tough rib bark - help please

[imaisufan]

Need to defer to the experts.
Last weekend, I tried three types of rub on some spares; yardbird, Hell's kitchen (Minneapolis), and a Chris Lilly rub from Bib Bob Gibson's BBQ cook book.
I won't go into which one the familyi liked best, because I had a problem with all of them - or maybe it's me.

Cooked them at 240 - 250 for 5.5 hours, no foil. Passed the bend test, and were perfect - just a little pull and bite right through.

Once off the cooker, had to rest under some foil while I grilled the romaine, cut through each rack and tried a bone from the middle. All were easy to bite through and good.

Here's where I need help. As the racks started to cool off, the bark dried, looked burned, and became very chewy. And honestly not very good.

The homemade rubs used turbinado sugar, and no spikes in temp (22" wsm). How can I avoid this burnt looking, dry bark? Do I need to stay away from sugar and salt altogether? I have a tendency to compare my ribs against some of the best I have ever had (Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas CIty and Smokey D's in Des Moines).

Any and all suggestions much appreciated. Thanks ahead of time.

[euclid]

I'm no expert by any means as I've only cooked ribs, myself, one time. But those ones you got there look heavenly! I'm sure the rest of the crew will chime in and offer you much better advice than I could give - but I wonder if the "bark" would have been a bit less tough if you'd have maybe foiled after 3-4 hours? I know when I do Boston Butts I keep a careful watch on them because while I like a nice bark, sometimes it gets to be too much for people I'm serving - so I'll end up wrapping them maybe half-3/4 of the way through.

[Militant83]

You can try the 3-2-1 method and see if that helps at all. I use a rib spritz and spray mine down during cooking a couple times during the cook and it helps keep the bark somewhat moist. Then while they are resting wrap in foil and put them in a cooler until im ready to serve. Which is usually no longer than a half hour to an hour depending on what other things I have cooking.

[Cliff H.]

I don't use foil much anymore and my rub is loaded with brown sugar. I have never really had an issue with burnt rub on ribs. I did have some burnt rub on a pork butt once. I attributed that to cooking hotter than I thought I was.

The cooking environment in a WSM is nice and humid. There is plenty of room to have three racks of ribs lay flat. Three racks of untrimmed spares could block enough airflow to cause temp issues if they are laying flat.

I

[Bill-Chicago]

I'd opine that maybe you should try another batch the same way and leave out the Turbinado (leave out all added sugar actually).

Personally, I've also had issues with salt, rubbing spares too early and getting a "hammy" taste to them.

Not sure how much sugar is in the commercial rubs, so I'm kinda puzzled.

Would love to see you results using just a bit of S&P!


Hesitate to answer, as your "ask the experts" definitely doesnt apply to me

:)

[Boshizzle]

Not an expert but, I'd suggest that you find a way to prevent the sugar in the rub from burning. You can reduce the heat and cook the ribs longer, don't use as much rub or change to a rub that doesn't have as much sugar. You can rub initially with only salt and pepper and then half way to three quarters of the way through the cook add the sugary rub.

If I had the problem, I'd make sure the empty water pan (or with some clean sand in it) was wrapped with foil in the WSM, I'd put an accurate thermometer at grate level to monitor temps, I'd use less rub or a different rub at the beginning and cook the ribs meat side up and baste them every 30 minutes with Italian dressing or just vegetable oil mixed with some red wine vinegar. The purpose of all of this is to keep the temperature of the rub down to prevent it from turning into hard candy and to protect the surface of the meat to make sure it didn't get stringy. If I really wanted the sugary rub, I'd add it around the last hour or so of cooking time.

Good luck. But, your experience is normal. After some trial and error you will be cooking better ribs than Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas CIty and Smokey D's in Des Moines even though I hear they have some really good ribs.

[Fatback Joe]

Try going lighter on the rub. When I do spares with no foil, they can get kind of a chewy bark if I go too heavy with it.

Also seems that spritzing with AJ or something during the cook helps to keep the bark from setting up as firm.

If you use foil in the process (321 or similiar) you don't have to worry about it.

Good luck.

[Wampus]

No expert here, but my first thought was burnt sugars. Assuming, though, that your actual temp at the grate was below 250 that shouldn't have been the case.

As suggested, double check the grate temp somehow to see if you're actually cooking hotter than you think. I like to do my ribs at about 300 degrees but I always have this same issue with mine. The bark itself is usually OK, but when I sauce, it's the sauce that usually burns a bit. (we still eat em...:rolleyes:)

Didn't look like you sauced though, so not sure......whatever you can do to ensure you're cooking at the temps you want is my advice.

I've done butts with the same exact rubs on two different cooks and had one turn out with very dark bark, and one turn out a perfect mahogany. Same cook temp and all......very odd.

[Mister Bob]

I cook my ribs at 275. I have quite a bit of sugar (Demerara and granulated light brown) and a fair amount of sea salt in my rub, and they come out a perfect mahogany color almost every time.

The difference is the Texas crutch. My ribs take 4-1/2 hours. I foil after 2 hours (meat side down with honey, brown sugar and AJ) and take them out of the wrap after 4. The last half hour I finish them off with the sauce. I extend the time in the foil 15 minutes either way for extra small or extra large ribs. Very consistent results.

[Skidder]

I would monitor the sugar and salt and also double check your thermometer to make sure your really at the grate temp you think you are.

[Arlin_MacRae]

I think it's more a heat problem than the sugar content of the rub, but that's just me. I believe you probably went too long and/or too hot and, without some moisture added during the cook, you simply overheated them. Overheating will carmelize any rub with sugar in it so I'd leave the rub(s) the same - if you liked them to start with - and do what the other folks have suggested - test your grate temperature. If you can't, maybe drop the temperature on your thermometer 25° - 50° on your next try. And try spritzing the ribs as you go. It's easy insurance against dryness. :)

Arlin

[boogiesnap]

not sure if this'll help you specifically but it's an experience i recently had.

i typically cook RD spares cut st. louis, no foil, @ 275-300 for @ 3.5 hours, little rub in the beginning a little towards the end. decent sugar content. and everything comes out hunkydory.:thumb:

i purchased a pair of st. louis spares from whole foods(these were farkin gorgeous BTW)and cooked them a little different. 260* fully rub, 2.5 out of foil, 1 in foil with the goods, 1/2 out. toothpick test, check, bend test, check. let sit for a couple and sliced.
the meat was excellent, but the surface set up waaay to hard. it wasn't the rub though, that was hard, it was the meat.

i don't have an explanation as to why this happened other than "things" happen....

i'd suggest check your temps and just have at it again!

but try to only change 1 thing about your cook at a time, then you can track what waorks and what doesn't accurately.(as i clearly did NOT do above:rolleyes:)

[Q-Dat]

Here's where I need help. As the racks started to cool off, the bark dried, looked burned, and became very chewy. And honestly not very good.



Would you describe it as "Jerkylike"? If so I have the same problem sometimes. I am not sure of the cause, but it may be from spending too much time on the cooker. When I let er rip on the temperature I don't seem to have this problem.

[jestridge]

try rubbing them with some oil

[KnucklHed BBQ]

Would love to see your results using just a bit of S&P!


Agreed! S&P make some of the finest ribs you'll ever eat IMO...


In addition to s&p I spritz during the cook with a mix of honey, ACV, EVOO and a small amount of soy sauce.

I spritz the ribs once right at the start of the cook and then let them go a couple of hours, once they start to turn mahogany I give em a quick spritz every 45 min or so till done, no foil. once in a while I'll get alittle bit of "jerky" on a rack, but it always tastes great and I look forward to munching on that piece.

The spritz adds just enough sweet salt & tang to the ribs to negate the need for any sauce... the oil seems to keep the thin top layer of meat from drying out as much and turning to jerky.

Hope the next round turns out better!

[NBBD]

Another thumbs up for S&P!!!

When I was frustrated with ribs this is what I went to for a few cooks... Slowly added back in the rub over time until was happy.. (also learned rub is not needed for good ribs!)

[imaisufan]

Yes - Jerky like. No water in the pan (foiled with a big arse pizza stone in it).

[imaisufan]

I think it's more a heat problem than the sugar content of the rub, but that's just me. I believe you probably went too long and/or too hot and, without some moisture added during the cook, you simply overheated them. Overheating will carmelize any rub with sugar in it so I'd leave the rub(s) the same - if you liked them to start with - and do what the other folks have suggested - test your grate temperature. If you can't, maybe drop the temperature on your thermometer 25° - 50° on your next try. And try spritzing the ribs as you go. It's easy insurance against dryness. :)

Arlin
Thanks Arlin - and everybody else. My dome thermometer and maverick probe on the grate stayed consistent the whole cook.
A lot of great ideas here to sample with next time. Didn't think the runs were put on heavy, but maybe they were :/ . I'm hoping to avoid foil - done the brown sugar, honey thing and just a bit too sweet for my taste.

[imaisufan]

Thanks everybody. Already planning the next run. Thank goodness for friends who are willing to eat my experiments :-D.
So many potential variants....... Guess I better get to work! Thank goodness for friends who are willing to eat my experiments.