My First Smoke in Digital 4 Rack - Ribs

[OTB]

OTB,

Glad your ribs turned out for you.  But I have a couple of questions.  What temp did you cook them on?  I'm reading that they cooked for more than 7 or 8 hours probably closer to 10 hours.  With 5 to 8 hours of that in a steam bath in foil.  That's a loooooong time for BBribs.  At 225, my BBribs are done most of the time in  4 hours, with a time or two at 5 hour and sometimes less than 4 hours.  I find it very hard to believe that the bottom ribs did not get cooked all the way through in that many hours of cooking. 

On a BBrib, the meat shrinking and exposing the end of the bone is not always the best determination of doneness.  I'd use the bounce test, (pick up the slab with tongs and bounce a little, if it bends and the surface cracks - probably done.  Or just try to separate some of the bones in the middle of the slab.  If it gives way like you want - then done.  Or try twisting a bone.  If it twists it is certainly done - if it twists easily, might be overdone. 

Foil if you want, but if must be understood that foiling doesn't guarantee tenderness or moistness.  Here is a portion of an earlier post about foiling. 

"When you put the ..... in the foil ...... - that is the point you technically stopped "barbecuing" and started braising.  Both are low-n-slow methods of cooking but with a difference - one is a dry method and the other a wet method.  A common definition of braising is - a method for cooking less tender cuts of meat by browning, covering and cooking meat in a small amount of liquid at a low temperature for a long period of time.

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One problem with the braising is that many cooks don't realize they [sic - might be] actually boiling the meat in steam.  And by sealing it up, you are likely contributing to overcooking [if not closely monitored].  In an oven at 250 or 300, the liquid will start to boil and the resulting steam heats the meat to a very high temperature compared to the same temperature of dry heat.

You may, at this point, be scratching your head.  We cook steaks over a 400+ degree fire and roast turkeys at 375 degrees.  So why is boiling at 212 degrees different?  First liquid and or steam is far more effective at transmitting heat than hot air. That is not necessarily a bad thing, just something you have to keep in mind.  Think about it.  [Why does a fried turkey get done faster than a baked turkey - liguid]  Cook a chuck in a smoker at 225 and it takes hours to get tender.  But cut the chuck up into cubes and throw in a stew and it is tender in possibly minutes – certainly not hours – why, because the transfer of heat was faster.  But cook it too long and that same meat is dry.  Ever wonder why those chunks of chicken (at least I hope it is chicken) in canned chicken noodle soup are so dry even if they are in liquid – overcooked!

One tip about using foil (the so-called "Texas Crutch), leave a little gap in the seal so some steam can escape.  Having a somewhat closed system, the liquid will quickly reach boiling point (212) and quickly over-cook the meat. But by allowing steam to escape the temperature of the liquid is kept down to around maybe 160 to 170 degrees - even in a 250 degree oven. The liquid will simmer and not boil producing a hopefully more tender result.  "

Caneyscud,
I cooked them with the temp set to 220 the whole time.  In hind sight, I am thinkin 230 might have been better.  I actually put them in right at noon, and had them off by 6:30 or 7:00pm.  Some of that time they were out of the smoker while being wrapped or unwrapped in the foil so I think I was right about 6 hours total cook time.  They were in the foil for exactly 2 hours.  The one rib shown was actually cooked the way I like them, and of course I gave that one to my daughter.  The one I ate (one of the thicker ones) was still pink in the middle.  I did have the larger ones on the lower rack.  I think next time I will need to start at 9am to give myself more time to adjust cooking times.  That way I can leave the larger ones in foil longer (if I decide to foil them again) or just in the smoker longer to finish cooking.  With the temp set to 220 I had swings anywhere from 190F to 235F at any point during the cooking.

[Caneyscud]

Its about averages.  If you set at 220 and you feel you aren't getting an avg. of 220 then 230 should be it.  On my bigger pieces of meat I preheat to 260 or so put meat in the reset at 230.  On BBribs I'll preheat to 260 or so then reset to 220 and monitor, if low, I'll bump to 230.  It's all good!  But 6 hours still long for BBribs, especially with the bigger ones not getting done.  Did you monitor the Cabinet Temp?  Cooking times are more related to thickness of a cut than to poundage.   I can sometimes get a 2" thick chuck roast done in 5 hours - for comparison.  Lots of restaurants - not bbq ones - will cook BBribs at 400 to 450 in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes then slather and put them back in the oven at 300 for another 30 mins. - then call them bbq ribs.  I just mention this to show that BBribs are not like spare ribs or beef ribs - they are oftentimes tender enough to just grill.  So the higher heat will not hurt them. 

[OTB]

I didn't have my thermometer dangling in.  i will next time i use it so I can see the real temp.