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Competition rib cook times

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wormdrink67

Guest
I've managed to fail miserably in my first two comps of the year in my rib scores. Both times they have been underdone and chewy. I always try to cook ribs that are between 2.25 and 2.75 lbs and I also foil my ribs. How long do you guys cook yours?? Thanks in advance.
 
wormdrink67 said:
I've managed to fail miserably in my first two comps of the year in my rib scores. Both times they have been underdone and chewy. I always try to cook ribs that are between 2.25 and 2.75 lbs and I also foil my ribs. How long do you guys cook yours?? Thanks in advance.
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3 hours open, 1 hour in foil, 1/2 hour out of foil and glazed
 
Test cook them at home. Cook at your desired temp until a toothpick slides easily in the meat. Or another way is if they bend in the middle, look like they are going to break, but don't. Note that time and adjust for comps. Each persons pit cooks different, so no easy answer.
 
People keep posting their times but without a temp the times posted mean nothing.

We cook at 275 for 2 hours in smoke and 2 hours in foil. Then glaze and put back on for 15 minutes.

At about 3 hours and 30 minutes into the cook we start checking the tenderness with the thermopen or a toothpick. If they are cooking too fast we move them to a cooler place on the pit.
 
Wow! Don't want to hijack the thread but it is along the same subject. I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but cooking 2-3lb rib racks @250F on my WSM 22.5" with no water in the pan. If i cook 2-3 hours uncovered or until the ribs have a good visual appearance, then foil for any more than 1 hour with a 1/4 cup of liquid the bones are usually starting to fall out of the meat. Could it be the liquid or are you guys leaving the membrane on the back?
 
If you are short time the solution is to add time to your cook or increase the temperature. Another thing to consider is putting your ribs in a Cambro once they are done. We had the same issue as you so we bumped the temp up 25 degrees, put them on an hour earlier, and then put them in the cambro to stay warm. The ribs scored really well and we didn't have the stress worrying about are our ribs going to finish in time. The only meat we cook to the last minute is chicken and we know exactly what those thighs are going to do and how fast they will increase in temperature. Ribs, brisket, and pork is all a crapshoot if you only use times in my opinion.
 
Carnivorous Endeavors BBQ said:
Wow! Don't want to hijack the thread but it is along the same subject. I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but cooking 2-3lb rib racks @250F on my WSM 22.5" with no water in the pan. If i cook 2-3 hours uncovered or until the ribs have a good visual appearance, then foil for any more than 1 hour with a 1/4 cup of liquid the bones are usually starting to fall out of the meat. Could it be the liquid or are you guys leaving the membrane on the back?
Click to expand...

How are you measuring that temperature?
 
G$,

I'm measuring 250F grate temperature with the CyberQ II pit temp, checked it against a Maverick ET73 and even put the thermapen probe through the open rivet used for my temp sensor entry. all are with in a few degrees of each other.
 
Carnivorous Endeavors BBQ said:
G$,

I'm measuring 250F grate temperature with the CyberQ II pit temp, checked it against a Maverick ET73 and even put the thermapen probe through the open rivet used for my temp sensor entry. all are with in a few degrees of each other.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm, Interesting. If I were to cook at 250 on my WSM22 the bones would not be "falling out" quite so severely. I asked about the temp because (as I am sure you know) that dome therm is ...off.
 
FBA has forced me to make some minor changes and right now I cook 3 hours at 250 then foil for 1.5 then sauce and drop temp a bit if they appear to be nearly done. They stay in for an additional 1.25 hours. I don't use liquids but do use solids and semi solids when wrapping. They do liquefy. I cook ST Louis cut spares.
 
No membrane, 250 degrees, 1.5 hours on smoke, foil with a good spritzing, 2.75 - 3.0 hours, then remove. Depending on the quality when we open them, we may add a thin layer of glazing/sauce that is pre-warmed and allow it to set for about 5 minutes in a warmer. They're MBN ribs, so they pull cleanly from the bone, just before they're falling off the bone. If we run more towards the 240-245 range it'll be 4.5 hours total, if we're running closer to 260 most of the time it'll be closer to the 4.0 hour mark. Oh, these are thick BB's.
 
Last edited:
Ford said:
FBA has forced me to make some minor changes and right now I cook 3 hours at 250 then foil for 1.5 then sauce and drop temp a bit if they appear to be nearly done. They stay in for an additional 1.25 hours. I don't use liquids but do use solids and semi solids when wrapping. They do liquefy. I cook ST Louis cut spares.
Click to expand...

Sounds good....
 
So..from the responses here time and temp aren't my culprit. I would have to guess that i am probably using too much liquid in the foil and/or foiling too loosely (i try to foil as tight as possible) which is making too much steam and causing the meat to rapidly retract/tense up causing bones to expose.

Thanks all. Your assistance is appreciated!
 
AZScott said:
If you are short time the solution is to add time to your cook or increase the temperature. Another thing to consider is putting your ribs in a Cambro once they are done. We had the same issue as you so we bumped the temp up 25 degrees, put them on an hour earlier, and then put them in the cambro to stay warm. The ribs scored really well and we didn't have the stress worrying about are our ribs going to finish in time. The only meat we cook to the last minute is chicken and we know exactly what those thighs are going to do and how fast they will increase in temperature. Ribs, brisket, and pork is all a crapshoot if you only use times in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I'm going to look into the cambro thing. Seems like a great idea and I'd never thought about it for ribs. I had been cooking at 230 degrees, 2.5 hours open, 1.5 hours juiced and wrapped, and 30 minutes to glaze. I did this exact procedure 24 times from Novemeber to April in preparation for our first comp and it worked stellar everytime. Now that comps are here, it isn't working and I don't know what's going on. Thanks for the info.
 
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