Need help! First ribs, temp questions (baby back)

[Mosca]

Man, it stinks that your ribs didn’t come out right. Bummer. But you know what? It happens. We’ve all eaten (or tossed) a lot of mistakes.

Baby backs aren’t so different from spares that I’d tell you to change anything from Last Meal Ribs. They’re meatier, though, so the "bend test" isn’t as reliable an indicator, and that’s where I think you got mixed up. More reliable is those bones showing. But the best indicator of all is something that you won’t recognize on your first cook: They just look done.

Once you’ve done a few racks, you’ll know what I mean. And it’s not a narrow window; there’s a nice half hour or so where they just look done. Unfinished ribs are dry. They can be reddish, or mahogany, depending on how much smoke they took on; color isn’t an indicator. Done ribs are shiny, and "crackly". They’ll pass the bend test, absolutely, but they’ll also look like the cracked edges are sharp. You are rendering the collagen, and it comes out of the meat and you can just tell by looking at them.

Do this for the next time: Do 3-2-1. 3 hours bare, 2 hours wrapped with liquid (go on the ‘net and search, lots of variations, everything from apple juice, to honey and Parkay, to bbq sauce), last hour bare again. 3-2-1 didn’t become popular because the ribs come out bad, it became popular because the ribs come out reliably good. What it will do for you is keep you from wasting an afternoon, it will get you ribs you can serve proudly, and it will get you to the point where you can recognize finished ribs.

And just so’s you don’t think it’s just you: for the 4th I decided to make sous-vide-q ribs. I did everything by the letter, they looked great, they smelled great... Good thing I made burgers and dogs too. They were awful. Dry and overcooked. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’ll figure it out.

[Jfrosty27]

I have to side with Mosca here. If I tried to count the cooks I’ve screwed up I’d run out of fingers and toes. But hey, that’s half the fun of this bbq thing. All the trial, error, and with luck and practice, success! Smoke on!

[jfmorris]

This is good advice - follow it next time. I did the 3-2-1 method for many years with spares, or 2-2-1 with baby/loin back ribs.

[BFlynn]

When I do baby backs, I look for racks close to 2 1/2 lbs. I see some that are 3-3/12 even 4 lbs. All that extra weight is loin meat.

Loin meat gets dry.


Keep on with the ribs. They'll get better.

Also, Troutman has a good primer on ribs.

[patcrail]

Thanks. Yeah, I read Troutman’s primer too. These were definitely on the meaty side. Not sure, but I want to say 3 to 3.5 lbs... the loin meat was almost an inch thick on the "wide end" of the rack...

[shify]

patcrail - all I can find around here are the extra meaty kind with a huge cap of loin. I don't particularly like those and find them hard to cook well. I've since given up on finding baby backs and have converted to a full time st. louis spare rib guy now. Cook up much better and don't take all that much longer.

[Mosca]

Trying to find a photo, I don’t usually take pictures of them at intermediary stages. But here are a couple racks that are done. See what I mean? They just look done.

These were the first ribs I made in the Weber kettle. The end ribs were a little crispy, I cut those off and ate them myself. Still good! But everyone who got the middle ones raved.

[HawkerXP]

Did you tell us what you are cooking on?

[patcrail]

HawkerXP it was a 22” Weber with SNS, at 225.... I think I just panicked when I saw cracking like Meathead shows when they were under 150.... I probably should have ignored that, but it was 3 hours in, when he says to start checking, so part of me thought maybe they were ready, but part of me thought the temp was way too low (I used a Thermopro & checked everywhere)

[HawkerXP]

I don't use temp on wibs. Probe tender between the bones and a little pull back are my "look for" items. On the PBC 3 hours is about normal.

[BFlynn]

Here's the last racks of baby backs I did.


intermediate pic. 2 hrs into cook.



Here's the final rib





Cant really see the bone pull back

​​​​​This is the under side


Bark on finished ribs

[RichardCullip]

Give St Louis style ribs a try next time. No dry loin meat on this cut. Spares, Baby Backs and STL ribs all cook a bit different. Keep experimenting and you’ll find your favorite cut if ribs. For me it’s STL style.

[patcrail]

Thank you all! Bottom line was it worked "ok", just not sure if I over cooked the baby backs or under cooked them. They had 1” of meat, easy, on the thick end, 1/2 or more on the thin end, so maybe I shouted have treated them more like a loin or chops , I don’t know. They were probe tender & cracking on the bend test at about 145 IT (3 hours), but the temp was really making me second guess. I’m now wondering if I should have just pulled them then. After another 2 hours, then an hour wrap, followed by almost an hour for bark & sauce, they weren’t higher than 170, no longer probe tender, no crack on bend test. So either I cooked them way too long, or 7 hours wasn’t enough. I’ll do spares or St Louis next time, so I’m not trying to cook loin meat to a high temp

[jfmorris]

You still haven’t told us what you are cooking these on, and was it at 225?

[patcrail]

jfmorris Weber 22” with SNS. And yes, 225 the whole way

[BFlynn]

Id skip the wrapping for now.. You can make really good ribs without that step.

Keep it simple. You can always add more steps later.

[Steve R.]

Next time (if there is a next time) you get those "extra meaty" baby backs, don't shy away from just trimming off a good bit of that thick loin meat they like to leave on there to boost the weight and the price. I hate to throw away perfectly edible meat, but I hate tough, dry ribs even more.

[jfmorris]

Don't throw it away, just put it elsewhere on the grill or cook it by itself, and pull once THAT meat reaches 140 to 145, and eat it like a pork chop.

[Steve R.]

jfmorris I usually just end up with some paper thin scraps. I don't do stir fry or anything of that nature, but it gets grilled and becomes some mighty fine treats for the dogs!

[SirWeezey]

Had the same experience my first cook with back ribs but I pulled them at 4:30 to lukewarm reception.
Agree that the last meal ribs approach doesn’t work with back ribs, but there’s a ton of info in the Pit that should help - specifically the step by step that Troutman provided and has multiple mentions already.

sorry I can’t add more than to commiserate!

[Montyfam5]

Try the 3-2-1 method works every time with me. Good Luck!
Prep the ribs by removing the membranes and applying your rib rub.

Place ribs bone-side down in smoker at 225 F /110 C and cook for three hours.

Remove ribs from the smoker and wrap tightly in aluminum foil to form an airtight seal. Return to the smoker bone-side up and smoke for two hours.

Unwrap the ribs and return to the smoker bone-side down for one more hour.
Apply sauce to ribs (if you want) during the last 20 to 30 minutes of the cooking time. Make sure that the cooking temperature is below 265 F /130 C to prevent burning, and apply the sauce in several thin layers.

[Parkin]

I ran into the same thing a few weeks back. Really big, meaty BBR. Cooked at 225-235 on a Bronco Drum. Took over 6 1/2 hours and I probably could have gone longer. They came out really good and juicy. The crack test didn't work for those slabs. There was a noticeable fight from the toothpick up until the 6 hour mark, then it gave way like butter, but still didn't crack.

[patcrail]

Thanks all! I’ve calmed down now, lol 😂. They weren’t bad, but definitely weren’t what they should have been. I think I made several mistakes: first was panicking when they cracked on the bend test at the first check, at 3 hrs as recommended. They were extremely meaty, and I picked them up from the short end, so there was a lot of weight on the other end.
Second mistake: should have (wanted to) use spares or St Louis cut because, honestly, trying to mix long slow high cooks with loin meat just doesn’t feel right, but these were on sale.
Third mistake: I should have at least trimmed the big hunk of loin meat off of the long end, reducing the weight on that end AND letting it cook faster/more even, so the rack may we’ll have been ready before 7 hours total.
Fourth mistake: I panicked, pure and simple, as soon as the bend test showed done at an obviously low temp. I should have chilled and wondered why.
Final mistake: I started them too late, and because I left way too much meat on the bone, by the time I was 7 hours in and wanting to carry all the way up to 200+, the wife said enough, and I pulled them for a late dinner. I can’t blame her, it was after 8:00, but about her hour or two would probably have been perfect.

[patcrail]

So, all that said, they were pretty damned good, just more "tooth" than they should have had. I will keep trying with all of your advice, but I am definitely switching to spares/St Louis cut, because I just can’t get my head right with taking loin meat that high... if I want loin, I’ll buy loin or chops.... I want that nice, greasy, juicy rib experience. Plus, I’ll never find myself doubting if I’m overcooking them at 150, lol! Thanks!

[smokenoob]

I never had much luck with meaty baby backs and the bend test. I temp a meaty rib at about 202F and it usually takes 6 hours at 225F on my pellet pooper. I know ya don’t temp wibs but what do I know, I’m a noob!