Did spare ribs for the first time

[Markus]

Yesterday I did 4 low and slow ribs in my 18.5" WSM. The thermometer showed 220-250 the whole time. I did not bother to foil them and decided to pull them out when the ribs looked done. I filled the water bowl with hot water, around 1/3 of the bowl.

The ribs on the upper grate turned out to be the best ribs I have ever eaten. The ribs on the lower grate however, were dry. Do you have any idea why?

Do the ribs on the lower grate block the heat, so the heat there was much higher or do the drippings play any role?

I was in a hurry so I forgot to take any pics.

[peeps]

Unless you mean they were dry like jerky, they were probably undercooked and needed to go longer. To test is they are done, I use a toothpick or the probe on my thermometer and poke between the bones. When it slides in like a knife through warm butter, that's when they are done...never before.

[darkoozy]

The lower deck of a WSM is typically about 10 degrees cooler (in my 22") than the top deck. They probably needed more time. If I am cooking on 2 decks I try to run my WSM hotter to compensate for the extra cooking capacity and make sure not to over cook the top deck.

[EricD]

huh?? Noob here but WSM= weber smoky mountain, correct. That is the bullet looking smoker, correct? How can the bottom rack be cooler than the the top deck when the heat is under the bottom rack?

[deguerre]

Physics. Heat rises. The lower rack is above a heat sink and water is at or below 212 degrees.

[Guando]

Congrats on the first time ribs. Only up from here. Everyone above has it right. Each rack is different and will finish at different times. Good luck!

[EricD]

Physics. Heat rises. The lower rack is above a heat sink and water is at or below 212 degrees.
That makes sense, I figured the heat rises through the food. thanks,

Good Job on the top rack though! Live and learn!

[smoke ninja]

I remember in a test I did on the 18 the top rack being up 10-20* hotter. This was with a foiled pan. It balanced out a little after a few hours.


If I'm doing 2 racks St louis cut I'll put the bones up top and the tips below. The tips take less time so it's all done at about the same time.

[Enrico Brandizzi]

In my 22 WSM lower rack is 25F lower.

[robbq]

One other thing with the WSM - if you have food that goes to the edge of the rack, the part that isn't over the water pan can get overcooked. I've had ribs where the ends were like jerky and the middle was good.

[grantw]

I have had it where the meat itself ends up dry, like dehydrated, last load of ribs i did all of them except for one turned out great, i left the dehydrated rib on longer, i think i just need to baste them more? I have had spares and baby backs turn out this way randomly

[THoey1963]

Grant, might just be a weird piece of meat. I never spritz, baste, mop, or sauce my ribs. Some turn out juicier than the others...

[grantw]

Like i said its random, i wonder if thats not what happened to the op, thats why i posted here. There ha to be a way of preventing the meat from being dry on those racks, there the racks that seem a little thicker and its the meat in the upper part of the ribs