Preparing to smoke my first dino rack

[DaveD]

Hi folks,

I've got a 7-lb rack of dino ribs from Porter Road that I'm planning to smoke on Saturday, weather authorities permitting. Got a question about whether/how much to trim the fat cap off this baby. Here are two photos, showing that the cap is quite thin along much of the surface but toward one corner it appears to thicken some. It's clear that some trimming was done prior to packaging. My question for the Collective is, how much more should I trim, if any? I get that you don't want to just season the fat, you want it to get to the meat, but I don't want to overdo it. Thanks for any input.

Thin at this edge (that's a standard pyrex baking dish for scale):



Thicker at this corner:

[HawkerXP]

If you'll leave it on your front stoop, I'll zip by and trim it for you. All I need is your address.

[STEbbq]

I would treat it like you would a brisket and trim to your desired level of fat. Trimming Dino ribs is perfectly fine.

[Steve B]

I would take it right down to the meat on top. Like this. This is after seasoning

[Mr. Bones]

Nice racks, Brother!

Great choice of rubs, as well... Oak Ridge is from bout 6-7 miles from where I was raised up...also, Jesse James birthplace, an Family Home...

In fact, given th (lack of) depth of th gene pool, locally...

I'm most likely related.

[Steve B]

LMAO Mr. Bones.
Just wait till I get the next set of plate ribs going. 🤔😁

[Mr. Bones]

Lookin forward to any / all plate rib cooks ya might have goin on, Brother!

One my absolute fave cuts to cook. Helps take me to My Happy Place...

[bbqLuv]

Brisket on a bone. Good choice. According to some YouTubers, you can trim to expose the meat for seasoning. Others not so much. When I have smoked beef ribs on my pellet grill, I do so like a brisket: trim, season, Smoke, wrap, set the bark.

[pkadare]

I'm with Steve B here. Think of these like a point with bones. Loads of intramuscular fat in them so there's no real need to leave any fat cap at all and then you get to eat the bark rather than cut it off and pitch it along with the fat that most folks won't eat. Keep the trimmed fat for tallow or for making up your fat percentage for ground beef. Yummy!

[au4stree]

I recently did beef ribs, I trimmed them down to the meat or at least as good as I could get it. Like someone said above, treat like brisket. There’s enough intramuscular fat they’ll stay moist.

[DaveD]

To be clear, I'm not the least worried about moisture, mostly about getting the rub seasoning properly engaged and not having more fat than most folks want to eat (I like some, as gboss as has posted too). I've done a couple chucks but no brisket yet...

[Jfrosty27]

I also trim right down to the meat. Plenty of fat inside. This is my absolute favorite BBQ. I'm jealous. Now I need to order a couple racks!

[Mudkat]

Now that looks like fun! I agree trim the fat and go all brisket on it.

[gboss]

I'm going to go slightly against the consensus here and say that I don't trim all of the fat down on the chuck short ribs I've smoked. I understand Meathead point completely about the myths, pros, and cons involved. However, the fact is that I really enjoy eating a bit of the fat, too. Most of the fat that's on short ribs (chuck at least, not much experience with plate) is fairly delicious and I like to leave a bit on to enjoy with the meat. Not a lot, but I don't take them down to the red either. Looking forward to seeing your results.

[DaveD]

Thanks for all the input folks! Full disclosure, I have yet to smoke a brisket (this will be my 13th smoke not counting batches of bacon) so I lack that experience base. I did some chuck ribs a couple weeks ago that were spectacular, but they had next to no fatcap on them to remove. Like gboss, I also enjoy a little fat other than the intramuscular kind, so I will trim, shall we say, enthusiastically but not aggressively. Now to hope the rain holds off till after I finish...!

[Mr. Bones]

I also enjoy a little crisped up fat, it was Th Treat, growin up, in a family of 11 kids, an was Highly Prized, kinda like th cabbage heart was...

That bein said, I'd skin it on down, 1/4" or so, use th extry fat fer other useful purposes...many of which have previously been mentioned, an or elabourated upon...

[Santamarina]

I keep looking for Dinos at my local markets. Only found’em once and they were ridiculously expensive, so I haven’t cooked them yet. But I’d approach them like brisket.

That means (for me) leaving about a 1/4” of fat cap. That’s what I leave on a packer, and I’ve never had anyone cut it off and leave it on their plate.

[DaveD]

Nailed it -- that's what I'd like, a little bit of fat for that flavor hit, not enough that someone would think, that's gotta go. So no bark would be harmed in the smoking of these ribs.

[DaveD]

Hey folks, while we wait for those ribs to thaw in the fridge I have a weather-related question.

Forecast is for some rain showers to arrive later on Saturday, when I need to cook these (we're having our next door neighbors over for a pre-Xmas feast before they hit the road to their kids' place for the hols). My game plan was to get them on good and early in the hopes they'll be done before the showers arrive. Also planning on using my smoker's low-T "smoke" setting (about 140F) for the first hour while the ribs are coldest to really get a major smoke hit.

But if the rain arrives early, and is more than I can fend off by dragging my patio table over near the smoker and opening the umbrella, I'll have to bring the ribs inside to the kitchen oven. Question is, is there a consensus on how long before one gets to the point of diminishing returns on smoke uptake on pieces like this? Would be good to know that if I make it, say, five hours before I have to bail, I'll probably have gotten most of the smoke I'm gonna.

Hope this makes sense...!

[efincoop]

I have heard everything from "a couple of hours" up to "until you wrap". I would not sweat it too much. Any amount of smoke is going to amp up the flavor profile. If possible err on the side of starting earlier. You can always hold them in a warm oven or faux cambro if they are done early.

[DaveD]

Yep, that's pretty much the plan. I've got the faux cambro ready

[Mr. Bones]

Sounds like ya may havedta shift gears, some, WX dependent...
Don't worry, overmuch, Amigo: Yer still gonna arrive at yer intended Destination...
An We'uns is still right here, every step of th way, if ya run into any kinda snag, or conundrum sorta thingy.

[au4stree]

Honestly, after about 3-5 hours in the smoke, you’re not getting much use out of the fuel aside from BTU’s. Once I get the bark I like, I’ve finished in my oven and rested in faux cambro’s. I find holding them allows me to better entertain guests, rather than trying to get meat(s) just right.

Many award winning pitmasters will tell you, after you wrap, BTU’s are BTU’s.

[DaveD]

Holding in the oven or FC was always part of the game plan so that we could plate everything at once, if nothing else. But I wasn't automatically planning to wrap them, so we'll see. The weather outlook is improving though, arrival of showers has slipped to the right in the forecast so I am hopeful to get a full day without having to walk between the raindrops...