St Louis cut ribs - cook time

[mikey]

Hi everyone,

I smoked 2 racks of St Louis cut ribs on my Kettle yesterday. I did the bend test before I took them off and, to be honest, they seemed to crack a little bit, but maybe not enough (this is my 3rd attempt ever at ribs). I wrapped them in foil to rest for 45 mins while I got the sides ready and set the table. After I cut them up, I noticed the end ribs were perfect. The fat turned to liquid, they were tender but not falling off the bone completely. The middle ribs were a little tough. I'm thinking I should have left them on longer, but I was afraid of drying them out. Thoughts?

recipe: "last meal" ribs
cut: St Louis
cook time: 6 hours
temp: 215 - 225 for the first 3 hours, 225 - 235 for the last 3 hours

On side note, it was a cold day in NY (mostly in the 30s) so I was pleasantly surprised my kettle w/sns held temp consistently for the entire cook without much monitoring.

Mikey

[EdF]

Should have been really close, but yeah, the weather may have caught you! You could have run them at the higher temp range for the whole cook is my guess.

[jgreen]

Sounds like a bit more time needed for the middle section. Still good eating though.

[Rod]

I find the bend test to be a bit misleading as the ribs I get from Costco are quite meaty. Meaty ribs won't crack until they are way over done in my experience. Especially BBs. I tend to use the toothpick check combined with calling them done when the bones start to reveal about 1/4-1/2" of themselves.

You can also try this. I have done it this way on both STL and BBs with amazing results.

[ColonialDawg]

I’m a toothpick test person too.

[HawkerXP]

Toothpick for me as well.

[jfmorris]

I also don't rely on the bend test, especially with extra meaty ribs. My thoughts are the fire needed to be 225-250 the entire cook, and not low those first 3 hours.

Lately I've only been doing Blasphemy Ribs ala mgaretz as I love getting them done in half the time, and it means I can start cooking mid afternoon for dinner, and I don't have to start the ribs before lunch.

[Troutman]

Or do like the Brisket Syndicate did and amp them up with bacon wrapped

[Troutman]

Yea the toothpick test is quite popular here as well ..... both before AND after the cook !!!

[Spinaker]

I like a little pull on the bone. That is my goal every time. If you want fall off the bone ribs, you can wrap them in foil, add a liquid and braise them. I don't fin this appetizing because the meat can become mushy.

If you have a Thermapen or Thermapop, you can probe the ribs in between the bones. I like to pull mine at about 190 F. This temp allows for the meat to break down to a point where it can be

[Spinaker]

It can if you allow it too. You can move them, or cook at a lower temp to help with more even cooking. I always trim, the little bones off anyway, or I let them crust up and get crunchy. I love it. mikey

[Troutman]

Yea a little pull on the old bone sure is nice .... or we were talking about ribs, sorry

[Spinaker]

Ribs........yeah, yeah.........ribs. Troutman