Winter is upon us here in Oregon, and I am looking forward to my next BBQ.
Perusing the internet I happened on the included website.
How true is their statement: "The 2-2-1 method is completely failsafe"?
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
Idk. Probably true enough. There’s nothing really wrong in that article. But every rack is different, and the only rule that I can think of is, keep an eye on them after about the 4.5 hour mark.
I prep, put them on at 250°, and check them every hour or so. I spritz them, but only so I feel like I’m doing something, I don’t really think it makes a difference. I paint the sauce when the bones pull back. This past summer I started sticking an instant read between the bones. 205°ish is fall off the bone, 195°ish is about right.
So, put the ribs on the fire at 250° and paint them when the bones pull back is pretty foolproof, too. I don’t add anything that wrapping would help, but if you invited me over, and that’s what you did with your ribs, I’d probably check for seconds.
Yeah maybe so but I reckon the best way is to learn to know your own pit(s) and cook 'em how you like 'em. Like Mosca implied, every rack is different, stop over-thinking it, just keep an eye on 'em and get into "em when they are ready to eat.
Sterling Ball of BigPoppaSmokers.com and winner of the prestigious American Royal in Kansas City says “I’d like to kill the man who came up with the 3-2-1 concept. He’s ruined more meat…”
Ok, get the popcorn. What is the difference between boiling ribs before grilling/smoking or wrapping in foil with liquids as butter,honey or bbq sauce. At that point aren't you boiling/ steaming ribs?
Personally I have never felt the need to wrap ribs. Seems like a lot of extra steps.
OK, I went back and read the article. Two thumps down.
"Other tests of doneness include checking the peel back of meat from the bone (1-2 inches). Now that’s some shrinkage I can get behind." Two inches of shrinkage on a 4-5" St Louis rib? No way.
"Being some of the meatiest of pork ribs, St Louis ribs do tend to take a bit longer than baby back ribs, and a touch longer than spare ribs." He is distinguishing between a full rack and a st louis cut rack several times in this writeup
"Given baby back ribs are normally a good 25% shorter than your classic spare ribs, they only tend to take 3-4 hours in the smoker at 275°F." Apparently ribs cook from the end, not the sides exposed to the heat.
Sorry for being so pedantic, but I look at so many recipes the bad ones irritate me.
Last edited by bmillin; January 11, 2024, 08:24 AM.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
Yeah maybe so but I reckon the best way is to learn to know your own pit(s) and cook 'em how you like 'em. Like Mosca implied, every rack is different, stop over-thinking it, just keep an eye on 'em and get into "em when they are ready to eat.
Every time I get twisted up about cooking something, which is a hell of a lot more often that you might think, I say to myself, “How hard could this be? It’s a big hunk of meat. Cook it.”
(Corollary: Many “fancy” recipes are just a variation in presentation of something simpler. But that is a different topic, we can discuss it somewhere else.)
(Interesting: my spell check just suggested “corrolary” for “corollary”, which, well, I know my spelling. Now I can’t trust my spell check!)
Ok, get the popcorn. What is the difference between boiling ribs before grilling/smoking or wrapping in foil with liquids as butter,honey or bbq sauce. At that point aren't you boiling/ steaming ribs?
It goes along with "The Perfect Medium-Rare" that Gordon Ramsey lets drool out of his mouth anytime he is talking about steak.
And God help you if you disagree with His Lordship.
I didn't read the article, because I don't believe that there is any completely "fail-safe" method, as there are too many variables.
That being said...sometimes I'll use the 2-2-1 on baby backs....or the 3-2-1 on spares, because you get a good idea of when they'll be done, and can prep the sides accordingly.
The main reason that I use that method? Because that's how Missus Skinsfans likes 'em!
In my BBQ travels, I've done the 2-2-1 and the 3-2-1 because it was touted by BBQ experts. But after my own trial and error, I found that (as mentioned above) there are too many other variables. I also found that wrapping ribs in aluminum foil with butter, honey, brown sugar, etc (IMHO) stewed the meat. If I wrap, it is in butcher paper without all the other ingredients.
So, basically I just smoke between 250-275 degrees till I get the bend I want, color and toothpick tenderness.
I've tried 3-2-1. I didn't like it as much as my 5ish-0-0 method because the meat felt mushy to me. I just dry rub and go until the meat has pulled back from the bone and the rack passes the bend test. I'll baste with sauce around the four hour mark. I agree that wrapping with a bunch of wet ingredients = braising the ribs.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
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I'm sorry but the single worst advice anywhere in BBQland is to watch the clock. Time frames are a general baseline at best, and only anecdotal if someone says it's foolproof. It simply will not work every time, BBQ is not bread.
In the author's defense, he does acknowledge this. But, he still says 4-5 hours. I do not agree. I'm here to tell you, if you have a thick or "extra meaty" rack or two of back ribs, and you smoke at 225, they will not be done in 5 hrs.
I try to teach folks to plan based on the thickness of the racks they're smoking. Thick ones can take up to 7 hrs. Many i f not all recipes seem to skip over the size of the racks and dwell mainly on cook temp and time, but cook temp and time are only 2/3 of the equation.
What's "thick"? My opinion based on my personal experiences tells me baby back ribs 3lbs or more are "thick", and obviously it's linear the more above 3lbs they get. St Louis I'd say 3.5 lbs and above are getting "thick". I had a 4.25 lb rack of "extra meaty" baby backs take 8.5 hrs.
If you have thick ribs, give yourself up to 7 hrs, then you will not be eating dinner at 9pm after reading a recipe that promises 4-5hrs.
Lonestar Grillz 24x36 offset smoker, grill, w/ main chamber charcoal grate and 3 tel-tru thermometers - left, right and center
Yoke Up custom charcoal basket and a Grill Wraps cover.
22.5 copper kettle w/ SnS, DnG, BBQ vortex, gasket and stainless steel hinge kit.
Napoleon gas grill (soon to go bye bye) rotting out.
1 maverick et-733 digital thermometer - black
1 maverick et-733 - gray
1 new standard grilling remote digital thermometer
1 thermoworks thermopen mk4 - red
1 thermoworks thermopop - red
Pre Miala flavor injector
taylor digital scale
TSM meat grinder
chefs choice food slicer
cuisinhart food processor
food saver vacuum sealer
TSM harvest food dehydrator
I didn’t read the article above, but I got the gist of what he’s talking about from the above comments.
100% agree with everyone’s points about timing and temps. I think we all know here that
‘It’s done when it’s done’.
I too got sucked into the 3-2-1 method for a while. No more. Now I’m extremely happy with how my ribs turn out.
No wrapping, 250-275* and cooked until they are done.
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