BBQ Ribs 3-2-1 method???

[HBMTN]

Cooking temperature is a personal preference just like one rub vs another. I cook at 225*, 250*, 275* and sometimes 300*. There are things that I like and dislike about all temps. I think cooking slower probably gives a beginner and longer window for screw ups personally. If 20 minutes get by you without notice at 225* it's won't be as hard on you as 275* as a beginner. To each his own though, back when I first started I looked at it as 6hrs of beer drinking

[smoke ninja]

Yes 225 gives a longer window of perfection. But for a beginner the lower temp and longer cook time can cause problems. First if they misread temps or have temp control issues and they cook lower than 225 not much happens to get the thing done. The longer cook times can promote less cooks because they dont have 6 hrs to practice. Things do happen slowly, so slowly the newbie constantly checks, slowing things more. The changes are so slow they may barley notice the differences. So again its not that im against 225 just i dont feel its the best temp range for beginners due to the lower margin of error when it comes to fire management, which is imo the most important thing. Choked down fires putting out dirty smoke for long cooks is not good. Im more against the notion that 225 is a good starting point for beginners and its propagation of that mainstream belief

[Pitmaster T]

Originally Posted by HBMTN

I tell beginners the 3-2-1 method as I think it is a good almost foolproof way to get tender ribs when you don't now what you are doing in the beginning and you don't want to have tough meat. I tell them it's a starting point and they can hone in from there because for me it's a little too long/overcooked but that's just me.

I am going to be uncharacteristically gentle in my response.

If you have been here a while.... you will notice that people using the 3 2 1 method the first time..... screw it up gloriously and that's just what we know from admission.

One such problem is actually written in your post. The problem is what the cook THINKS the recipe represents.

In most recipes things are specific. BBQ does not work that way. And the more you fark with your meat the more problems you might have. I know I will get a lot of objections by people using the method that can do it i their sleep... that just means they are masters at it and don't realize its them and not the process. Rib size matters... temp... all sort of things.

I seriously (seriously) don't assume my Hot and Fast Method is the solution to all BBQ or best recipe for success.... but.... I have seen a lot of converts from people starting out and trying to get to mastery the quickest. Simple temp... hot... no looking... shut it down when it sweats and let it ride.

DO I REACH FOR THE PAPER OR FOIL? You bet I do when I need to change it. The 3 2 1 method is just like the Hot and Fast Method. The method means ZILCH when you are cooking your rub and pit and not the meat. Its about the meat.

[Pitmaster T]

Originally Posted by Telescopist

Have you written a book about all these methods?

That's just one method... LOL

scan0019.jpg

me in like 67 I think

[Pitmaster T]

Wanna know why these ribs were called "Break My Heart Loinbacks"

smoke ribs 3 - YouTube

Because I simmered the ****ers in peppers, tomatoes and onions and broth in foil BEFORE i smoked them and then glazed them.

Some of the best ones my old customer's used to like.

[Pitmaster T]

Breaks my Heart Loinback are so called because I had to admit a low country, Louisianna technique was DAMN Good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No matter what rules it broke.


Wanna know why these are called "Housequake Ribs"

They were smoked - chilled, maybe frozen and thawed... then DEEP FRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! 8 minutes.

Awesome ribs! Not for the beginner but awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Crazy as **** with no regard to the rules. Also Mike Mills likes them. LOL

YouTube (Short URL)

[Pitmaster T]

Neil's Ribs


I don't think they were done 3 2 1 or my way? Purty damn good though.

YouTube (Short URL)

[Pitmaster T]

My son enjoying a picture of Brewmaster's Rib (What happened to him) back in 2007

Jake and Brewmasters Ribs - YouTube

[Pitmaster T]

Charity Ribs - untrimmed - unwrapped and worst of all... slowed down by plopping cold sausage on top of them.

Dalmatian Flea Powder for Ribs - YouTube

[HBMTN]

Originally Posted by Pitmaster T

I am going to be uncharacteristically gentle in my response.

If you have been here a while.... you will notice that people using the 3 2 1 method the first time..... screw it up gloriously and that's just what we know from admission.

One such problem is actually written in your post. The problem is what the cook THINKS the recipe represents.

In most recipes things are specific. BBQ does not work that way. And the more you fark with your meat the more problems you might have. I know I will get a lot of objections by people using the method that can do it i their sleep... that just means they are masters at it and don't realize its them and not the process. Rib size matters... temp... all sort of things.

I seriously (seriously) don't assume my Hot and Fast Method is the solution to all BBQ or best recipe for success.... but.... I have seen a lot of converts from people starting out and trying to get to mastery the quickest. Simple temp... hot... no looking... shut it down when it sweats and let it ride.

DO I REACH FOR THE PAPER OR FOIL? You bet I do when I need to change it. The 3 2 1 method is just like the Hot and Fast Method. The method means ZILCH when you are cooking your rub and pit and not the meat. Its about the meat.

PitMaster T I guess in this day and time you could very well be correct. No I don't follow much in the Q-Talk Forum I'm mostly in the Catering Forum so I don't see what goes on here these days. As there is not much going on over there I browsed through here. Back to your post, I guess I'm looking at things based on my beginnings which were long ago and before one could just go on the internet and learn how to cook a rack of ribs. When I learned how it was by trial and error and 90% of beginner in those days ended up with tough ribs you had to eat with a chain saw, not realizing they were simply under cooked. So later on when I first read of the 3-2-1 method I remember thinking dang I wish I had known about that the first time I cooked it would have made things much simpler and been a sure way of at least having a tender rib to eat. Yet in today's world a beginner could come on here and read loads of info about how to cook barbecue and have a vast knowledge before ever firing up the first smoker. Unfortunately I did not have that luxury many years ago. When I think of beginner barbecue I think back to my trials and errors with what I had to work with at the time. Heck my biggest issue back then was figuring out after having so many problems that the temp gauges in my cheap smokers were totally inaccurate and it's really hard to know what temps I was cooking at back then. LOL

[Telescopist]

Originally Posted by Pitmaster T

That's just one method... LOL

Attachment 105948

me in like 67 I think

Very nice 8" (I'm guessing) Newtonian! Sophisticated pier and mount for the 60's as well. It appears your dad (?) was set up to do some solar observing. I can see the filter on top of the scope.

[Kathy's Smokin']

Originally Posted by smoke ninja

Yes 225 gives a longer window of perfection. But for a beginner the lower temp and longer cook time can cause problems. First if they misread temps or have temp control issues and they cook lower than 225 not much happens to get the thing done. The longer cook times can promote less cooks because they dont have 6 hrs to practice. Things do happen slowly, so slowly the newbie constantly checks, slowing things more. The changes are so slow they may barley notice the differences. So again its not that im against 225 just i dont feel its the best temp range for beginners due to the lower margin of error when it comes to fire management, which is imo the most important thing. Choked down fires putting out dirty smoke for long cooks is not good. Im more against the notion that 225 is a good starting point for beginners and its propagation of that mainstream belief

I agree with you on this, ninja. My first couple of smokes were done long before I read Meathead's posts on the AmazingRibs forum and subsequently found this place. I'd heard of a pink smoke ring and it took a low temperature to achieve but other than that I was cooking blind. Then I bought a used COS and got into more trouble, dang. Very low temperatures were a problem for me because I didn't have the knowledge to feel okay leaving the cooking chamber alone or to realize by looking the meat really was cooking. I didn't use thermometers at the very beginning but because I know enough to. Looking back with the knowledge I have now I'm sure they were in that low range of 225, maybe even a bit below. It was a rough go and I'd never eaten US barbeque so I didn't even know what my finished product should look like. Now I can cook at 225 with confidence but back then I created a lot of trouble with it.

[revkab]

Originally Posted by BIGBrandon2785

I keep seeing yall say to use 3-2-1 method or 3-1-1??Ive never heard of this??

I use a rectangle shaped charcoal grill and normally just build my fire on the left side and cook the ribs on the right side of the grill for about 4 hours.The 1st 3 hours in foil with apple juice and the last hour out of foil.

I prefer 2 1/2 hrs in smoke, 2 hours in foil (I sometimes put them in the oven in my kitchen at 225* since I am not competing), then half an hour back over the smoke to firm up the meat. This is where I often add a little sauce at this stage - when I decide I want to sauce them.

I prefer my ribs NOT to fall off of the bone, but to "bite" off easily and cleanly, without having to tear the meat off. After all, one of the reasons ris are so good is that they are the original "pig-sicle."