Had some thoughts in my head since my last rib cook.
I followed Troutman s step by step primer, except I cooked at 250 instead of 270.
The double layer of POG and then MMD made a much better bark. Will definitely keep doing that.
I took full spares and cut them down to St. Louis style.
Dry brined for 2 days (bc of adjust to schedule) instead of overnight like I planned.
I smoked unwrapped, hanging in the PBC for 3 hrs at 250. Bark was set. Then wrapped in butcher paper and laid flat for 1 hour.
When I checked they definitely seemed done. meat was pulling back from bone. Bark cracked with the bend test.
BUT meat between bones was in the 185-190 range. I know a lot of people that follow temps take them to 200-ish. That seemed like they'd be overdone if I kept waiting.
Sauced with a mixture of Sweet Baby Rays and Mark's Good Stuff hickory and left uncovered for 15 minutes.
Pics when taken off smoker and moved to oven.
Then moved to the oven at 170 to hold (just for timing)
I was surprised that these were done in the same amount of time as troutman's primer example, even though they were cooked 20 degrees lower. I love the PBC but I don't believe it's magic enough to change the laws of thermodynamics.
I had these done at 3:30pm, bc I was trading a rack to a buddy for some tree trimming work.
My buddy took his rack home, and the family LOVED them. His daughter declared them "best ribs ever! Even better than outback". Which I take as high praise. The adults also loved them.
Happy Rib face. But if you look close, you can see the smoke ring
My folks stopped in for a visit, and we ended up chatting and having wine, and not eating until 7:30. So by the time I tried the ribs, they had held in the oven for 4 hours.
Flavor was bang on! Bark was great! Ribs were super moist. Meat was a little soft. It wasn't "fall of the bone". On the scale between "slight tug for a clean pull" (which is what I want) to "fall off the bone"... it was about half way. There was a cleanish bite through. Bones were spotted, not bleach white. Even after a 4 hour hold, I give these ribs an A-.
Didn't take many pics since we were having family time. Will do more, next time.
I'm guessing that holding that long, softened the meat a bit, and we'd eaten them right away they would have been firmer. OR, I'm just telling myself so I feel better. Is that a reasonable assumption?
I'm also confused with the same cook time, at a lower temp. I'm not sure how cooking vertical can make things cook faster. Or does 20 degrees really not matter? Can ribs only absorb heat so quickly?
What's your go to reliable way to see ensure the ribs are the proper doneness? When I did blasphemy ribs, it was easy. I just ate one to check. Then ate a third for quality control.
I'm probably being a little pedantic, but I'm on a quest to consistently make A+ ribs....... In my head, I know what that should be.... I'm just not quite there yet.
Maybe when this pandemic is over, I should just invite the more experienced Houston area bbq-ers over to give me some pointers..... and eat bbq and drink cold beers.
Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated as always.
Also, I just took the rib tips, and trimmings, stacked them on a hanging skewer (sort of pastor style) and smoked them alongside the ribs and turkey breast I also had going.
I followed Troutman s step by step primer, except I cooked at 250 instead of 270.
The double layer of POG and then MMD made a much better bark. Will definitely keep doing that.
I took full spares and cut them down to St. Louis style.
Dry brined for 2 days (bc of adjust to schedule) instead of overnight like I planned.
I smoked unwrapped, hanging in the PBC for 3 hrs at 250. Bark was set. Then wrapped in butcher paper and laid flat for 1 hour.
When I checked they definitely seemed done. meat was pulling back from bone. Bark cracked with the bend test.
BUT meat between bones was in the 185-190 range. I know a lot of people that follow temps take them to 200-ish. That seemed like they'd be overdone if I kept waiting.
Sauced with a mixture of Sweet Baby Rays and Mark's Good Stuff hickory and left uncovered for 15 minutes.
Pics when taken off smoker and moved to oven.
Then moved to the oven at 170 to hold (just for timing)
I was surprised that these were done in the same amount of time as troutman's primer example, even though they were cooked 20 degrees lower. I love the PBC but I don't believe it's magic enough to change the laws of thermodynamics.
I had these done at 3:30pm, bc I was trading a rack to a buddy for some tree trimming work.
My buddy took his rack home, and the family LOVED them. His daughter declared them "best ribs ever! Even better than outback". Which I take as high praise. The adults also loved them.
Happy Rib face. But if you look close, you can see the smoke ring
My folks stopped in for a visit, and we ended up chatting and having wine, and not eating until 7:30. So by the time I tried the ribs, they had held in the oven for 4 hours.
Flavor was bang on! Bark was great! Ribs were super moist. Meat was a little soft. It wasn't "fall of the bone". On the scale between "slight tug for a clean pull" (which is what I want) to "fall off the bone"... it was about half way. There was a cleanish bite through. Bones were spotted, not bleach white. Even after a 4 hour hold, I give these ribs an A-.
Didn't take many pics since we were having family time. Will do more, next time.
I'm guessing that holding that long, softened the meat a bit, and we'd eaten them right away they would have been firmer. OR, I'm just telling myself so I feel better. Is that a reasonable assumption?
I'm also confused with the same cook time, at a lower temp. I'm not sure how cooking vertical can make things cook faster. Or does 20 degrees really not matter? Can ribs only absorb heat so quickly?
What's your go to reliable way to see ensure the ribs are the proper doneness? When I did blasphemy ribs, it was easy. I just ate one to check. Then ate a third for quality control.
I'm probably being a little pedantic, but I'm on a quest to consistently make A+ ribs....... In my head, I know what that should be.... I'm just not quite there yet.
Maybe when this pandemic is over, I should just invite the more experienced Houston area bbq-ers over to give me some pointers..... and eat bbq and drink cold beers.
Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated as always.
Also, I just took the rib tips, and trimmings, stacked them on a hanging skewer (sort of pastor style) and smoked them alongside the ribs and turkey breast I also had going.
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