A question on rib finished temp

[Dukera]

I've done a fair number of rib racks (St Louis and Babies) on my PBC and always was shooting for an internal temp of 203 degrees. The PBC site has a posted temp of 160 which seems off - has anyone cooked then pulled and sauced at this temp? Curious to hear what they were like.
Thanks in advance,
Russ

[barelfly]

I don’t have a PBC, but I think the 160 the site is referring to is a finishing temp for ground pork in general, based on FDA recommendations. When I do cook racks of ribs, I don’t temp them but I’m pretty sure they are closer to what you mention in your post and are probe tender.

I just don’t see how ribs would be edible cooked to 160, but I could be wrong.

And welcome to the posting side of the site!

edit - 160 is ground pork I was thinking of….not pork chops and such, being 145.

[jfmorris]

And those sound like OLD FDA recommendations at that. The number has been 145 for many years now.

[fzxdoc]

Welcome to de-lurking and posting here! Hopefully we'll see more posts from you.

Some of the times/temps on the PBC site's recipes are notoriously off. I don't really know why. I suspect it's because they take some recipes from their social media pages and we all know how accurate those can be.

The FDA says 145° internal is safe for pork, so PBC's 160° recommendation is way north of that, but not nearly north enough, IMO.

mgaretz has a Blasphemy Ribs recipe here that takes ribs off at 2.5 hours in (225° smoker temp). Perhaps the PBC recipe is for something like that, smoking individual ribs?

I always start checking for doneness for pork ribs at 190° or so, often pulling them at 195° or a little higher. I use Fireboard's skinny short needle probes to monitor the temp for ribs.

Kathryn

[realdocBBQ]

As above - 195-200F for ribs. All depends on how you like 'em - a little "tug" or fall off the bone, etc. In our house, we like 'em right in the middle of that, but too soft, falling apart, I don't care for that, personally.

[KuKuPuffs]

160 on the PBC the pork is definitely not tender and the temp is quite suspect as it doesn't line up with any FDA recomendations on pork (145F) as mentioned above. I don't even think you would sauce them at 160F (too early). On my PBC with a fireboard I run my ribs "hot and fast" usually at 260-285 until ~200F and they are probe tender. I also use the skinny fireboard probes for the ribs.

[HawkerXP]

Welcome to the speaking side of the Pit!

I also go with the "probe tender" method. Poke a toothpick between the bones.


PBC, PBC, PBC!

[Oak Smoke]

I believe at 160 your ribs will be done as far as safety goes but no where near ready. There’s a huge difference in the two. I start testing for ready at about 4 hours cooking at 250-275 F. I use a skewer to check mine just to give myself a bit of distance from the heat.

[Dukera]

Your posts agree with what I have done temp wise and what I thought. Thanks for your answers and will try not to lurk as much..... R

[Jerod Broussard]

My SLC's will hit 203-205.