Spare Rib Help

spinone said:

I am very new to this forum but after reading through the posts feel very comfortable approaching the forum, what a great group of people!:thumb:

This is the help I'm looking for. I made my first attempt at low and slow ribs. I have a Weber Gold gas grill that is about 11 years old. In that time I've only done the basics. Here is what I did Sunday....

1. Removed skin from bottom of ribs and dry rubbed the ribs on the top.
2. Put 3 ice cubes in foil placed the ribs right side up over the cubes and sealed the foil.
3. Turned the back burner on only and set the grill at 225 degrees
4. Left the ribs on for 1 hour 45 minutes
5. Took ribs out of foil dry rubbed the bottom side.
6. I took a flavorizor bar out of the front of the grill, placed it upside over the back burner and filled it with hickory chips. I also took a small foil pan, dumped the juice from the wrapped ribs in that along with a beer and placed it on the cooking grid above the rear burner.
7. Placed ribs back on the front of the grill unwrapped bottom side up. (As soon as I shut the grill lid I noticed I had some dry rub left. I added water to that and soaked a handful of hickory chips in that for 30 minutes. I then wrapped that in foil with one end open and placed it over the lit burner) and let go for 1 hour 30 minutes.
8. Turned ribs right side up, brushed with KC Masterpiece turned on middle burner about 1/2 way closed the lid and watched the thermometer. When it hit 400 degrees (approx 5 minutes) I flipped the rack and did the same on the bottom. I repeated this process twice and the sauce came out thick and sticky without burning.

The ribs were tender and juicy, but the fat was still pretty slimy. What if anything did I do right and more importantly what did I do wrong. I would like to make my own sauce but don't know of a good recipe.

Thanks!

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Why the ice cubes and foil at the start of the cook?

You might want to do the smoke and first part of the cook without foil, and let some of the excess fat render off. I personally am not a big fan of foil in the whole process, as you are not really smoking your ribs, but braising them.

Also, were you doing whole racks of spares, or St. Louis cut? Not trying to be critical, just need more info on what you're trying to do. If you only had 1 slab, an upside-down flavorizer bar full of chips might be overdoing it also..

After almost two hours in the foil I'm not sure if the smoke packet was even very useful. I'm another no foil guy and I also do not use any sauce during the cook but have done a last minute thin glaze a couple times.

They way you cooked them you were basically braising or steaming them. I don't think all the fat will cook off this way. Its really hard to smoke on a gas grill. You should buy yourself a weber kettle off of craigslist.

These were done on a kettle:

You will never regret buying and learning to use a Weber kettle, but if you're really into slow smoking, I'd look at a Weber WSM as well.

If you hunt around this site, there are some pretty good rib cooking suggestions, some that use foil, some that don't. It's all about practicing, finding what you like, and learning to achieve the end product you prefer. What works for you may not work for others, and vice versa.

Wow, that is a pretty complex process you went through, with some interesting ideas. I would go with a simpler process. The Weber gas grills work pretty well with foil bombs, I just put dry wood chips into heavy duty foil packs (yes, Guerry, I am using foil to cook ribs :tsk and butcher wrap them, I then poke 4 holes skewer or thin knife. I heat the grill to 225F up to 250F with the back burner, then add the smoke bombs over the active burner, replace the rack and let the smoke roll, looking for light blue smoke.

Meanwhile, I strip membrane, dry rub ribs and let them sit for 15 to 20 minutes. These go into the cooker offset from heat. They will cook this way for 4 to 6 hours. The smoke bomb may need to be replaced a couple of times, just remove ribs and then add in more foil bombs. I go under grate, I have also done above the grate (lazy mod). Under is better.

At a point just before the ribs are done, I use a bend test, if I determine that the ribs are almost done, I close cooker, turn off heat and let them sit in cooker for 10 minutes, ready to serve from there. I do not sauce, but, if you want to, then sauce about 10 minutes before you think heat is going off.

I use a kettle, I want a offset firebox cooker as well. I also want a WSM and a UDS, so it is probably that I have issues. You can make good BBQ on what you own, or any of the other options listed here and some not even thought about.

landarc said:

I use a kettle, I want a offset firebox cooker as well. I also want a WSM and a UDS, so it is probably that I have issues. You can make good BBQ on what you own, or any of the other options listed here and some not even thought about.

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Um. You can add a BGE to that wish too for me.

Earl said:

And these were done on a Char-Griller.

If you like tinkering with your smoker and tending the fire, go with the Char-Griller.

If you want some freedom during the cook, go WSM or UDS.

In the end, it's all good!

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Pretty!:thumb::thumb: