I did ribs for the first time last night. Both racks went in the fire. I fished them out, and have since dug in and discovered the 2 hook technique, so I'm guessing I won't have that problem again. Still (2 runs in) trying to get the hang of temp. control. I'm going to let my coals go a lot longer next time (my chimney is vented at the bottom, but not where it holds charcoal). Anyway, I'm at about 600 ft., so I checked at two and a half hours. While the ribs were obviously tender (hence the fall), I was surprised by the relative lack of bark. Where they then fell into the fire (once I put them back with sauce), sure, but when I took them off to check them, I assumed they weren't ready because most of the surface had the light brown look of ribs that had only been on an hour or so. Like Mike Mills, I don't generally put on so much rub that you can't see the meat under it, but maybe I'll have to develop a heavier hand there, given the reduced cooking time. Anyone else have bark issues?
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I think most PBCers have done that when starting out with ribs! I have a good rub that makes a good bark if you're interested. Called Huskee's Rib Rub. Great on chicken too. -
I'm doing two racks right now. At the two and a half hour mark they look really good, the bark is really starting to form. I have cooked a lot of food on my PBC, never had anything fall. However, I know it does happen. (maybe I'm just lucky) I think more whats more important than adding more hooks, is to make sure you hook the ribs three bones down from the top. This is where I always hang mine, with one hook, and I've never had a problem with them falling in the fire.
As for the bark, I find that it really builds up during the last hour and half of cooking. I wait to add any sauces until there is about 30 left in the cook. if you add it too early, it will inhibit your bark formation. After I add sauce, I then bump the heat up to about 320 to help caramelize the sauces I added. I hope this helps. Good Luck!!!
-SpinakerComment
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Chin up JM! I had ribs fall in too. It's really a matter of just letting them go a little too long and boom! If I put in a single rack, I'm taking a peek at a little over an hour, and getting pulled and checked well at an hour and a half, especially if it's some smaller baby backs. If I have 2 racks going on, I'll check at 2 hour mark. The more meat hanging, definitely the longer the cook and the more relaxed you can be about checking. I had a single rack of baby backs once that were about to fall at the 1.5 hour mark. Get the hang of it, and suddenly you're gonna have a lot of friends knocking on your door.Comment
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heh... I only had ribs fall once... it FREAKED me out. But, I picked them up and dusted them off and they came out fine... I do the 2 hook method now though.
I try to use a temp in the high 200s... 275ish. Bark seems to form well... plus I use MMD or HRR, the ingredients in those are conducive to bark formulation, I think... I apply the rubs pretty heavyComment
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I had a rack slide of the plate as I was carrying them outside to put on the smoker. No one noticed, I said nothing. Wiped off a leaf and chunk of something, then smoked them. All was well.Comment
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Only dropped butts into coals myself, but I have had a few meals slide off the plate.Comment
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I had my Weber Spirit roll off my patio into my rock terrace, full of bushes below . I was cooking ribeyes at the time. The wheels weren't locked and I was trying to reposition the grill. The back two wheels dropped off the edge and away it went!!! Not my finest hour. We picked it up, brushed the meat off, started the grill back up and away we went!! It was a combination of the patio at the time not being totally flat and perhaps maybe, just maybe, I was a bit over served. We still laugh about that one. Those were some dark days for the inexperienced outdoor cook!!Comment
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I once got so worked up over a pizza dough that I coudln't get to lie flat on the stone that I threw it over the fence. I've calmed down some since then.Comment
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I've had a lot of stuff fall off the plate trying to get it from the "outdoor kitchen" (a/k/a back yard) to the indoor one. I never think it's funny at the time. But, looking back on it . . .
DEWComment
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Now you guys have me spooked about the pheasant I'm doing tonight. Maybe I should do them on the rotisserie on my kettle, where I can keep them screwed into the basket. Also, and a little more seriously, maybe for moisture retention. Thoughts?Comment
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There is tons of moisture in the PBC. I would say more than most cookers with out a water pan. The bird will be fine. I did a pheasant about a month ago on the PBC, came out fantastic. I hung it, but remember brother, you don't have to hang everything. Just throw that bird on the rack. It will be fine.
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Sorry to hijack your thread and steer it so off topic Jordan. Funny reading all of this though.Comment
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Once back in college a buddy and myself were fixing dinner for our girlfriends on a trip to NC.
We were using one of those cheap, but indestructible public charcoal grills without a top that are placed in parks and such for public use.
Needless to say we may have imbibed too much spirits and had no business near fire in the first place, but we dropped a rack of cooked ribs right in the sandy dirt - not sure if they slid off of the plate or what, but we used the "5 second rule" and picked them up and brushed them off.
It was kinda dark, so we didn't see all of the crud that got all over the ribs and we served them to the ladies.
We could hear the sand / dirt crunch when they bit into them. We were so schnockered it didn't even occur to us to RINSE them off - lol.
At first we pretended nothing was wrong until we were flat called out: "Did you guys drop these in the dirt?"
We giggled and then busted out laughing.
I was told that we had a good time the rest of the evening, but to tell the truth I kinda blacked out and my memory is kinda spotty.
Chin up - happens to the best of us.
"Got to scrape that sh*t right off your shoes" - Rolling Stones, "Sweet Virginia" from Exile on Main St.Comment
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Kudos on the Exile reference.Comment
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