Hey folks, I've had a rack of Smithfield "extra meaty" baby backs in the freezer for a while and busted them out for today after reading some threads about how to mitigate the loin meat atop the ribs that "earn" them the "extra meaty" label. All the ribs I've done up to now I've just run in the smoker without wrapping or glazing, just dry brine overnight and whatever rub I'm using.
Bit of background: My very first smoke was a set of baby backs that, I now understand, had a bunch of loin meat on there and they came out way dry. Took me ten months to work up the nerve to try again with "normal" BBRs, but revenge was sweet, they came out fantastic. On that cook, I stuck to my usual rib process, but paid much closer attention and tested tenderness frequently in the home stretch. So far, so good.
My plan for today was to run at 250F/121C for 90 minutes or so until the color and some bark develop, then wrap in foil with some apple juice, honey, and butter for a couple hours, followed by unwrapping and glazing with some BBQ sauce for half an hour or so, which several folks here (notably Troutman , whose comment on one of those threads was my starting point) have reported as being successful with loin-intensive BBRs.
Now my question: got today's rack, which weighs 3.3lb/1.5kg, prepped last night, and now I'm not so sure it has much loin meat on there after all:
Is that paler strip the loin meat? It's in the right position and looks like it to me... if so, there isn't that much and I'm second-guessing whether I need to do the whole wrapping thing, or whether just to use my standard process so that the only real variable is the starting material. (Yay for changing as few things as possible between experiments!)
Would appreciate any sage counsel, pearls of wisdom, bon mots, and pithy advice y'all might have to offer
Bit of background: My very first smoke was a set of baby backs that, I now understand, had a bunch of loin meat on there and they came out way dry. Took me ten months to work up the nerve to try again with "normal" BBRs, but revenge was sweet, they came out fantastic. On that cook, I stuck to my usual rib process, but paid much closer attention and tested tenderness frequently in the home stretch. So far, so good.
My plan for today was to run at 250F/121C for 90 minutes or so until the color and some bark develop, then wrap in foil with some apple juice, honey, and butter for a couple hours, followed by unwrapping and glazing with some BBQ sauce for half an hour or so, which several folks here (notably Troutman , whose comment on one of those threads was my starting point) have reported as being successful with loin-intensive BBRs.
Now my question: got today's rack, which weighs 3.3lb/1.5kg, prepped last night, and now I'm not so sure it has much loin meat on there after all:
Is that paler strip the loin meat? It's in the right position and looks like it to me... if so, there isn't that much and I'm second-guessing whether I need to do the whole wrapping thing, or whether just to use my standard process so that the only real variable is the starting material. (Yay for changing as few things as possible between experiments!)
Would appreciate any sage counsel, pearls of wisdom, bon mots, and pithy advice y'all might have to offer
Comment