Thought I had Baby Back Ribs

[Midway]

I wonder if that is what I bought, there is a lot of meat on the baby backs I cooked last night. It was my second cook on my new SS MAK 2-Star and my first low and slow. I am new to this, read the rib primer, Meathead eBook and expected 4 to 5 hours at 225 and I bumped it up to 250 for the last hour. It took me at least 7 hours. They could have been just a touch overcooked but still very moist while not mushy or complete fall off the bone. My wife thought they were the best she ever had. I thought I may of used too much salt for the dry brine and want to tweak the rub more to my taste.

I wish I would have read this thread even though after the cook I expected cook time must be due to the amount of meat on them. I used probes and they were close to my Thermapen One and it took forever to reach 200 degrees.

[fzxdoc]

I only smoked the extra meaty type of BBs once. Like you, I found that the "extra meaty" part dries out pretty quickly so that by the time the actual rib meat is done, the meaty loin part is bone dry. It's a good lesson to learn, I suppose.

Kathryn

[Midway]

Consensus seems to be that baby back rips with the extra meet are not ideal, harder to cook evenly and more expensive.

I can't disagree based on experience but when mentioning to my wife I would be looking for baby backs with less meat she protested adamantly. They are the type she prefers and could care less if they cost more.

Assuming I humor her, any technique to successfully cook very meaty Baby Backs?

[fels340]

I was coming on here tonight to post a question about these "extra meaty back ribs". It seems that these are the only kind of baby backs I can find at any store in my area. Even my local meat market carries these exclusively. I’m tempted to trim off the loin meat but afraid I’ll ruin the whole rack. Is it just a matter of taking a boning knife and trimming the excess meat off till they’re a uniform thickness? I made some of these yesterday and even though my guests were happy with the flavor, I didn’t like them. To me, the premium meat of the rib is overpowered by this thick back meat. I’m just not happy with them. Any advice on trimming them would be appreciated. Thanks

[willxfmr]

You are correct. You can trim the loin down so that you have a much more even thickness. I would think your local butcher would be happy to trim them up for you as well. I personally solved this problem by switching over to St Louis trimmed spare ribs.

[Troutman]

Man I am really surprised that there is so much negativity toward thick loin cut baby backs. I'm a spare rib guy almost exclusively but I've enjoyed, and even special ordered, baby backs with a thick loin cap left on. It's a low and slow thing for sure. If you think about it, it's really no different than cooking a pork tenderloin. You have to keep the moisture in them, therefore wrapping as soon as you get the smoke and color you like is essential. I put plenty of apple juice and butter in the wrap to keep them that way.

Again I don't have these all the time but I do like them when I do cook them. So I guess I'm the voice of dissent here.

[Dr. Pepper]

Troutman I also love to edit.

[tmaan235]

Troutman, It's not you, it's us ( the best breakup line EVER )
I don't go low and slow with ribs. I'm looking for a smoky dark sear with 2 layers of sauce carmelized on and ready to rock although yours look seriously interesting and, oh my, a serious pile of meat there
Never tried a dry rub, just sauce and super weber kettle. The extra meat messes up the cook this way in my world.
Grill on Wayne!

[Bkhuna]

Troutman - I'm with you. Cooking extra-meaty ribs is all about temperature control and wrapping. I'd rather have extra meat taking a couple of extra hours to cook. Patience is the key.

[Midway]

Man I am really surprised that there is so much negativity toward thick loin cut baby backs. I'm a spare rib guy almost exclusively but I've enjoyed, and even special ordered, baby backs with a thick loin cap left on. It's a low and slow thing for sure. If you think about it, it's really no different than cooking a pork tenderloin. You have to keep the moisture in them, therefore wrapping as soon as you get the smoke and color you like is essential. I put plenty of apple juice and butter in the wrap to keep them that way.

Again I don't have these all the time but I do like them when I do cook them. So I guess I'm the voice of descent here.

I had asked the question above on the best way to cook Baby Backs with the extra meat. They were my first low and slow attempt on a new MAK 2* and took hours longer than I expected. They turned out good with my wife saying they were the best she ever had and insisting I purchase the extra meaty baby backs when buying ribs. I wasn't completely satisfied and had trouble with the loin a bit over cooked with the rest of the rib about right.

Any rough guide on timing and temp? Before wrap, wrap, after wrap? I read your post and Meathead's eBook and the timing took so much longer after a 50 minute wrap in foil. Thanks.

[Troutman]

Those do take a bit longer. Again the key is low and slow, watch the color and smoke profile from a visual standpoint, then wrap tight in foil with some sort of liquid applied. Keep a probe in the loin. When that IT in the loin reaches about 140-145* they should be done. The rib section deeper may be 10-15* hotter. I would say you're looking at 3.5-4 hours cooking time at 225-250*F. I always put a glaze on my ribs so figure another 1/2 hour for that. Hope that helps, that's been my experience.

[Spinaker]

Daaaaaang, these look good! Regardless of what you thought you had.

[tmaan235]

This is my end result most of the time

[Richard Chrz]

I’m finding more and more ribs with extra meat in them from opposite cuts. Not my favorite, but I am losing the battle on the trimming. For my personal cooks, I will pay a little more for a better butchered cut. But, I have also enjoyed the larger rib racks as well

[GolfGeezer]

I once again encourage those who buy these extra meaty BB racks to try the Blasphemy Ribs recipe from mgaretz. You will avoid the dryness issues, the mushy issues and enjoy some very flavorful, tender and excellent ribs (or wibs).

[Sweaty Paul]

Troutman did it again! Wowsers. Beautiful. Bet they were delicious!