The setting: Sunday, temps in the mid 30s, never below freezing. Sun was out and on the kettle most of the cook until the end which was just before sunset. Two racks of baby backs (though one was significantly meatier than the other.) Smoking on 22" kettle, with the Slow N Sear set up for low and slow. Lighting method: starter +12 briqs in one corner of the SNS, then added more fuel and wood chips (hickory and applewood) once they were fully started. I didn't completely fill the SNS with briqs, which I think was a mistake. I had the fireboard going with 1 probe over the grill rack and one probe in one of the rib racks.
The ribs were purchased frozen on Friday afternoon, set to thaw in the fridge Friday evening, and taken out to dry brine late Saturday evening. They were still very slightly frozen at that time, but they were fully thawed by the time I got them out of the fridge to prep them for the smoker Sunday morning. I used Memphis Dustâ„¢ with an extra helping of brown sugar. Unfortunately, I forgot to pull the membranes off the back (really made me angry) and set them in the kettle just after noon, expecting dinner time to be between 6 and 6:30, thinking that 5-7 hours being average for baby backs, 6- 6.5 hours isn't an unreasonable expectation.
According to the fireboard, the temps in the grill generally stayed between 225 and 250. One time, it shot up over 250 so I went out to nudge the intake closed a bit, and subsequently, it dropped to 210ish about 20 minutes later, and I nudged it open just a tiny bit. From then on, it was up and down but steadily within the acceptable 25 degree range. The temperature of the meat rose quickly at first, a nice even slope that started to taper off around 145, then crept up slowly from there, as I expected. But then at around 154, it hit what can only be described as the stall... which I would expect from a butt or a brisket, but from ribs? Is that a thing? It's never happened any other time I've made ribs, at least not to that extent. At first, it dropped a couple degrees, then climbed back up to 158, then dipped again, then nudged up to up to 160, but then it started falling again, and I couldn't get it any higher in the kettle for close to an hour. At 4:30, the meat had dropped to 153. I had just cleared the ashes and added more fuel to the SNS, so the ambient temperature dropped and I expected the meat temp to drop a bit, but not that much. Finally by 5:45 it was at 166 and advancing, albeit too slowly for my preference, and I got tired of fiddling with everything and moved them to the oven. When I picked them up to transfer, they didn't bend in the slightest, much less crack. In retrospect, I imagine that could be because I didn't remove the membrane, and that made them hold their form. Even an hour and change in the oven only got them up to 182, but it was time to eat, so we ate. They were good, but not like they should have been. My wife was happy, but I knew they could (and would eventually) be better with more cooking, so I was somewhat disappointed.
So here are the variables that are obvious to me:
1) This was the first time I have cooked ribs using the fireboard. Previously, I only used an instant-read thermometer and really only checked the last 90 minutes of the cook. Maybe this temperature slope/plateau is actually normal and it was just making me crazy watching the fireboard and not seeing it climb (watched pot...) Still, 8 hours seems like a long time for baby backs.
2) Would leaving the membrane on create (or exacerbate) this kind of stall? Maybe preventing fats from dripping out of the bottom?
3) It was cold and windy. I wouldn't expect that to cause it, though, if the ambient temp probe was reading 225-250 for 99% of the cook. Would the cold temps sapping heat from the kettle surface prolong the cook, even though the temps stayed in the appropriate range? Seems like that would just burn more fuel, as long as the ambient temp stayed the same.
I know there are varying schools of thought: the "cook your ribs to 205 degrees" school, and the "cook them until the meat looks right" (pulling away from the end of the bone, crack test, etc.) school. Maybe since this was my first rib cook with the fireboard, I was paying too much attention to the temperature, and not enough attention to the meat. It just seems like it shouldn't have taken that long.
After I cut our dinner serving off, I pulled off the membranes, then put the bigger rack and the remaining 1/3 of the smaller rack back in the oven and let them go for another 90 minutes and they were just past perfect at that point - they pretty much completely let go of the bone, so a little over, but they tasted great - maybe the best I've made. The extra dose of brown sugar helped make an awesome bark. If any of you watch Young Sheldon, you'll recognize the epiphany moment I had that Sheldon's father had when he finally nailed his mother-in-law's brisket recipe and took a slice off the point and had a near flavorgasm.
I love having the fireboard app and being able to refer to the cook chart after the fact. Looking back, the temp was climbing slowly but steadily over the last hour of the cook, and it looked like I had overcome the stall - and opening the dome to add fuel definitely set both the ambient temp and the meat temp back a few minutes. I think that if I had put enough extra fuel in to start, I may have been ok leaving them in the kettle to finish, but I knew I didn't have enough fuel in to finish the cook without adding more, which would have messed up the curve all over again, so the oven was the answer. Plus the sun was going down and I knew the temperature was about to drop significantly. They had gotten enough smoke to that point where I wasn't going to add any more wood to the fire anyway. But it would have been nice not to feel like I had to finish in the oven.
The ribs were purchased frozen on Friday afternoon, set to thaw in the fridge Friday evening, and taken out to dry brine late Saturday evening. They were still very slightly frozen at that time, but they were fully thawed by the time I got them out of the fridge to prep them for the smoker Sunday morning. I used Memphis Dustâ„¢ with an extra helping of brown sugar. Unfortunately, I forgot to pull the membranes off the back (really made me angry) and set them in the kettle just after noon, expecting dinner time to be between 6 and 6:30, thinking that 5-7 hours being average for baby backs, 6- 6.5 hours isn't an unreasonable expectation.
According to the fireboard, the temps in the grill generally stayed between 225 and 250. One time, it shot up over 250 so I went out to nudge the intake closed a bit, and subsequently, it dropped to 210ish about 20 minutes later, and I nudged it open just a tiny bit. From then on, it was up and down but steadily within the acceptable 25 degree range. The temperature of the meat rose quickly at first, a nice even slope that started to taper off around 145, then crept up slowly from there, as I expected. But then at around 154, it hit what can only be described as the stall... which I would expect from a butt or a brisket, but from ribs? Is that a thing? It's never happened any other time I've made ribs, at least not to that extent. At first, it dropped a couple degrees, then climbed back up to 158, then dipped again, then nudged up to up to 160, but then it started falling again, and I couldn't get it any higher in the kettle for close to an hour. At 4:30, the meat had dropped to 153. I had just cleared the ashes and added more fuel to the SNS, so the ambient temperature dropped and I expected the meat temp to drop a bit, but not that much. Finally by 5:45 it was at 166 and advancing, albeit too slowly for my preference, and I got tired of fiddling with everything and moved them to the oven. When I picked them up to transfer, they didn't bend in the slightest, much less crack. In retrospect, I imagine that could be because I didn't remove the membrane, and that made them hold their form. Even an hour and change in the oven only got them up to 182, but it was time to eat, so we ate. They were good, but not like they should have been. My wife was happy, but I knew they could (and would eventually) be better with more cooking, so I was somewhat disappointed.
So here are the variables that are obvious to me:
1) This was the first time I have cooked ribs using the fireboard. Previously, I only used an instant-read thermometer and really only checked the last 90 minutes of the cook. Maybe this temperature slope/plateau is actually normal and it was just making me crazy watching the fireboard and not seeing it climb (watched pot...) Still, 8 hours seems like a long time for baby backs.
2) Would leaving the membrane on create (or exacerbate) this kind of stall? Maybe preventing fats from dripping out of the bottom?
3) It was cold and windy. I wouldn't expect that to cause it, though, if the ambient temp probe was reading 225-250 for 99% of the cook. Would the cold temps sapping heat from the kettle surface prolong the cook, even though the temps stayed in the appropriate range? Seems like that would just burn more fuel, as long as the ambient temp stayed the same.
I know there are varying schools of thought: the "cook your ribs to 205 degrees" school, and the "cook them until the meat looks right" (pulling away from the end of the bone, crack test, etc.) school. Maybe since this was my first rib cook with the fireboard, I was paying too much attention to the temperature, and not enough attention to the meat. It just seems like it shouldn't have taken that long.
After I cut our dinner serving off, I pulled off the membranes, then put the bigger rack and the remaining 1/3 of the smaller rack back in the oven and let them go for another 90 minutes and they were just past perfect at that point - they pretty much completely let go of the bone, so a little over, but they tasted great - maybe the best I've made. The extra dose of brown sugar helped make an awesome bark. If any of you watch Young Sheldon, you'll recognize the epiphany moment I had that Sheldon's father had when he finally nailed his mother-in-law's brisket recipe and took a slice off the point and had a near flavorgasm.
I love having the fireboard app and being able to refer to the cook chart after the fact. Looking back, the temp was climbing slowly but steadily over the last hour of the cook, and it looked like I had overcome the stall - and opening the dome to add fuel definitely set both the ambient temp and the meat temp back a few minutes. I think that if I had put enough extra fuel in to start, I may have been ok leaving them in the kettle to finish, but I knew I didn't have enough fuel in to finish the cook without adding more, which would have messed up the curve all over again, so the oven was the answer. Plus the sun was going down and I knew the temperature was about to drop significantly. They had gotten enough smoke to that point where I wasn't going to add any more wood to the fire anyway. But it would have been nice not to feel like I had to finish in the oven.
Sometimes a hunk of meat just takes longer. Finishing in the oven is perfectly fine and I think most of here have done it at some point.
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