KBQ ribs disappointment

[midwester]

KBQ Owners - How long and how dirty do you smoke ribs?

I just got my KBQ on Thursday, and my first cook was amazing. BBQ Chicken thighs at 225 for a couple of hours with cherry wood on the clean setting. Pulled them at 170. They were full of flavor. Best I have ever had.

My next cook wasn't so great. I smoked baby backs for 2 hours at 250 (was trying for 225) on the KBQ with cherry (clean setting), then 2 hours foiled in the oven at 225. Overcooked, but the worst part was the complete lack of wood flavor. My neighbor was also disappointed.

So my first thoughts are to skip foiling and smoke for longer, but since there's convection going on in the KBQ, I thought I'd ask the Pit for some starting pointers

[Huskee]

I don't own one, but I can offer this...more smoke flavor needs more smoke exposure. Try a whole cook unwrapped. Cleaner smoke, while desirable in many instances, isn't always your best choice for flavor. Balance is necessary.

[ribeyeguy]

Why do you say they were overcooked? If they were tough and didn't pull from the bone easily they may have been undercooked.

[David Parrish]

I agree they sound undercooked. Overcooked ribs usually fall apart and have a mealy texture.

[RonB]

What temp were the ribs when you put them on? Were they room temp or refrigerator temp. Cold meat attracts smoke.

[DWCowles]

I agree with the above BTW welcome to the pit midwester

[SoonerBQuer]

I don't own a KBQ but I might throw a thought out there. In Ernest's thread, he seems to think you can't have too much dirty smoke as even the 'dirty' smoke from this unit is much cleaner than most smokers since it's being pulled down and into the cooking chamber. Maybe try at least the same amount of time with 'dirty' smoke but like the guys above said, more smoke time in general.

[Ernest]

But you only smoked them for 2 hours. Ribs are not like chicken when it comes to smoke.
Let them hang out in the KBQ until done.
Let's also consider the wood, cherry is very very mild.
If you want heavy smoke flavor, freeze your ribs before smoking.

[fuzzydaddy]

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[midwester]

Thanks for the replies. The ribs pretty much just fell off the bone, even without biting into them.

I will try smoking them unwrapped the whole time, with at least 2 hours with the top valve open.

[Ernest]

Go all out, both vents open all the way.

[Histrix]

I've not yet cooked any ribs in my KBQ but when I cook ribs in my other cookers I'm one that never foils them. I'm also just a rub guy and not a sweet, sticky glaze kinda guy..

Whenever I do get around to doing some babyback ribs on mine (hopefully in the next week or two) I plan to do the whole cook in the KBQ. Probably with the overtire poppet open also since the ribs probably won't take but 3 or 4 hours to do. We'll see how it goes.

[Spinaker]

midwester Don't wrap your ribs and do the whole cook on the KBQ. You don't have to have the top smoker valve open to get amazing ribs on the KBQ. As for the wood, I use cherry all the time on mine and I have never had this problem. For that reason, I don't think its the wood. Our cooks are very similar here. I just don't wrap mine. Go the whole cook unwrapped and you'll be amazed.

Although even with two hours, I would think you'd be able to taste some smoke. Also, as Ernest said, the colder you get them before the cook, the more smoke they will suck up. Give it another try, some times freak stuff happens in BBQ. I've had my share of moments. Fire the thing back up and throw some ribs in.

Good luck my friend. Let us know if you need any more tips with the KBQ.

[oldsteve]

Baby backs usually take 3 1/2 to 4 hours unwrapped at 225°-230° using Oak or Almond. I've never had the problem you alluded to. Give it another go!