Hey folks looking for help to figure out what did I do wrong today.. Think I followed same procedure that I've done many times, never had a result like this. Unfortunately didn't take photos as I was too bummed.
Smoked 3 racks of spares trimmed to St Louis. GMG Davy Crockett at 275, with a rack insert. Rubbed an hour before. Two racks on top rack, one rack plus trimmed tips below.
Spritzed after just under an hour, all looking good. Bottom rack looking a little more advanced than top.
Came back for another spritz about an hour later.. Bottom rack getting a little black, and rib tips on the right incinerated (more on this later). Foiled the bottom rack (adding more rub, a little maple syrup, and grape juice). Put that back and let the top two go a little longer, then foiled them as well. Stacked those two (wrapped individually) on top rack and moved bottom up to top at that point, as I worried bottom was too hot.
Checked in 45 mins later...all racks temping between 200 and 215. One rack seemed just about perfect, and ate well. But one charred to point of inedible; instead of bend test, was stiff and I could break it in half like a stick. All moisture gone. And one in between, mostly edible inside but the bark was black and crunchy and tasted burnt. The charred racks were also sticking to the foil, was hard to peel off.
My thoughts:
* Never seen ribs get dried-out and crunchy while wrapped in foil with liquid.
* Does sticking to foil mean maple syrup was bad idea, or is that just reflective of the general overcook? Usually I use honey or agave, figured maple would behave similar.
* I would be temped to blame smoker thermo sensor...but have cooked on it 5 other times in last 2 weeks and all great. * GMG suggests moving heat shield to even out temp left-right, and the difference among bottom rack rib tips suggest I should give this a try. But hard to imagine that explains the whole thing.
* How did the one rack come out perfect while others inedible? I know it was one of the top racks which I stacked after foiling...maybe good one was on top and stacking helped shield it from too much heat??
​​​​​​It has been at least 5 years since I had ribs turn out this badly...would love to figure out what went wrong. Any thoughts much appreciated!
Smoked 3 racks of spares trimmed to St Louis. GMG Davy Crockett at 275, with a rack insert. Rubbed an hour before. Two racks on top rack, one rack plus trimmed tips below.
Spritzed after just under an hour, all looking good. Bottom rack looking a little more advanced than top.
Came back for another spritz about an hour later.. Bottom rack getting a little black, and rib tips on the right incinerated (more on this later). Foiled the bottom rack (adding more rub, a little maple syrup, and grape juice). Put that back and let the top two go a little longer, then foiled them as well. Stacked those two (wrapped individually) on top rack and moved bottom up to top at that point, as I worried bottom was too hot.
Checked in 45 mins later...all racks temping between 200 and 215. One rack seemed just about perfect, and ate well. But one charred to point of inedible; instead of bend test, was stiff and I could break it in half like a stick. All moisture gone. And one in between, mostly edible inside but the bark was black and crunchy and tasted burnt. The charred racks were also sticking to the foil, was hard to peel off.
My thoughts:
* Never seen ribs get dried-out and crunchy while wrapped in foil with liquid.
* Does sticking to foil mean maple syrup was bad idea, or is that just reflective of the general overcook? Usually I use honey or agave, figured maple would behave similar.
* I would be temped to blame smoker thermo sensor...but have cooked on it 5 other times in last 2 weeks and all great. * GMG suggests moving heat shield to even out temp left-right, and the difference among bottom rack rib tips suggest I should give this a try. But hard to imagine that explains the whole thing.
* How did the one rack come out perfect while others inedible? I know it was one of the top racks which I stacked after foiling...maybe good one was on top and stacking helped shield it from too much heat??
​​​​​​It has been at least 5 years since I had ribs turn out this badly...would love to figure out what went wrong. Any thoughts much appreciated!
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