I’ve started back doing some experiments on the Pit Boss Copperhead 7. My goal was to just check to see how accurate the built-in temperature display was and to check cook times of certain proteins on the 7 verses some of my other cookers. I decided to do a slab of St. Louis ribs from Costco. I trimmed them up and rubbed them down with Worcestershire sauce. Since I didn’t care about using any special rubs, I just seasoned with some Montreal Steak Seasoning that was handy. I set the PB to 275 with Traeger Signature blend pellets in the hopper and some 100% Black Cherry Cookinpellets in the smoke tube.
In the first picture, I went to spritz at 1-1/2 hour mark. To my surprise they were very moist looking, so I just gave them a little squirt of water. Usually when I’ve cook ribs flat, they look like they’re starting to dry out on top at the 1 hour mark.
With the set temp at 275, the display would drop to 270 and then range up to 285. I measured the top rack with the display reading 285 and it was 290, the bottom rack was reading at 275. This 15-degree difference between the top and bottom was consistent throughout the cook.
The second picture was at the 2-hour mark. I pulled the ribs and used my ThermaPen for temp., The top of the ribs was at 165 and the bottom ribs were 160. I put them back and let them go another ½ hour.
When I pulled them at 2-1/2 hours the tops were at 180 and the bottoms at 165. This picture is when I then wrapped in double foil with nothing added and put in the oven at 275. The color from the smoke tube was great. After 45 minutes, I opened them up and sauced with Meat Mitch Womp BBQ Sauce and back in the oven for 15 more minutes. Now I usually do the bend test or probe for tenderness on ribs like most of you do, but I decided to temp these, the tops were at 203 and the bottoms at 200. Total cook time was 3-1/2 hours.
After a 10-minute rest, sliced them up. The smoke ring was a much lighter color than other ribs I’ve done, but if you enlarge the picture, you’ll see how moist they were. You’ll also notice how Costco is starting to leave more of the riblet meat on their St. Louis ribs. Now here’s the kicker, my wife said they were the best ribs I’ve ever made. I probably have over 50 different rubs and she likes these. They were good though. The PB 7 is really fun to use, you get to sit there and have a beer or 3 or 4 and watch a hanging rib cook.
In the first picture, I went to spritz at 1-1/2 hour mark. To my surprise they were very moist looking, so I just gave them a little squirt of water. Usually when I’ve cook ribs flat, they look like they’re starting to dry out on top at the 1 hour mark.
With the set temp at 275, the display would drop to 270 and then range up to 285. I measured the top rack with the display reading 285 and it was 290, the bottom rack was reading at 275. This 15-degree difference between the top and bottom was consistent throughout the cook.
The second picture was at the 2-hour mark. I pulled the ribs and used my ThermaPen for temp., The top of the ribs was at 165 and the bottom ribs were 160. I put them back and let them go another ½ hour.
When I pulled them at 2-1/2 hours the tops were at 180 and the bottoms at 165. This picture is when I then wrapped in double foil with nothing added and put in the oven at 275. The color from the smoke tube was great. After 45 minutes, I opened them up and sauced with Meat Mitch Womp BBQ Sauce and back in the oven for 15 more minutes. Now I usually do the bend test or probe for tenderness on ribs like most of you do, but I decided to temp these, the tops were at 203 and the bottoms at 200. Total cook time was 3-1/2 hours.
After a 10-minute rest, sliced them up. The smoke ring was a much lighter color than other ribs I’ve done, but if you enlarge the picture, you’ll see how moist they were. You’ll also notice how Costco is starting to leave more of the riblet meat on their St. Louis ribs. Now here’s the kicker, my wife said they were the best ribs I’ve ever made. I probably have over 50 different rubs and she likes these. They were good though. The PB 7 is really fun to use, you get to sit there and have a beer or 3 or 4 and watch a hanging rib cook.
Comment