Ribs and cooking temp

orcagriffin1 · Jun 11, 2019

This past weekend I made baby backs on my rec tec. I set the temp to 225° and cooked them 3:1:1. They came out as expected and we're great. Downside to good food is it goes and no leftovers. I typically smoke ribs around this temp and have done it at 250 also. I have read people following the same 3:1:1 and doing it at 275° Is that possible with out it turning to mush? Others with different temps for a similar cook (3:1:1)?

Mike in Roseville · Jun 11, 2019

If you adjust the temps, then you need to adjust the times to maintain consistency.

rwalters · Jun 11, 2019

You should not expect the same results if using the same method/times but kicking the temp up 50°. Maybe cut step 1 from 3 hours to 2 hours and go from there?

smoke ninja · Jun 11, 2019

I cook spare ribs at 275

total cook time is under 4 hrs. with about 45 minutes wrapped

orcagriffin1 · Jun 11, 2019

Thanks Mike. That's what I would expect, but why so many people follow the same method and time, but way different temps? It got me puzzled

orcagriffin1 · Jun 11, 2019

rwalters, appreciate that. I can adjust the first portion, I was just curious how so many q'ers follow the method with different temps.

orcagriffin1 · Jun 11, 2019

Smoke Ninja. For spares, that's a nice turnaround.

JWACKS · Jun 11, 2019

Time and temperature are two of the most important variables, but there are many more.
Meat - baby backs vs. spares, and how thick
Smoker - different smokers cook faster/slower at the same cooking temp
Wrapping - wrapped meat cooks faster
Spritzing and mopping - cools the meat and slows cooking
Etc.

orcagriffin1 · Jun 11, 2019

Thanks jwacks. All are important to remember when comparing cooks.

Lake Dogs · Jun 11, 2019

JWACKS said:
Time and temperature are two of the most important variables, but there are many more.
Meat - baby backs vs. spares, and how thick
Smoker - different smokers cook faster/slower at the same cooking temp
Wrapping - wrapped meat cooks faster
Spritzing and mopping - cools the meat and slows cooking
Etc.

I agree with JWACKS:

Meat - thickness and literally diet of the animal all factor in here
Smoker - some smokers cook with a convection oven type of factor; some dont
Wrapping - keeps moisture in, thereby can create a steaming type of process, and increases overall heat inside
Spritzing and mopping - cools the meat by both application of the spritz/mop but also opening the smoker

Also:
Thermometer - where you are monitoring the heat. Precious few talk about this very much. When we say "temperature", we're talking about the actual temperature physically on the cooking surface. You'll find that external mounted thermometers can be off as far as 50 degrees from this, high or low, depending on the type of smoker and where it's mounted. Honestly, many who say they're cooking at 225 are using an external mounted thermometer only to find if they use a oven thermometer actually on the cooking surface they'd find out that they're cooking around the 250-260 mark.

Ron_L · Jun 11, 2019

I prefer ribs at 250 and cook unwrapped until I get the bark color that I like, and then wrap until they are tender. For St. Louis spares that is probably 2.5-.75 or thereabouts, but each rack is different.

Smoke Avenger · Jun 11, 2019

For baby backs I do 3-2-1 at 225° or 3-1-1 at 275°. The 50° increase in temp cuts an hour off the cooking time.

TxQGuy · Jun 11, 2019

Gotta watch that foil time. Too much time in the foil, even by just a half hour or so, can turn them to mush. When I used to adhere to the 3-2-1 method religiously, I had a real problem with them turning out overcooked. Now that I've flipped it to 3-1-2, all is well. But of course it depends on temp. I smoke ribs between 225-250, so an hour in foil really helps their case without overcooking.

PnkPanther · Jun 11, 2019

orcagriffin1 said:
This past weekend I made baby backs on my rec tec. I set the temp to 225° and cooked them 3:1:1. They came out as expected and we're great. Downside to good food is it goes and no leftovers. I typically smoke ribs around this temp and have done it at 250 also. I have read people following the same 3:1:1 and doing it at 275° Is that possible with out it turning to mush? Others with different temps for a similar cook (3:1:1)?

I don't think so, but some people like ribs that fall off the bone.

Joe Black · Jun 11, 2019

My cooker likes to run at 275* so I don’t try to fight it, I just adjust my cook times. My baby loin backs are always good. I cook them for 3 hours until I have a good bend. Then I glaze them twice for 15 min each time. Rest 30 min and serve.

KB BBQ · Jun 11, 2019

Experiment with the time and temp in order to get the ribs done the way you like them. I usually shoot for 275* and don't follow the 3-1-1 formula that closely, it's just a guideline.
1) The first stage is to get the smoke flavor and color/bark on the meat while it cooks unwrapped. Usually ready for stage 2 when the meat starts to shrink up on the bones a little.
2) The second stage wrapped is where you hold in the moisture while it cooks so that it doesn't dry out during the cook. It also speeds up the cooking time. This is where you can possibly get mushy ribs if you let it stay in the cooker too long wrapped up.
3) Third stage is unwrapped in order to finish off the cook and let some of the moisture evaporate to get to the final tenderness and texture you want.

Ribs and cooking temp

orcagriffin1

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orcagriffin1

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orcagriffin1

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