Rib cook - fairly dry

[dillywe]

This past Saturday I cooked a couple of rack of St Louis for my folks. I cut both racks in half and hung them and smoked for 3 hours before checking the ribs (temps were consistently in 315 area, touching 330 on occasion). The meat had pulled back off the bone and the temp probe test seemed to indicate that they were done. I sauced and put back on for 25 minutes and then pulled.

Overall I was a bit disappointed, the ribs had great flavor, a very nice smoke ring, but lacked some moisture and there was some bites that were a bit like pork jerky.

So I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong. Were the temps too high and/or did I leave the ribs on too long? Thanks for any pointers!

Also, I did a butt a couple of weekends ago and the piggie took a dive... my first and hopefully last rescue mission

[PappyBBQ]

I generally try and keep my PBC in the 250 (preferred) - 275 (absolute top) range unless I'm doing chicken. I'll foil up a couple of the rebar holes if necessary to knock the temps back. Mine will spike like mad if I open the lid, so I do that as little as possible. I chart all of my cooks and I always go back and research previous cooks before I start out. I have a deep enough library now that I can pretty much tell down to a 15 minute window how long stuff is going to take to cook and how many/how long to foil up the rebar holes to acquire the temp I want. Keep at it! The more ya cook the better it gets!

[Jerod Broussard]

Seems like you shrunk the proteins quite a bit with the heat so high.

When you hang a butt, tie it tight with 4 strands of butcher twine (2 one way, and 2 perpendicular to the first two). Make sure and get at least one hook under some string. I let mine hang the whole ride. Never lost one.

[Ernest]

You pretty much grilled those ribs. I prefer to cook ribs at 225 or even lower, 250 Max.
Even on my PBC, I tried as much as possible to cook at 250.

Do whatever it takes to lower your temp. Experiment cooking with less than full basket.
Cover one rebar vent at a time and see where the temp lands.

Thick meats might be fine with high temp but ribs need tender loving low and slow.

[Powersmoke_80]

Exactly what Ernest said.

[JeffJ]

If you are running hot and can't bring the temps down try wrapping after you've developed some bark. This will allow the meat to baste in its own juices and will shorten cooking times. But, like Ernest said, a gentler temperature for ribs is optimal.

[DWCowles]

I think I have the answer > The pit temp was to hot

[LA Pork Butt]

As others noted you temp was high. The ribs will be better if you can get the temp inside of 275. I like doing mine at 225. Wrapping will help, but more than an hour at 275 wil cause them to fall off the bone. You won't be able to hold the bone and bite them. You also might try spritzing or mopping them to deal with the dryness.

[Huskee]

I like my ribs long & low, 6-8hrs at 215-240. Every once in a while I get a dry rack even at those temps, sometimes it's just the meat you bought.

[JeffJ]

I've had the same issue. I'll do 4 racks, 3 will turn out great and one will be a little tough.

[dillywe]

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated. I was definitely not trying to grill them , so I will shoot for the 225-250 area next time. Also, thanks for the twine tip, Jerod, I'll use that for my next butt cook.