They certainly weren’t bad, but they were a bit dry. I’m second-guessing skipping the Texas crutch. The ribs had a good bit of loin attached, so they were pretty thick. Any feedback from my much more advanced fellow Pitt members?
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Looking for some expertise and feedback here from the pit. I do not have lots of experience cooking ribs. I follow Meathead’s “last meal” recipe fairly closely. I do not employ the Texas crutch. I got a great deal on some pork loin ribs that were unusually meaty and low on fat. On impulse, I used the morning‘s bacon grease as a rub binder. I smoked them on my original grilla at 225F. It took five hours to barely pass the bounce test.
They certainly weren’t bad, but they were a bit dry. I’m second-guessing skipping the Texas crutch. The ribs had a good bit of loin attached, so they were pretty thick. Any feedback from my much more advanced fellow Pitt members?
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Thick, "extra meaty" back ribs are the devil. They're advertised as being great, and "extra meaty" makes us think they're great, but I hate them because of everything you just stated.
Personally, if I buy back ribs, I look for 2.5 lb or 2.75 max, or preferably smaller. Thicker ones have too much dry loin meat on top, and by the time the center gets hot enough long enough, the outer layers of loin meat are just dry. They also mess with the 'bend test' because they're just too thick to break on time, leading us to overcook thus making the outer layers drier and drier. Wrapping may help, as will sauce, but my advice is save your cash and buy small "baby" back ribs or just get St Louis. -
Huskee man, thank you so much. My son thought they were fine but I was a bit bummed. I figured I screwed it up somehow- maybe I misinterpreted the bounce? Should’ve cooked them longer or shorter?
but what you say makes total sense. I learned so much on this forum. Again - thank you!Comment
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Probing for tenderness is probably a better guide than bending with these.Comment
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Get st Lewis cut kc cut or spares. Take linger; superior product though.Comment
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Bkhuna they are kinda between ST Lewis and full spares; just remove the chine bone.
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I sauce all my ribs at the end of the cook. Really helps those drier parts. Plus, BBQ without BBQ Sauce?Comment
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Agree w Huskee that "extra meaty" BBRs end up extra dry and if the price per pound is same get the skinnier racks. But if you get a deal on some extra meaty/very thick loin-back ribs, it’s not too hard to trim that thick loin bit off. There’s a seam of fat between the loin and ribs to follow with the knife. Then you cook that loin bit hot n fast like a small pork tenderloin or slice thin and stir fry. But what I usually do is dust it with rub and throw it on the pit next to the ribs for a mid-cook snackComment
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Advertising made me believe baby backs were better (juicier, more tender, etc). My experience with “extra meaty” baby backs told me otherwise.
You can still get them to come out great, but honestly why bother. St Louis cuts (or better yet, ribs with tips attached): 1) are right next to them. 2) cost less. And 3) taste better (subjectively, but still). (Tips are SEVERELY underrated. Even here, we acknowledge them but rarely talk about them, myself included. But those are the tastiest afterthought in all of bbq.)
To get extra thick baby backs to come out great, skip the bend test, and the pull back test. The ribs are too thick to bend, and so meaty they don’t pull back much. Use a meat thermometer in the thickest part, or between the bones. Hell, they’re thick enough. Don’t wait for 205°, pull them in the mid 190° range, around 195°. Which means sauce them at 190° and watch them like a hawk.Comment
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I had this exact experience on my very first smoke a couple of years ago, including never seeing any "bend" to speak of. Learned that lesson the hard way, that "meaty" baby backs are to be avoided. The ones I did yesterday were ideal, they were under 3 lb and had just a minor strip of loin meat across the top.
I like BBs equally well to SLCs, but ONLY if they are not overly meaty. Cooked properly, BBs are just fantastic. Lesson learned! You'll get 'em next time
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Looks like you have your answer several times over, with some excellent tips on how to cook those extra meaty babyback ribs if you happen to have purchased them. The underlying current in the commentary, though, is to avoid them at all costs when you're looking for Last Meal quality ribs.
I think babybacks get a bad rap; my husband prefers them, so I usual smoke a rack of BBs for him and a rack of SLCs for me. Tastewise, I can't discern much of a difference between the two on a side-by-side comparison. I just like the shape of the SLC cut better.
Baby backs can turn out great practically every single time and taste great, so if your family prefers them, add them to your BBQ rib game. It's all about feeding people the food they love. Just follow Huskee 's advice and stick to not-extra-meaty babybacks in the 2.5lb range. You won't be sorry.
FWIW, I prefer the Prairie Fresh brand of babybacks, if I can find them.
KathrynComment
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I think SLCs can be superior to BBs, because they often (not always) have more intramuscular fat. But this is often stated as fact without discussion, and I agree with fzxdoc - in practice the flavor/juiciness difference is usually negligible.
I love ‘em both, don’t get me wrong, but I think BBs provide a better presentation and eating experience on the whole, especially for those not bbq nerds like us. That’s because eating SLCs, spares, and rib tips is usually an exercise in gnawing around broken bones, half bones, and variously sized cartilage chunks. It can be off-putting to many. I think that gets glossed-over in the comparison often.
…apparently I’m taking this way too seriously
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Well said, IMO. I'm a more interactive eater: I will tease out and discard the gristle in a cut of beef, whereas my husband wonders why it's there at all. I don't mind gnawing, my husband prefers to dine. Different approaches. Same end result. The enjoyment of a good meal, well thought out and well presented.
K.
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On the Saint Louis Band Wagon.....
Prefer not to wrap unless adding a flavor profile (Butter Honey& Chipotle, etc)
Some pretty good notes from the Pit on trimming....so I learned something too
ThanxComment
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I have a couple of observations. I cook on both a MAK pellet grill and a vault smoker. I find that the pellet grill tends to dry out my ribs (BB and SL's) if I cook past 3 hours. So, I cook on the MAK pellet grill for 3 hours, wrap in paper, and then 2-3 hours in the oven till done. The Pellet grill has a fan which may dry out meat faster although I can't prove that. I get very good results with this method. BB's are more sensitive to time and heat so you have to be more careful with them than with SL's.
I also get wonderful results in my KAT vault smoker with briquets and hardwood chunks or sticks. In the vault I will use a water pan to help with moisture. I may or may not wrap and transfer to oven after 3 hours. But get good results either way.
The professor and Meathead say that you get most of your smoke flavor in the first 3 hours. I agree with that based on my experience. Except for pork butts. You can cook pork butts forever and the bark just gets better. They have enough fat and moisture to survive long cooks.
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I'll second everything Huskee said above, and add that while I don't often wrap ribs in foil anymore, the extra meaty loin back ribs, if that is what I have to smoke, are an exception. I follow a 2-2-1 method with those, where I smoke 2 hours, wrap in foil 2 hours for braising, then unwrap and finish with or without sauce for up to one more hour for them to dry back out and finish. They get pretty tender with that 2 hour braise.
The big issue is that to get the rib portion tender you need to cook to higher temps like you do a boston butt, but the loin part is overdone and dried out at 145 degrees. I think the Texas crutch to make things basically fall off the bone tender is about the only way to handle these, unless you trim them. And if you trim, what the heck do you do with that loin meat?Comment
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