Things came up this week so I wasn’t able to do the baby back ribs until today. They turned out okay….and for my first rack on a grill…I’m kinda impressed with myself lol.
Here they are!
After cutting off the membrane, I dry brined them for two hours. I then went to go set up the grill, which was a bit more challenging than I anticipated. We had a cold front come though this morning, so around 1 pm it was still gusting. I had a heck of a time trying to light six briquettes in the chimney. (I probably should have lit them in the SNS, but I had already put a full chimney’s worth of coals in it.)
I finally got them lit after using two rounds of Weber charcoal starters and waited for the grill to come up to temp. (I had the coals arranged in a snake in the SNS, with the lit coals at one end.)
Finally got the ribs on at 2:30 pm and added a decently sized chunk of apple wood. I actually got the temperature to hover between 240 and 260 a bit for the first hour. Then it shot up to above 260, nearly 270. I deliberately tried not messing with the vents, and if I did, only adjusting one of them, and then trying to wait 15-20 minutes for the grill to stabilize. Still I ended up chasing this sine wave of 235-272. The third hour – primarily due to my frustration/exhaustion from fiddling with it all – the temps stayed about 265.
At the end of hour three, the meat had drawn back from the bones just a bit. I poked the meat in several places with my Thermopop and it all read roughly 170. I wanted to pull at 190 so I let it go another hour.
Finally, during the fourth hour I got the temps to keep somewhat steady between 240 and 250. Once again I checked at the end of hour four….hmm….I’m still at 170. I then noticed that the probe went in with little resistance. Picking up the ribs with tongs, I inadvertently did the bend test and they cracked without effort.
I probably overdid these. But here are my impressions. I used MMD for the rub and I was very, very surprised they were not sweet, especially with all of that sugar. The bark was amazing. That was really tasty! I even had a little bit of a smoke ring. Also, there was just the right amount of smoke flavor. I am glad I only used one chunk of wood.
The meat fully came off the bone when you tugged at it, although it took more force than I thought it should. Towards the center of the rack, the ribs were moister than the ones at the end.
Arguably, I probably should have pulled them at the end of hour three. I didn’t think "the stall" was a thing with ribs, given their relative low amount of meat. As I was 170 at hour three and at the end of hour four, did I encounter a stall?
My temperatures are still running a little high for low and slow. The six briquettes I lit initially does seem to be a good number to get to 225-250. I think I had my unlit briquettes piled too unevenly. The SNS with the reservoir in place holds just less than a full Weber chimney. So with my full chimney amount, there were piled up a bit towards the end, which may account for my abrupt rise in temperature in the latter half of the cook. I will make them into an even layer next time.
--Michael
Here they are!
After cutting off the membrane, I dry brined them for two hours. I then went to go set up the grill, which was a bit more challenging than I anticipated. We had a cold front come though this morning, so around 1 pm it was still gusting. I had a heck of a time trying to light six briquettes in the chimney. (I probably should have lit them in the SNS, but I had already put a full chimney’s worth of coals in it.)
I finally got them lit after using two rounds of Weber charcoal starters and waited for the grill to come up to temp. (I had the coals arranged in a snake in the SNS, with the lit coals at one end.)
Finally got the ribs on at 2:30 pm and added a decently sized chunk of apple wood. I actually got the temperature to hover between 240 and 260 a bit for the first hour. Then it shot up to above 260, nearly 270. I deliberately tried not messing with the vents, and if I did, only adjusting one of them, and then trying to wait 15-20 minutes for the grill to stabilize. Still I ended up chasing this sine wave of 235-272. The third hour – primarily due to my frustration/exhaustion from fiddling with it all – the temps stayed about 265.
At the end of hour three, the meat had drawn back from the bones just a bit. I poked the meat in several places with my Thermopop and it all read roughly 170. I wanted to pull at 190 so I let it go another hour.
Finally, during the fourth hour I got the temps to keep somewhat steady between 240 and 250. Once again I checked at the end of hour four….hmm….I’m still at 170. I then noticed that the probe went in with little resistance. Picking up the ribs with tongs, I inadvertently did the bend test and they cracked without effort.
I probably overdid these. But here are my impressions. I used MMD for the rub and I was very, very surprised they were not sweet, especially with all of that sugar. The bark was amazing. That was really tasty! I even had a little bit of a smoke ring. Also, there was just the right amount of smoke flavor. I am glad I only used one chunk of wood.
The meat fully came off the bone when you tugged at it, although it took more force than I thought it should. Towards the center of the rack, the ribs were moister than the ones at the end.
Arguably, I probably should have pulled them at the end of hour three. I didn’t think "the stall" was a thing with ribs, given their relative low amount of meat. As I was 170 at hour three and at the end of hour four, did I encounter a stall?
My temperatures are still running a little high for low and slow. The six briquettes I lit initially does seem to be a good number to get to 225-250. I think I had my unlit briquettes piled too unevenly. The SNS with the reservoir in place holds just less than a full Weber chimney. So with my full chimney amount, there were piled up a bit towards the end, which may account for my abrupt rise in temperature in the latter half of the cook. I will make them into an even layer next time.
--Michael
I just went back to the fridge for the 1/4 rack that was remaining only to find it gone. Wife ate them. 
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