there done that(225) If you want success and great BBQ don't cook lower than 275 EVER!

Bludawg said:

Been there done that(225) If you want success and great BBQ don't cook lower than 275 EVER!

Click to expand...

I beg to differ. Great BBQ can be cooked at different temperatures. I always cook my briskets at 225 and my ribs at 250 and have won many awards doing so. Don't assume that just because you didn't have success cooking at a certain temp that it must be wrong.

Bludawg said:

Been there done that(225) If you want success and great BBQ don't cook lower than 275 EVER!

Click to expand...

I have been trying the hot and fast methods lately with good results as well. But I still find that when smokin a ham, pork loin, and bacon, that low and slow is still the best.

LA 433 said:

ive done ribs on my weber kettle but after watching youtube people do the 3-2-1 method and the come out good so im a little confused but i will take your guys word for it and try 2-1-.5 on sat to test it before the big game....

Click to expand...

There is merit to the success of multiple methods. If you like ribs that are really tender and the meat falls off the bone if you just bump into them, then 321 is way to go.

A lot of us like the meat to mildly resist when bitten and to stay on the bone till we bite it off. They're still tender when cooked like this but some of find that the 321 method is basically overcooked and mushy.

You can decide which you prefer and the great thing is that there is no wrong answer as long as you like the way the ribs turn out.

Let us know how it goes and hopefully we'll see some pron :decision:

I've had some BB ribs from Sams that were 2" thick. They took every bit of 7 hours (no foil). That was for bite from the bone ribs. 250 degrees. Must have been Hogzilla! I'm sure using foil would speed up the cook. Rememder, they are done when they are done. You can't rush it. Nothing worst than tough under cooked ribs.

you can use our search feature and find great recipes all day long thats for sure.

but, maybe, for your first cook, for detailed, concise recipes, right now(i can search here for days to compile a recipe, you seem to need ones kinda quick) take a look at amazing ribs and patio daddio.

BTW, FWIW, brisket is a bear, might be alot to ask to knock em dead first time out.

*edit* or if you have a kindle fire or ipad buy the book wicked good bbq. very good and detailed instructions there. excellent read.

There are merits to the different ways. Different ways/methods, different cooking temperatures [measured on the cooking surface; NOT the external mounted thermometer], all yield slightly different results and hugely different times.

I do BB's, cooking surface temp is 260+-, 1.5 on smoke, 2.5+- in foil, and I then apply heated sauce ever-so-lightly on it and serve; no 3rd out-of-foil cook. It works for me, you're mileage may vary. I also soak them overnight after pulling the membranes in a water, apple juice, worchestershire, and ice mixture before putting on the rub and cooking them. BB's done like this, on average, the meat will pull cleanly from the bone with a slight resistance. It's an MiM/MBN/GBA standard (for what it's worth). KCBS would be more of a bite-through rib, and for that rib I'd do a 1.5 on smoke and probably a 1.75-2.0 in foil. For just falling apart, try 1.5 smoke and 2.75-3.0 in foil. The amount of time on smoke (before foiling) has more to do with the type of wood you're smoking with, the amount of smoke your smoker imparts to the meat, and the amount of smoke you desire in the taste of your ribs...

Brisket, I trim the fat cap enough to get the really hard fat off but not remove it, inject it lightly with a thinned solution from Butchers (which was made the day before), apply the rub just before putting on the smoker; smoke for 4 or 5 hours, then foil for the remainder of time; also cooked in that 260 range. Takes roughly 1 hour per pound.

Not that you should do exactly as I do and have done. There are LOTS of ways to get there. However, dont use one persons temperature range and expect to get them done in another persons time frame. Also, when talking temperature, let me stress again that we're talking cooking SURFACE temperature, measured on the surface itself. Most external mounted thermometers, depending on where they're located and how hot a fire you have going, are off, high or low, some by 50 degrees or MORE. I have one offset that consistently measures the temperature 40 degrees HIGHER than the surface, another offset (different design and placement of the thermometer) measures the temperature 30 degrees LOWER than the surface temperature.

I havent seen where anyone above has talked about their first cook on a new smoker. Some go very well, others are a disaster, with most being somewhere in between, most not being nearly as good as they'd hoped. Know that it's a learning process; dont expect to win the superbowl the first time you play football. Same with BBQ... What I'm suggesting is have a plan B at hand. It's very possible that you may want to call Domino's... I hope not; I hope it works out great. However, in looking at the questions that you're asking above, it seems to me that you're at the very beginning of this journey. Expect that you'll have failures along the way. It's all part of the learning.

Good luck; I hope your team wins.