Memphis Dry Rubbed Ribs

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Longo1908

Knows what a fatty is.
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Brethren,
I just came back from Memphis & Nashville and had some of the best ribs I’ve ever tasted in my life at both Central Bbq in Memphis and Peg Leg porker in Nashville. Was wondering if anyone had any insight into making dry rubbed ribs like these 2 restaurants. I don’t think either of these places wrap their ribs and my 1st attempt came very dry. Are their any Tennessee Pitmasters our there that can help this NYC cook?
 
(Not from Tenessee, but frequently cook dry rubbed ribs) were your ribs falling off the bone and dry? If not you probably undercooked them. If they were falling off the bone and mushy, they were probably overcooked.
 
I had Peg Leg’s ribs heading back from Brooklyn to Texas a Christmas ago and it was damn good. I believe he smokes his ribs naked and add dry rub later so it’s not jacked up by all the smoke. So that means the finishing rub you use cannot be heavy in salt. But you still need to spray or mop something to keep it moist. Otherwise it’s jerky.

I made these when I came back from his place:

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They were baby backs cooking at 275 for 8 hours, I wasn’t happy with the feel(didn’t have the hot knife through butter feel) and I thought that but I know they should have been done closer to 6 hours.
 
Longo1908 said:
They were baby backs cooking at 275 for 8 hours, I wasn’t happy with the feel(didn’t have the hot knife through butter feel) and I thought that but I know they should have been done closer to 6 hours.
Click to expand...

I use the bend test on ribs. Others use temp or probe tenderness test, personal preference. However, 8 hours at 275 was probably twice as long as you needed and I'm not surprised at all you would have dry ribs as such.

Also, spares and baby backs have different tastes and textures...if you had spares on your trip and cooked baby backs at home, even if you did everything else identically to the restaurant, they wouldnt taste the same or have the exact same texture. My .02
 
I’m working on that myself. This last weekend tried a foil blanket instead of wrap. Externally they turned out terrific. I have to work on some other things but will certainly do this blanket again.
 

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Longo1908 said:
They were baby backs cooking at 275 for 8 hours, I wasn’t happy with the feel(didn’t have the hot knife through butter feel) and I thought that but I know they should have been done closer to 6 hours.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry. I thought this was a joke.
 
I rarely cook anything but dry rubbed ribs, and never wrap. Never works out well with loinbacks, there isn't enough fat to keep them moist. All the Memphis dry rub ribs I've ever seen were spareribs of some sort.
 
Went to Pegleg Porker last month. Their ribs were pretty dang tasty.

Im no expert by any means, but i just use salt, pepper, and a bit of cayenne pepper on baby backs. No foil but I mop with 50/50 mix of apple juice and apple cider vinager with some rub added. 275 ish for 4 or so hours till they pass the toothpick and bend test.

Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk
 
Traveled to Nashville today for a doctors appointment, went by Peg Leg Porkers and it was awesome.
 
I do the dry ribs all the time. I use St. Louis ribs and put McKormic's applewood rub on them. I trim off any hanging meat. (that gets put on the upper grate for snacks for the cook).

I use the 321 method, with foil after 3 hrs. I spritz them every half hour or so with apple juice until wrapped. I then dry them off after the foil for 30 to 40 min. I tend to move toward the overcooked side, my family likes them falling off the bone. (I am NOT a competition cook) They turn out very moist and tender.
 
I have never mopped, spritzed or sauced pork ribs, I find the key to really moist tender perfectly cooked pork ribs is the quality of the rib the right meat to fat ratio ( if they are to lean they tend to dry out. For me cook times range from 3 hours for rib tips to 3 1/2 hours for BB's, 4 to 4 3/4 hours for St Louis and full spares cooking at 275 to 300. If I get ribs in a package that are too lean I will pan and cover with foil after a couple of hours in the smoke then uncover for the last 30 minutes.
 
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