Let's talk about ribs, baby

[jgreen]

Straight cook for me. Too much fuss with the other method. Sometimes sauce, sometimes not.

[Hulagn1971]

Straight cook. Lately I've been saucing them when finished and let the sauce set for about 5-10 minutes on the cooker.

[Rod]

The first time I ever made ribs was with the 3-2-1 (with liquids added to the wrap). They were by far the best I've had/made. The family shares the same sentiment. I'm not sure where I got those ribs or what cut they were. Then I switched to the straight method. I've made some posts on here about the bend test not working for Costco BBs. So for me the plan this weekend is to test the 3-2-1 with Costco ribs.

I'm going to dry brine one rack and wrap with MMD ONLY. Depending on the results I can adjust the wrap duration for the next unbrined rack as some folks here believe 2hrs is too long. However, the Costco BBs are really thick. We'll see. Since they come in a 3 pack I can then do just a straight cook for 5-6hrs foregoing the bend test and using the toothpick method. I'm hell bent on dialing this in as much as possible. The good thing no matter what happens is I'll have plenty of leftover meat to make chili!

[Mr. Bones]

Does make fer some great chili!

[HouseHomey]

Just ask Huskee

[gabulldog]

I cook em at around 225 on the PBC with a little wood until the bark and color look right. Then I put them on a pan, cover tightly with foil and stick em in the oven. If they're not quite done, I'll cook em at 225 until done. Otherwise I'll just set the oven to 170 and hold.

[HouseHomey]

Took me a minute to figure that avatar. Wasn't til I blew it up I saw them. Pretty cool!!

[gabulldog]

Ha, thanks, had to find something so I'd feel legit!

[HawkerXP]

This is pretty much what we do as well. The family likes moist / fall off the bone ribs.

[Luke Biggs]

I have done ribs both with and without the crutch. Honest truth: Both turn out pretty darn well. Family preference ends up being the 3-2-1 method with brown sugar, butter and good dose of local honey in the wrap phase. These posts are making me hungry!

[Sephon]

Straight cook. Sometime MMD, sometimes just some Salt and Pepper. Cut and eat one around hour five. Usually sauce on the side.

[HouseHomey]

Boom!! I like them with easy salt.

[DWCowles]

I like them both ways but the unwrap the best.

[Marauderer]

When I cook ribs it is always straight. I tend to use Husky's rub with the brown sugar but recently I have been looking for something like a char siu recipe. I will be working on that and trying to come up with a char siu rub from scratch. I will let you know what I come up with. I am sure it will be a modified straight with some spritzing. Below is not my best effort but, you have to start someplace

[EdF]

Does that Meathead Chinatown ribs call directly for 5-spice rub? My wife makes it from scratch and we keep it in a jar. His recipe comes out great with it.

[Marauderer]

Duh, I should have checked Meatheads recipe. It looks spot on and will try this weekend.

[Potkettleblack]

Straight cook, dry rub, not too sweet. Glaze with sherry vinegar and sugary substance (maple syrup, coffee syrup, blues hog, jam). Glaze optional. Alternatively, a quick brush of a Carolina vinegar sauce, vinegar and rub whisked together.

I dont often want candy so much as layered adult flavors.

i should add that I pretty much always do SLCs. I think that might correlate to preference.

[bardsleyque]

Straight cook dry rub mine has a bit of heat,sauce on the side always!

[Yno]

While I use my XL BGE for most of my cooks, the PBC is a rib smoking superstar. I can hang eight racks if I need to, although four is the usual load. I dry brine, rub with whatever feels right at the moment, and don't touch until done. I don't even monitor the temp any more. I will check at around four to five hours. Ynette likes them a little more tender than I do, so I may pull a rack a little earlier for me. But I'm too lazy to do the 3-2-1 method anymore, as I didn't feel the results were worth the effort.

[CaptainMike]

D. All of the above.

[Oakalley]

I have tried both the 3-2-1 and the straight no crutch methods. I have found the same thing that a few others have experienced. It seems like the 3-2-1 ribs were consistently coming out with the bark softened or missing, also they were just too tender. I prefer a little "tooth" to my ribs. What I tried last time was to cook uncovered til the temp is around 165 degrees and then wrap with two layers of pink butcher paper, back on the pellet grill to 200-205 degrees. Pull and let rest for about 10-15 minutes cut the suckers up and serve. I rub with Sweet seduction w/ a little added brown sugar (my wife likes more sweetness!!) I use a needle probe inserted in the most meaty part of the ribs. Biggest problem I have is keeping the temperature fairly constant with my Traeger "lil Tex Elite". When I use my Fireboard, I see temp swings of 25-30 degrees. I guess I need a more precise controller!!
Going to cook 2 racks tomorrow for friends, I'll take some photos of the cook and post.

[Mr. Bones]

If yer ribs are comin' out th' way y'all like 'em, I wouldn't worry yerself overmuch 'bout those temp swings, unless ya' mean it goes from ~25°-30° above, to ~25°-30° below setpoint. That would be a 50°-60° swing.
That would be of concern, were it me...

[Oakalley]

Temp swing is 25-30 total. seems to veer toward the high side on the temp swings. Say my temp is set @ 225 on the Traeger, it probably will vary 10degrees down but may vary 15-20 above.
The meat temp curve is a steady upward curve with no variations.

[Henrik]

It seems most of us cook roughly the same way, and that very few people (myself included) use the 3-2-1 method. Thanks all!

[FireMan]

Well lookie, lookie, lookie, what have we here, not American made but a European rigged poll. Would’nt ya know it but Ol’ Henrik had to stain his fingers. There is just no end to the misery.

[Henrik]

Darnit, caught barehanded, Lol!