Back Ribs Confusion

[jergles]

Hi everyone,

I cooked some baby back ribs on my PBX and I have some questions. I've pulled off some cooks I'm very happy with on this thing - generally untrimmed full spare ribs. I pretty much always hang them on the opposite side of the intake. Salt and Memphis Dust, everyone loves it. However, I wanted to try some back ribs after I got a little sick of the longer cooks and dealing with either trimming or eating around the rib tips.

I just cooked baby back ribs with the same technique (except after 2 hours I started bend testing every 30 mins instead of after 3 hours). Before they passed the bend test, they started coming apart where I'd double-hooked them at the fat side of the rack. This confused me, so I pulled them off and tried a rib where they'd pulled apart and it was the ideal texture. However, I decided to try the next rib down just to be sure and it was tougher than I'd like, so I threw the grate on and stuck them back on. I'm not sure if this is where I screwed up, but I left them on until they passed the bend test, and they seemed a bit dried out. They were a great texture, but they just didn't have the juice. Is this just a back rib problem or could I improve my cook?

Some complicating factors to consider are that I had the lid off for maybe a minute or two as I had to take the rebar out, throw the grate down, put the ribs back on, and reinsert the rebar - maybe my temps got out of control at the end? I did not have any probes in the barrel as I generally have a good feel for it, but that might have changed things. Also, any good ideas for how to prevent the top ribs from pulling apart before the rest of the rack is done? And any ideas for how to salvage the ribs closest to the fire (I usually pretty much write them off but I'd love to be able to eat the full rack).

I think next time I do back ribs I might just do them on the grate the whole time, but I'm curious if there are any other opportunities for improvement.

I should add, the middle 3/4 of each rack ended up perfectly fine and edible and everyone got to eat! Just looking to improve my yield

[captainlee]

A few thoughts... Monitor your pit temps, too easy to go in either direction. I don't use the bend test, ribs vary too much in size, thickness, so each side can be a different internal temp. I check temps with an instant read digital. I don't hang ribs but I normally have to spin the rack around to keep the temperature uniform.

[Jerod Broussard]

Back Ribs don't really go with the bend test like spares because of all the loin meat ontop. I use the toothpick test, but generally avoid back ribs when I can.

[Ace]

A couple of thoughts to consider. I recently bought a PBC and I've a couple of ideas on cooking ribs.
1) Back ribs are leaner than spare ribs. If I were to cook back ribs on a PBC/X, I would use the grate and then wrap when the temp is somewhere around 150* so they don't dry out so much. Also, if you hang a full rack, the bottom few ribs get over cooked before the top ones are done, plus, as the meat starts to pull away from the bones, the top ribs don't support the weight as well as when you started. On any rib cook, I use the probe test rather than the bend test. If you want to hang them on the hooks, you can cut them in half to keep them up away from the coals and to lessen the weight.
2) On spare ribs, you could cut off the tips (I discard mine) and that makes them St. Louis Style. Then the above methods would apply.
Let us know which way you decide go and don't forget the pictures...

[jergles]

A few thoughts... Monitor your pit temps, too easy to go in either direction. I don't use the bend test, ribs vary too much in size, thickness, so each side can be a different internal temp. I check temps with an instant read digital. I don't hang ribs but I normally have to spin the rack around to keep the temperature uniform.

Not gonna lie, I got lazy here hahaha. I'm a bit scared to bust out the thermapen on ribs based on what I've heard but there's no harm in trying.

[jergles]

Back Ribs don't really go with the bend test like spares because of all the loin meat ontop. I use the toothpick test, but generally avoid back ribs when I can.

Ah okay I will try that! Thanks! What's your reasoning for avoiding back ribs?

[Jerod Broussard]

If I want loin meat I'll buy loin chops. If I want rib meat I buy spares or SLC's.

[jergles]

A couple of thoughts to consider. I recently bought a PBC and I've a couple of ideas on cooking ribs.
1) Back ribs are leaner than spare ribs. If I were to cook back ribs on a PBC/X, I would use the grate and then wrap when the temp is somewhere around 150* so they don't dry out so much. Also, if you hang a full rack, the bottom few ribs get over cooked before the top ones are done, plus, as the meat starts to pull away from the bones, the top ribs don't support the weight as well as when you started. On any rib cook, I use the probe test rather than the bend test. If you want to hang them on the hooks, you can cut them in half to keep them up away from the coals and to lessen the weight.
2) On spare ribs, you could cut off the tips (I discard mine) and that makes them St. Louis Style. Then the above methods would apply.
Let us know which way you decide go and don't forget the pictures...

Hi yeah, I was wondering if a wrap could help. I think the grate would overall just be smarter for consistency. Then I could also pull the membranes off without worrying about hook structural integrity, lol.

As for spare ribs, I'm not going to lie - I am very lazy and I never feel like doing the trim lol, but I should give it a whirl since there's no harm in trying. Based on replies here spares might just be the way to go in the future - they came to me very easily in the first place and it could be fun trying to trim them and make rib tips separately or something.

What temps do you generally look for on your probes for doneness?

[Ace]

Depending on how you like the doneness, it can normally be anywhere between 200*-207*
Fall off the bones = higher temp. A little tug would be less. Temperature varies from rack to rack and I only use temp to see if I'm getting close. What I will look for is a toothpick or a thermometer to pass through the meat easily. The ribs will be done when you are happy with how the probe passes through the meat. :-)

[Sid P]

Ribs can be difficult to temp accurately. The toothpick test is the way to go.