Rib Advice

[Little Smoke]

I mainly do pork shoulders, butts and the occasional brisket but my wife and her mother picked up some ribs which they asked me to do. So I put some rub on the night before, fired up the weber kettle today and figured I'd give them a try. I wanted to keep the temp at around 250-275 but couldn't keep it below 300. At about three hours they weren't looking too bad, but not many of the ends were shrinking back like some I've seen on here so I decided to let them go a little longer. Pulled them off just before four hours and then was wondering if I might have made a mistake and let them go too long as a couple ends started to get really charred. Let them rest for about 30 min, before cutting. Flavor was good and they pulled apart good with just the slight resistance (not falling apart). For the rib veterans on here should I wrap them in foil about the 3 hr mark if I think they should go a little longer or leave as is ? Also, I put the sauce on the last half hour not sure if that was correct either but seemed to turn out well because they were all gone before I knew it. Any suggestions for a rib rookie would be appreciated

 

[morgan-que]

my suggestion is to eat them bad boys!! looks good.

 

[Stingerhook]

They look damn good to me. I would leave well enough alone.

 

[Bludawg]

Those look great,I wouldn't change a thing except to go 20 min to set your sauce looks like it started to burn.

 

[PNW Smoker]

Looks like food to me. Did it taste good? If yes, you did good

I do the 3-2-1, so there is wrapping involved. I keep trying to skip the hassle, but I never get them as good as including the wrap.

I put the sauce on at the very end like you did. I don't like drowning my meat, so I keep it locked gut and serve more sauce on the side

Bottom line is it looks like you did pretty well for your first shot

 

[Little Smoke]

Thanks fella's, def turned out better then I thought it was going to being my first time and all lol.

BluDawg will keep that in mind, appreciate it

Thanks PNW not familiar with the 3-2-1 method, will try and look into that for next time

 

[DetTigersFan]

They look nice to me man... I cook a lot of ribs and I'd be happy with those. As mentioned above maybe go less time with the sauce, could help you get a little bit lighter color when finished.

 

[jjjonz]

Man those look good ...next time leave the sauce off of mine.lol

 

[smoke ninja]

At those temps backs should be done in about 3 hrs.

 

[Decoy205]

Looks cooked right man. I agree with less time for the sauce but tenderness looks right!

 

[PNW Smoker]

Google 3-2-1 ribs, you will get lots of hits

 

[mchar69]

Thanks PNW not familiar with the 3-2-1 method, will try and look into that for next time

It's not a method, it's a suggestion.

Baby Backs will be well overdone at 300 w/3-2-1
Spares will not be done at 225.

It's not science, it's an art!!!! Learn your cooker, your meat.

 

[smoke ninja]

3-2-1 is a bit much for backs.

Its actually a bit much for all ribs.

It is intended for whole spares at 225 and a guideline at best. If you cook hotter, trim or use backs time will be shorter.

For st louis cut spares my timeline goes (when i wrap but i dont always) @275; 2 hrs then wrap for no more than one hour, as little as half hour then unwrapped back on for up to an hour or until finished, if i sauce (again i dont always) its a light coat during the last 10-15 min.

Or if your in a hurry leave the sugar out of the rub and go naked @300-325 for 2.5-3 hrs.

I could never wait six hours for ribs.

 

[PNW Smoker]

it isn't a method it's a suggestion?

I wasn't suggesting anything and you might want to look up the definition of "method"

Finally, it's an option that the OP is at least allowed to know about. There are lots of people that use this method successfully

 

[Little Smoke]

Thanks for all the help, will definitely try the suggestions given :thumb:

 

[smoke ninja]

Oh no not the great "method" debate again. Where the chicken king? I bet hes weeping right meow.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181568&highlight=Weeping+ribs

 

[LYU370]

Don't base when the ribs are done by the amount of pull back, it's not a good indicator. Either use the toothpick test or the bend test.

 

[Mikhail]

My baby back ribs are nicely tender at about 2.5-3 hours. Around 275-300. They don't fall off the bone quite, but that is not what I go for. I like a little resistance in them, where they come off pretty easily, but not too easily.

 

[El Ropo]

Those ribs look great. I do agree that cutting back sauced time would keep it from starting to burn.

On a side note. I can't prove this, but I'm gonna guess that more people have wrecked their rib cooks by trying to do a version of 3-2-1, cause "They heard it on the internet, it must be true".

I always suggest people keep it as simple as possible when getting started. That would mean rubbing the meat, applying heat, practicing good fire control (keep a clean burning fire), and cook till it's done. Nothing fancy there, but it always works.

 

[dadsr4]

Don't base when the ribs are done by the amount of pull back, it's not a good indicator. Either use the toothpick test or the bend test.

This is my opinion, also. Frequently, there is little pull-back when I cook ribs. If a toothpick slides into and out of the meat easily, the ribs are done. This works for all types of ribs, while the bend test doesn't always.