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Soggy Ribs When I wrap

forkliftgator

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Mar 12, 2021
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Anthony
I've been cooking St Louis spare ribs at 275.

I cook until the rub hardens on the surface and then wrap. I've tried butter, BBQ sauce, cup of apple juice and sprits of apple cider combinations and even wrapped without anything added. i leave in the wrap until it comes up to temp and finish with 15-30 mins out of wrap to finish.

The issue ive run into with every combination is that it creates so much juice in the wrap that it moisturizes the top to the point that the surface gets soggy and i lose a lot of the rub.

Is this a common problem?
 
If it happens even when you wrap with no liquid additive, it sounds like you're wrapping too early when the meat still has a lot of the liquid that it would otherwise shed during the cooking process.

I only wrap ribs when I'm looking to preserve the color due to other variables, or to speed up the cooking process. IMO it's not really necessary otherwise.
 
Have you tried the 3-2-1 method? It sounds like you need a consistent way to smoke your ribs. I don't temp my ribs and I don't know what you mean by cooking until the rub hardens on the surface. I cook my ribs about 2 1/2 to 3 hours (until I like the color on the ribs and the meat has pulled back a little on the bone). Then I wrap for about 2 hours. Then I unwrap, sauce and cook until the sauce is set. This is a basic method that depends on the size of your ribs, your cooking temp (I cook at 250) and your cooker.
 
I cook mine at 250 and cook them 3.5 to 4 hours prior to wrapping then only wrap for 1 hour then put them back on and glaze them. They seem to turn out really good, if anything slightly over cooked if you want some tug. Bones pull right out but they aren't soggy at all.
 
Thank you for the replies!

Sounds like across the board I’m wrapping too early, so I’ll let them go a bit farther and see if that solves my problem.

Looking forward to giving it a shot tomorrow
 
I tried 3-2-1 ribs recently and they definitely overcooked… I’m going back to unwrapped!
 
Are you wrapping TIGHT or loose?

If you leave the foil loose around the meat it will more less boil the meat and if no liquid it will steam.
We wrap tight and add a combination of stuff that makes up a flavorful liquid and have no issue at all.
 
I never considered there was a difference and sounds like what I’m experiencing. I’ll try wrapping tight when I do wrap
 
plate-jpg.493283



It is a common problem/complaint with wrapped ribs, but not a guarantee; The above ribs' bark was 100% crunchy. I believe I wrapped with my usual strawberry jelly, apple butter, hot sauce and Parkay/fake butter, and I did the 2:1 stages in the oven. You may want to run ~275*F for the first 3hrs



If you want to pretty much guarantee some crunchy black ribs, try spritzing with about 50/50 vinegar and soda. I like using root beer (barq's in particular, LOL) , cherry RC , or the local knockoff Dr. Pepper brand I prefer to the "real thing" (tastes like Dr. Slice)


kimg0599-jpg.484074



You want them crispy before wrapping (which I did right after I took this pic)
 
3 hours or so before I wrap and then I use apple juice or butter. I only wrap about 1 to 1.5 hours though, and then unwrap and glaze. I find that the 2 full hours wrapped and then another full hour for glaze over cooks them in my pits. Mine usually cook at 225 to 250, sometimes jumping to 275.
 
This is a great topic. I run a backwoods chubby g2(huge water pan) any time I attempt to not wrap my ribs turn black and have a bad taste. I thought maybe use a rub without sugar added? And by the way I have thin blue smoke and run about 265.
 
I've never wrapped ribs, I like them basic without all the dressings...They come out fine..to me.
 
Not a fan of all the steps most people take to cook their ribs. I just season 'em, toss'em on the cooker, don't peek for 3-4 hours while they are cooking at 275-325F. Done, remove slice and eat. No spritz, wrap, nothing.. just good ribs. And I've never experienced soggy or mushy ribs doing it like this lol.
 
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