To wrap or not to wrap... that is my question.

[SavageSmoke]

Doing ribs this weekend. I usually wrap with parkay, brown sugar, honey, hot sauce, but I want to try and let them cook all the way with no wrap. Anybody who doesn't wrap at all? Recommendations on pit temp, water pan, etc.?

[parkerj2]

I think NOT wrapping them can lead to dry ribs. I am no expert, but from what I've read (in books, not here), thats the gist of it.

I cook mine until they have good color, and then wrap w/ a little sauce that I thin w/ vinegar spread over the foil. I leave them like this until they start to bend a little if I pick them up with my hand (w/ a towel. NEVER tongs). I don't like all the sweetness on mine, so I can't speak to what that would be like if left unwrapped.

[Troutman]

I've done ribs about every way you can. I don't like the sugar, Parkay, syrupy sweet version but each to his own. I like to wrap in butcher paper at the end to get them tender but have gone naked many times as well. As long as you establish a good bark and pull them at about 195ish, they come out just fine. Really more of a meaty taste. I just make sure if I am going naked to give them a good spritz along the way. I don't use a water pan and generally cook at 275*.

These went all the way uncovered....

[klflowers]

I have never wrapped ribs - I prefer St Louis cuts run nekkid until they are done. Or using the blasphemy https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...my-ribs-recipe method.

[TechSmoker]

I have never wrapped my ribs or used a water pan and they are never dry. I usually smoke them at 250 degrees and spritz them every half hour with a 50/50 mix of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. I also never sauce my ribs. I like them with dry rub only.

[tbob4]

I like to wrap but for very different amount of time depending on who is eating and how they like their ribs. I’m down to 1 hr max for me and my boy. For my wife and daughter it is two hours. The PBC folks here have convinced me that wrapping is not a necessity. On the occasions I haven’t wrapped at all I have gone with my standard temp, added 1/2 hour to the cook time, kept the water pan full and wrapped them to rest in the Cambro a little longer. They are a bit barkier (my word) so adding the sugar and honey should be done at the end of the cook. I have found you don’t get as much pull back from the bone during the cook and the whole rack is a bit firmer when you remove them. However, after the Cambro they can be just as tender and somewhat more appealing to the eye because of uniformity.

[klflowers]

I usually don't get to cambro ribs either. They get eaten pretty quick - usually starting with me since I am cooking them.

[SavageSmoke]

I think NOT wrapping them can lead to dry ribs. I am no expert, but from what I've read (in books, not here), thats the gist of it.

I cook mine until they have good color, and then wrap w/ a little sauce that I thin w/ vinegar spread over the foil. I leave them like this until they start to bend a little if I pick them up with my hand (w/ a towel. NEVER tongs). I don't like all the sweetness on mine, so I can't speak to what that would be like if left unwrapped.

I am not married to the sweet approach. Kinda looking to switch it up a bit

[SavageSmoke]

I've done ribs about every way you can. I don't like the sugar, Parkay, syrupy sweet version but each to his own. I like to wrap in butcher paper at the end to get them tender but have gone naked many times as well. As long as you establish a good bark and pull them at about 195ish, they come out just fine. Really more of a meaty taste. I just make sure if I am going naked to give them a good spritz along the way. I don't use a water pan and generally cook at 275*.

These went all the way uncovered....

Those looks great! I think the spritz is a great idea. Thanks

[JGo37]

The spritz can be good or bad - it needs to not be hygroscopic (actually absorb water) and it needs to complement the rub, not contrast it or change it.

[SavageSmoke]

I like to wrap but for very different amount of time depending on who is eating and how they like their ribs. I’m down to 1 hr max for me and my boy. For my wife and daughter it is two hours. The PBC folks here have convinced me that wrapping is not a necessity. On the occasions I haven’t wrapped at all I have gone with my standard temp, added 1/2 hour to the cook time, kept the water pan full and wrapped them to rest in the Cambro a little longer. They are a bit barkier (my word) so adding the sugar and honey should be done at the end of the cook. I have found you don’t get as much pull back from the bone during the cook and the whole rack is a bit firmer when you remove them. However, after the Cambro they can be just as tender and somewhat more appealing to the eye because of uniformity.

What element do you think the water pan adds? I know Myron Mixon is a water pan evangelist, but I have never ever used a water pan.

[tbob4]

Humidity to the environment and temp control. I have two vertical smokers and find that when I use the water pan the temp top to bottom and side to side stays consistent. Interestingly, my thermometer on the outside of the box reads true with a water pan but is often off by as much as 25 degrees without it - again that is due to the consistency. Know that with a water pan your smoke will be a bit thicker and if it isn’t as clean it can appear worse than it is.

[JGo37]

tbob4 YES! I always use a water pan with ribs, and after experimenting with wrapping and cambro, never do. But I wrap and cambro boneless beef cuts and bone-in pork roasts.

[jfmorris]

I used to wrap in foil following the 3-2-1 method for spares/Saint Louis, or 2-2-1 for baby backs. Over the past couple of years, I've followed Meathead's advice in the Last Meal Ribs recipe, and do my ribs, mostly baby backs or "loin back" ribs from Sam's Club without a wrap. I cook at 225F for 4-5 hours for baby backs, 5-6 for spares or Saint Louis cut, until they pass the bend test. Also worth checking out is the "Blasphemy Ribs" recipe. I use that method any time I want good ribs in 2.5 to 3 hours. I've not found any of the ribs I've done in the past several years to be dried out. They've been better than most of the ribs I've done in 30 years.

[JGo37]

I go as low as I can control temps too

[Spinaker]

I never wrap my ribs. I jsut dont like the braised feel that you get when you wrap them in foil. Especially if you re adding fake butter, sugar and whatever else. Sometimes I will brush with sauce towards the end of the cook, but I still don't wrap them.

I always cook mine at about 275 F. That seems to be about right for ribs. I get the right about of bark and smoke, with out taking too long to get them done.

[SavageSmoke]

Alright. I’m convinced. I’m gonna to 275° unwrapped with water pan. Gonna use the last meal ribs recipe. Thanks friends.

[Attjack]

These were unwrapped, no water pan, 230f, in a kamado. They were tender and juicy.

[texastweeter]

225° no wrap, no spritz. If they want sauced, I'll glaze with sauce at the tail end on the smoke.

[Steve R.]

Another option is to wrap, but don't add any kind of liquid, brown sugar, etc. to the foil. I typically wrap mine for about an hour before removing the foil and brushing on a thin layer of sauce firm up for another hour in the smoker. That works for me.

[jfmorris]

Yes, even when I did the 3-2-1 or 2-2-1 rib method, I didn't see the need to add anything inside the foil wrap, and watching the guys on Youtube cover there ribs with margarine (REALLY?!?!) and brown sugar just grossed me out. To be honest, some in my family do prefer the fall off the bone tenderness that the wrap gave me, but I agree that no liquids or artificial fake butter substitutes need be added...