Hey everyone I bought a pit boss for the 4th and am going to smoke some ribs. I've never done a Texas crutch before and just wanted to see what your recommendations would be. Do you just put some apple juice or other various juices or a concoction of maybe butter, brown sugar and juice? Just wanted to see some opinions on it before hand. I plan on only doing this for about 30-40 minutes. After that I will probably baste with some bbq sauce and finish it off with another maybe 30-40 minutes back on the grill to really work on the bark. Any tips or recommendations are always appreciated, thanks!
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My personal recommendation would be to skip it on ribs. If you really want to wrap check out this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KERd4XC-EbU
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Sjmueller - As a general rule, I simply do not crutch anything. I don't like what it does to the bark or the cook in general. The Texas Crutch was originally an invention of competitive cook who are under a time deadline and it was primarily used to speed up cooks. I'm never under a time deadline and I can't stand the idea of dumping a bunch of brown sugar on a cook and making a meat candy bar. But that's just me.
I wish well on your cook and hope you have a happy and safe 4th Holiday!Comment
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No wrap for ribs. Last Meal Ribs recipe is all you need.
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I[m with the others. I recommend you don't crutch ribs. They will be done perfectly in 5-6 hours without it. I think wrapping ribs makes them mushy and steamed-tasting.Comment
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Another vote here for not crutching ribs ... for all the reasons previously stated.Comment
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No crutching for me as well. I so enjoy the cook, I often spend time with my smoker when it clearly doesn't need me to be there. Yeah, I'm weird, but when the aroma starts I'm happy to be around.Comment
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Using butcher paper instead of foil these daysLast edited by Thom Emery; July 4, 2016, 11:52 AM.Comment
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I wrap for about an hour just so I can get the drippings and use them to make a sauce. I usually put butter and a bit of molasses and just a touch of maple syrup on the meat when cooking ribs or a pork butt. I'll finish up without the wrap after I have brushed the sauce on to let it set.
That said, there are times when I just let it roll without the wrap and it is just as good.Comment
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If you want fall off the bone ribs (which some people like... not me personally), do a 3-2-1. 3 hours low and slow, 2 hours of crutch, 1 hour of high heat. Good bark, no pull at all. Wife used to prefer that until I got good at getting half moon bite ribs.Comment
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Saw Steven Raichlen cook baby backs this way to make his version of the McRib. Tug the bones out and onto a large roll. Something different and i might just try it... -
In Project Smoke, he describes the method in greater detail, then says he feels like he's cheating. And he likes a bit of pull, as do most of the cognoscenti.
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If you're only going to wrap for 30 or 40 minutes, I would think you would lose nearly as much ground (temperature wise) while wrapping as you gain in the 30-40 minutes they are wrapped??? Spritz them if you want to add moisture and skip the wrap. If I wrap at all, it's after the cook to wait/hold/rest til eating time.Comment
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Never cooked just one rack. So why not crutch one or 1/2 of your ribs?Comment
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How was cooking on the pit boss? Thinking of grabbing one.Comment
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I recommend doing two racks at the same time. One without the crutch, the other with the crutch and see which one you like the best and go from there. I used to do the crutch then I decided to do some without the crutch and my opinion is the no crutch were a lot better.Comment
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What DWCowles said! I crutch, but I dry crutch or use just a bit of sauce and honey or agave syrup. This makes a good glaze. Apple juice just melts the smoke off and makes the bark soggy.Comment
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