Equipment
Weber Genesis Gas
Weber 22" Kettle (black)
Smokenator
Slow N Sear
Thermometers
Maverick 732 Redi-Chek
Thermopop
Fuel
Kingsford Blue Bag
Kingsford Professional
Wood
Apple (chunks)
Mesquite (chunks)
Hickory (chunks)
Oak (chunks)
Beverages
Beer: Sun King Sunlight Cream Ale; Goose Island 312; Goose Island Green Line; Revolution Anti-Hero IPA; Lagunitas IPA
Bourbon: Basil Hayden
Rye: George Dickel
Cocktail: Manhattan
Personal
Married, one child (son)
Originally from Indianapolis, IN. Currently live in Chicago's Western Suburbs (near Meathead!)
Associate Dean at Chicago area university
The only time I wrap ribs is if they finish early and I need to hold them in the oven or the cooler. My experience is wrapping is an unnecessary step for ribs at home and I've always had great results without wrapping. I think competition is a different story. Ultimately, though, experiment, determine which results you like best and go with it. My guess is the responses here will reflect a lot of personal preference. Wrap or not, enjoy the ribs, and remember to send pictures!
I'll wrap back ribs when they are particularly meaty (i.e. they have a lot of loin meat on them that can dry out). Usually do something like 3-1-1 (hours, unwrapped, wrapped, unwrapped) at 250-275. But that may be unique to my smoker.
I tend not to wrap spares since they tend to be more fatty.
My gear:
22 Weber Kettle
Napoleon PRO Charcoal Kettle Grill
Broil King Keg
Traeger Pro 34
Napoleon Prestige Pro 500
Pit Barrel Cooker
Blackstone Range Combo Griddle
Wrapping pork ribs is not done to get past the stall, which is what the Texas Crutch is for as there really isn't a stall with pork ribs. Those that wrap pork ribs tend to do so to make them more tender I think. Personally I never wrap pork ribs.
Exactly. Texas Crutch is related to brisket, when the internal temperature stalls. Usually around 150* - 160* or so. I occasionally will wrap ribs but usually not. I like a little crunch.
Used to crutch my ribs but as have stopped for good now. pkadare summed it up, wrapping is for tenderness.
I like my ribs to bite back just a little bit.
Why rap? AKA the Texas Crutch, halt the formed bark, to tenderize, or speed up cook time. On Treager's website they tout 3-2-1 method. Smoke ribs for three hours, @225, wrap in foil for two hrs. then one hour sauced.
I will wrap when time is of the essence and I have to have them ready by a certain time. Sometimes I may not be able to just start early, so I need a shorter cook time. Otherwise, I don't really have a preference. When I do wrap, I wait until some bark has formed and they are the color that I want. This is 2 or 3 hrs into the cook.
As others have said, I don't go into a cook wanting to wrap. 'Crutch' is a good word, because it infers that a particular cook needs a hand to seize the day. Luckily feeding time is flexible here at the Casa de Lou... so wrapping is a situational tactic when I want a faster hotter cook and need to retain the juicy goodness.
I'm starting to envy the PBC crowd - I don't have a cooker that's so forgiving I can't screw up a cook. It's not that I do screw up cooks, but I do still need to watch them and sometimes change the cook to save the food. That's okay, I don't yet 'have to have' 'set and forget' as part of my arsenal.
As to process - I free-range wing-it instead of using 3-2-1 or 2-2-1. If I had to wrap, I always open the wrap to see if a want to do a sear or dry the bark just a bit. If so, do it until you're satisfied with the exterior texture and look that you want, then do a tented rest and serve unless you need to store. For bigger cuts I skip the unwrapping and go into faux cambro for at least an hour to rest the cut and redistribute juices. You can easily hold a big cut 3 to 4 hours and only benefit. When you do open the cut, do it on a board or in a container that can handle an unexpected juice explosion - don't lose that goodness on your countertop.
I like to 3-2-1 St. Louis ribs and 2-2-1 for BB's. I use paper instead of foil, I think you do get some air movement within, rather than with foil that can seal up pretty tight. Depending on how they look, I will modify the wrap time or the last hour depending on the meat on hand.
Cooking gadgets
Weber Summit Charcoal Grill Center
Weber Summit Platinum D6
Blue Rhino Razor
Dyna-Glo XL Premium Dual Chamber
Camp Chef Somerset IV along with their Artisan Pizza Oven 90
Anova WiFi
Thermometers
Thermapen Mk4 - ThermaQ High Temp Kit - ThermaQ Meathead Kit - ThermaQ WiFi - ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S - ThermoWorks Signals & Billows - ThermoPop -ThermoWorks ProNeedle - ThermoWorks TimeStick Trio x2 - and a Christopher Kimball timer - NO, I do not work for ThermoWorks...I just like their products.
Other useful bits...
KitchenAid 7-qt Pro Line stand mixer
A Black & Decker food processor that I can't seem to murder
A couple of immersion blenders, one a "consumer" model & the other a "high end" Italian thing. Yes, the Italian one is a bit better, but only marginally
Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus 8-qt + accessories like egg-bite & egg holders
All-Clad pots & pans, along with some cast iron...everything from 7" Skookie pans to 8.5qt Dutch ovens
Weber GBS griddle, pizza stone, and wok
Knives range from Mercer to F. Dick to "You spent how much for one knife? One knife?!" LOL
I don’t wrap.
But then I don’t wrap anything...
Didn’t even know that was a thing until I started getting serious about outdoor cooking. Always made it work prior to that and figured there was no solid reason to change.
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