Chewy Ribs

[mikmak8902]

mikmak8902 - I cook rins two different ways.

I trim spare ribs into a St Louis cut. Those ribs are generally cooked about 6 hours at 225°F. You generally measure doneness when they pass the bend test. To do the bend test properly, you slide a pair of tongs under the ribs about half way. Pick up the rins. They are don e when they easily bend down and the meat on the top of the ribs begin to crack. I don't wrap or crutch during the cook. I will, at the end of the cook, remove the ribs, wrap in foil, then wrap in a towel, and place the wrapped ribs in a cooler. Total time is something like 6 hours.

For baby back ribs, again I use the bend test and only at the end will I employ a thermometer. You cab use a quick read thermometer since there is more meat thT will give you an accurate reading. Like MBMorgan, I'll go to about 190°F. Then I pull, wrap in foil, wrap in a towel, and cooler the ribs as above. I generally cook my baby backs a total of 5 hours.

Based on what you listed above, I'd say your ribs were slightly underdone. That's why they were chewy.

Here's to great cooks and even better memories with family and friends!

Thanks CeramicChef! Are the STL ribs taking 6hrs on the PBC?

[CeramicChef]

I have cooked StL ribs on kettles, stick burners, gassers, BGEs, Primos, and Komodo Kamados, but never a PBC! I generally cook all my ribs at 225°F and 6 hours seems to be the number. But again, I always use the bend test.

PBC cookers? Care to wade in here?

[Voodoo]

mikmak8902, sounds pretty good. May I ask, are you new to the PBC AND to cooking ribs? The reason I ask, is kind of figure if it's perspective, or knowing when the ribs are done? I think one of the most important aspects of cooking ribs (besides buying good ones and trimming them well) is knowing when they're ready to pull off the smoker and bring in the house. Sounds like you are time oriented and that works.. sometimes. Better yet, use the tip of an instant read thermometer and probe your ribs for tenderness (checking rib temps is ok, but not always reliable). It's something that's dependable and you will get better with practice. Not all ribs are the same, not all fires in the PBC are the same, each day has it's own humidity and temperature, etc. Also, some ribs may be ready at one temp, and another rack at a different temp. Another problem with cooking for time is when you have more than one rack, they rarely finish all at the same time.
One other clue I look for is the "hook pull". If you look closely at hooked and hanging ribs, they will start separating at the hook when getting close to done. You will also learn to see the meat drawing back from bone ends (the amount varies from rack to rack and cook to cook).
The only chewy ribs I've had from the PBC are under cooked ones, getting in a hurry and rushing things. Slow down, start sooner, enjoy great food. Let a couple of racks go too long and see the other side of the spectrum. It's good learning.

Good luck. Hope this is helpful.

[mikmak8902]

I don't cook St Louis ribs at that high of a temperature. At 225 they take 6 hours. Wrapping will make them render, but they will probably fail the pull test of competition ribs. If you are after tender 3-2-1 @225 works.

Ah ... I see. I'd prefer to use my PBC to keep things simple. Could I simply insert some foil in the rebar holes to get the temp down to 225?

[Voodoo]

Just read a few other comments. Those are wise words and sound advice from some excellent pitmaster dudes, but your PBC does not cook like other cookers. No need to worry about "low and slow". Let it cook like it's meant to (upper 200's to even 300). The ribs will be freakin awesome. Also, I've only crutched ribs once from the PBC. I don't believe it's necessary, but certainly, you could do that. My Weber, that's a different story.

[MBMorgan]

Ah ... I see. I'd prefer to use my PBC to keep things simple. Could I simply insert some foil in the rebar holes to get the temp down to 225?

You could ... but it's not advisable for the PBC. As long as you get a good light, the PBC will do its own thing at about 270 - 290 and you'll enjoy perfect results. Trying to force the temperature down to 225 (on the PBC) runs the risk of nasty tasting smoke as the fire becomes overly starved for oxygen.

Check out the PBC sub forum for all kinds of info: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-barrel-cooker

[Voodoo]

Amen to that!

[mikmak8902]

You could ... but it's not advisable for the PBC. As long as you get a good light, the PBC will do its own thing at about 270 - 290 and you'll enjoy perfect results. Trying to force the temperature down to 225 (on the PBC) runs the risk of nasty tasting smoke as the fire becomes overly starved for oxygen.

Check out the PBC sub forum for all kinds of info: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-barrel-cooker

Gotcha. Thank you and thanks to Voodoo for the replies as well. I'm going to chalk this up to me needing to get better at figuring out when the ribs need to come off. The good thing is that the practice is soooo much fun.

[Voodoo]

Haha... most important is to have fun. Also, watch your weight! The better you get, the more you will cook.

[DWCowles]

mikmak8902 I don't own PBC so that's why I kept my mouth shut and let the PBC experts take over 😊

[Voodoo]

Haha DWCowles. The PBC is the simplest thing out there, that's why I got one. Tried to buy a Lang and failed the prepurchase IQ test. Had to settle for 2nd best 😁. Seriously, I know I would struggle with what you cook on every day.
Maybe one day you'll be down here in the hills of TN and I can whip up some tender critters on this thing.

[DWCowles]

Whereabouts in Tn? Voodoo

[Voodoo]

Signal Mountain. Just outside the gates of heaven 😊
Near Chattanooga.

[DWCowles]

Beautiful country Voodoo

[Danjohnston949]

mikmak8902, I won't claim to be an expert but I fall in CeramicChef and @LA Pork Butt's Camp on Pork Ribs!
Eat Well and Prosper! From Fargo ND, Dan

[JeffJ]

This weekend after 6 hours averaging 250 my two slabs of SLC were still not done although they developed great bark and then great glaze. I wrapped for about a half hour and that was enough to push them over the finish line. Try wrapping next time.

[PBCDad]

Reading through the replies to this post, it seems like a lot of posters are giving great information, but for the wrong problems.

First, there were several replies talking about cooking at 225-250 for six hours or more. I don't believe these posters are cooking on a PBC, so times and temperatures will be different, as MBMorgan said the PBC usually runs between 270-300 degrees (check out the PBC lighting procedure post if you haven't already).

Second, mikmak8902 if I'm understanding your first couple posts correctly, the issue is not that the ribs are undercooked or too chewy. It is that the bark is too tough/chewy. Mikmak, please correct me if I'm wrong here. How did you prep these ribs (dry brine, how much salt, what rub)? I haven't had this particular problem yet, still trying to convince the wife that I should cook more ribs, but maybe glazing them for longer could work and would prevent the bark from forming too much?

I'm not the best person to be troubleshooting this particular problem, just thought I would clear up what appear to be a few misunderstandings on this post.

[JeffJ]

I like your line of thought distinguishing between bark chewiness and interior chewiness. 2 completely different problems likely caused by opposing sets of circumstances. More info needed. PBCDad

[Huskee]

If your bark is too chewy for you on a nekkid rib cook, especially if you sauced them, then yes try wrapping them. It will take some playing to get your timing right when they're done to a clean pull but not fall apart sloppy like you mention you don't want. Take notes to remember how to do it when you find what works for you.

[net_introvert]

I'm definitely a PBC novice, but I cooked SLC ribs on it the very first day I got mine and they turned out amazing. On an extremely windy day, they were very tender and hitting the 190 range after about 3.5 hours. I then put my sauce on them and gave it another 30-45 minutes to caramelize and pulled them. Again, like others have said here, the thing I've found so far with the PBC is you have to depend on temp rather than time with it. The meat should be pulling back from the ends of the ribs a bit. Mine were fall off the bone, but they weren't nearly as mushy as ones I had done in my electric smoker in the past, they had a good chew to them as well. Easily the best ribs I've ever made.

[mikmak8902]

Reading through the replies to this post, it seems like a lot of posters are giving great information, but for the wrong problems.

First, there were several replies talking about cooking at 225-250 for six hours or more. I don't believe these posters are cooking on a PBC, so times and temperatures will be different, as MBMorgan said the PBC usually runs between 270-300 degrees (check out the PBC lighting procedure post if you haven't already).

Second, mikmak8902 if I'm understanding your first couple posts correctly, the issue is not that the ribs are undercooked or too chewy. It is that the bark is too tough/chewy. Mikmak, please correct me if I'm wrong here. How did you prep these ribs (dry brine, how much salt, what rub)? I haven't had this particular problem yet, still trying to convince the wife that I should cook more ribs, but maybe glazing them for longer could work and would prevent the bark from forming too much?

I'm not the best person to be troubleshooting this particular problem, just thought I would clear up what appear to be a few misunderstandings on this post.

You hit the nail on the head. My initial issue was the ribs simply not being done. That was resulting in the overly chewy inside meat and the meat not coming cleanly off the bone.

My most recent issue that I am posting about is the overly chewy bark. I was just not using the correct terminology and probably confusing alot of the people trying to help me.

This last cook, my ribs were fantastic except for the bark. The flavor was great. The meat pulled cleanly off the bone. However, the bark was very chewy.

Here was my setup:

Lighting:
- fill basket with coals
- take 40 briquettes out and put them in a chimney starter
- light and wait 15min
- poor lit coals evenly over unlit coals
- hang meat and shut lid

Meat Prep:
- pull ribs out of fridge
- pat dry and remove silver skin
- let sit for 30min to warm up to room temp
- just before putting on the PBC, apply Jan's Dry Rub (a good coating but could still see the meat underneath)
- hang in the PBC

[Voodoo]

mikmak8902 you might try an oil base before you apply the dry rub. I've found that changes the exterior somewhat, preventing some of the drying out. I did that, and although good, my taste is for the drier side. Also, not sure I'd let them come to room temp. From this website, I learned that is possibly a misstep. Season your ribs, put them back in the fridge, go start up the PBC and when ready, march them out from fridge to cooker. (See Dr Blonder's video on smoke)
Again, all this advice is good advice from all these folks. However, it's only a starting point. In time, you'll find what works for you. I can't tell you how much better my ribs are today than 2 years ago. Keep experimenting and have fun with this.