Well I did 4 racks of pork ribs yesterday. But I have to say I am not loving the ribs I have been producing. 3-2-1 yeah but you know they seem more tender at 3 when I go to put them in the foil, almost, well infact one rack was tearing apart. Then after foiled for 2 back on the racks with some sauce and in for 1. Taste was ok but probably better with just the "Jan's rub" and no sauce but not real tender although the meat came off of the bone.
This was the thickest rack, it didn't pull back much.
(http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af233/quarlow/Smoker/S7301733.jpg)
(http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af233/quarlow/Smoker/S7301734.jpg)
This one was second thickest and pulled back nice, but still no joy for me. Bree loved them though.
(http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af233/quarlow/Smoker/S7301731.jpg)
(http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af233/quarlow/Smoker/S7301728.jpg)
(http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af233/quarlow/Smoker/S7301736.jpg)
CT on the left Tony Roma's on the right.
(http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af233/quarlow/Smoker/S7301738.jpg)
and the money shot.
(http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/af233/quarlow/Smoker/S7301740.jpg)
So I think next time I am going to go 4 or so without the foil and see what happens.
They were so good! What are you talking about? Had more for lunch today too.
And look at those mashed potatoes! So perfect. :D I scooped them and put the butter on. ;D
Hey Q,
Those look pretty darn good to me. Here what I did last time I did ribs. Rubbed with a bit of oil and used Jan's Rub(naturally), wrapped in plastic wrap and friged overnight. Next day fired up the MAK to 225. After about 3 hours or so I went and checked on them. Mixed equal parts of vegetable oil with pineapple juice and every 30-45 minutes or so would spritz them with the juice/oil combo. Remember to shake the juice/oil combo each time before spritzing as they don't stay mixed longer than about a minute at the most. Really liked that touch. When the meat started pulling back and I was getting the amount of bend I wanted when you lifted the rack, they were ready to go.
Not advocating this same method for you. Just something I did and was pleased with the outcome. Besides, if Bree liked them, what more could you want?
Is there a link to a thread that explains the 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 stuff? I've been looking around and can't find it....
Cooking ribs is going to make my hair fall out. Can never get it right. The best rack i ever did was my first rack.
They are always undercooked or I keep them in the foil too long and overcook them. I tried making St. Louis ribs the other day and the wife made
sure to tell me she prefers baby backs, just not mine (OUCH!)
I am determined to get this right. I also would like some suggestions on rubs. I have not found one to use on ribs that i like. My preference is sweet and I normally add brown sugar or turbinado to whatever rub i use.
One last thing, how much rub do you apply? light, medium, substantial or HEAVY?
BTW Quarlow, those look delicious to me!
Quote from: calis72 on June 02, 2010, 02:11:16 PM
Is there a link to a thread that explains the 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 stuff? I've been looking around and can't find it....
Here you go calis72 http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=10182.0 basically 3-2-1 would be three hours with smoke, two hours in foil, 1 hour without foil The thread shows it in detail with pics :)
I've been doing my ribs with just some rub and lots of time and patience. The results have been mediocre to pretty good. The only time I've used juice and foil is when I reheat the leftovers in the oven. Helps keep them moist.
Bayamo,
Just my personal preference but I'm pretty heavy handed with a rub. I want those ribs covered pretty substantially.
As for which rub, again that is personal preference. I happen to like Jan's Dry Rub but I could be prejudiced. Jan is my wife. The recipe is here. http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?467-Jan-s-Dry-Rub It has a slightly sweet taste to it. You could always up the sugar content if you like it sweeter or try the pineapple juice/vegetable oil spritz that I mentioned. That adds a suttle sweet taste to the ribs as well.
KyNola,
Thanks for the recipe link. I will try it.
Have you ever tried Johnny Triggs method? I seems he foils the ribs upside down (meat down) and adds parkay, honey, brown sugar and tiger sauce.
I have thought about trying it but man that sounds sweet. He seems to win alot of competitions so it must be pretty good.
Just seeing if anyone has any history with this method.
In doing the 3-2-1 (for spareribs) or the 2-1-1 (for babybacks) be careful when putting them into the foil. At times - for whatever reason) - they can be closer to done than you might think. A tightly sealed foil packet, can produce steam. Heat transfer to the meat with steam is a lot faster than with normal cabinet hot air - i.e. the meat cooks faster. So by the time they get out of the foil, sometimes they are, what I would call, overdone. Just because they are in foil, you can look inside the foil to see how they are doing. If they start showing signs of doneness - get them out and onto the rack for bark firming and sauce setting. The 3 hour, 2 hour, and 1 hour are not magic. The meat rules.
As far as a sweet rub - others need to chime in - mine have no sugar. I like to do KY's technique of oiling first (Walnut oil is interesting) then sprinkling rub on. And if I'm in a playful mood, I will mix some rub in with a mop or spritz and apply during the cook or if really playful, I'll sprinkle more rub on during the cook.
And you might use more than one type of doneness test. A goodly percentage of the last say 20 racks I've recently done, did not pull away much. Those were babybacks. Spares will usually pull back more for me.
Q, those look fantastic and from a discerning judge you did a great job. Enjoy, dude !
Quote from: bayamosmokes on June 02, 2010, 02:18:01 PM
Cooking ribs is going to make my hair fall out.
Okay, now for my own b**chin'. ME TOO! I have been chasing the perfect ribs for 30 years. I have come so close but not been able to get it just right. Did my first ribs on the six rack DBS this past weekend and it made clear that I have much to learn about cooking with this thing. Heat and time aren't yet a natural feeling - still learning. They were good, wife and kids loved' em, but they weren't what I was looking for.
When it comes to ribs I am very particular. I have eaten "the best" and "award winning" and "city's favorite" ribs all over the U.S. I find most disappointing - soft, mushy, and/or largely devoid of good pork flavor. I have come to the opinion that the judging public mostly wants mushy tasteless meat on a bone to use as a carrier of goopy sweet barbecue sauce.
About 12 years ago I found my model of rib perfection in TX, which was unexpected for me. Until I can consistently replicate that sparerib I will not rest. Back to cutting board and the fire - there is work to be done!
Hi cousin Q. The ribs look good to me.
I'll PM you a pic of Debbie and I. There is a mild resemblance between us but I think you came from the better looking half.
We must have the same mirror. :o ;D ;D
Q, those look really good to me. My friends always give me c**p because no matter how good the eats turn out I always am looking for ways to improve. How else do we get any better if we don't question what we did?
I vote, Ribs look good!
But if you are not Happy, make them better next time.
It's called "Do Overs" ;D
Quote from: classicrockgriller on June 02, 2010, 06:02:10 PM
I vote, Ribs look good!
But if you are not Happy, make them better next time.
It's called "Do Overs" ;D
I like do overs... and over and over and over... ;D
Those ribs look pretty darned good from here Q!
Send samples so I can do a taste test!
;D ;D
Bayamosmokes,
I have read about Trigg's method but I have never tried it and have to be honest and say I never will. Butter, brown sugar and honey just doesn't work for me. I'm an old school Kentucky boy who likes ribs hickory smoked with a nice rub on them. Want sauce on 'em? I can do that at the very end but personally like my ribs served dry. I'm not disrespecting anyone who prefers their ribs wet. I've had some great wet ribs. I just prefer dry because I want to taste the meat.
Sorry, got off topic a bit.
Q,
Maybe I missed it in here somewhere, but what was it you didn't like about the ribs?
Overcooked?
Tough?
Lack of flavor?
I've done multiple racks and had one or two that were perfect and one that was tougher. Sometimes I think it is a crap shoot.
Q, could it be that the quality of the ribs you are getting might not be up to your standard? Some of the posts I have read the members rave about organic,hormone free, grain fed pork.
I gotta agree, they do look good. So as FLB said, what happened?
I don't like the 3-2-1 method (aka "the Texas Crutch"). There. I said it.
However --- whatever method you use - it might depend on which smoker you're using.
EVERY SMOKER COOKS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
For all y'all havin' trouble gettin' 'em like you want...
I'm gonna give ya some FREE advice (So, it probably ain't worth much)...
Pay CLOSE attention to which smoker someone is using when they offer a "rib method".
Doesn't seem like it would matter that much --- but it does.
Awrighten.
Well, I have an OBS so that's all fine, but it's not that they were tough just that they were not real tender. They came off the bone clean but they weren't fall off the bone tender. And the flavour wasn't great. I think I would have been better off with just the Jan's rub and I am thinking that the sauces weren't right even though 2 racks were with CT. I think I will have to do some in depth research into this so as to nail down how to change this up. I believe "do over" is definitely in order. ;D ;D So I will do them next time with Jan's rub, no foil, no sauce and just go 2 1/2 hrs smoke and cook till proper doneness. Then I will report the results as to the "do over" research. Then we can analysis the out come and see were this needs to go. Let's just call this a "work in progress" or "W.I.P." for short.
P.S. I don't have a good thermo to keep track of cabinet temp so this maybe part of the problem. I have been going by the door thermo for cab temp so I maybe cooking at to high of heat when the door says 225f when it is actually hotter.I have been holding off getting a ET-73 because I will be getting a dual probe Auber soon, eventually, someday, hopefully real soon, one of these days.
Sounds like you are going to enjoy your research.
And come to think about it, My worst ribs in the smoker have been better than any I've had in a restaurant.
Yeah the last ribs I had in a restaurant were mushy so nothing could be as bad as that.
The last ribs I had at a big chain they were soft tender kinda dry and had no taste at all.
They proud themselves on there MANY different kinds of BBQ sauce, so if you want ribs drowned in sauce they got it.
I ordered my ribs dry, you should have seen the look on the waitress's face you would have thought I said somethin unappropriated to her.
I only ate 2 bones and when she came back to ask how they were I said you can take these back I dont want em. She said you want some sauce, nope I want somethin that tastes like RIBS.
Good thing I ordered a big ole pile of wings.
She took the ribs back and didnt charge me for them.
Quote from: Quarlow on June 03, 2010, 12:27:02 AM
They came off the bone clean but they weren't fall off the bone tender.
Q,
that much is GOOOOOD--- Heck--- let's say, "PERFECT"!
You don't want "
fall off the bone tender" - cause that puts you
toooooo close to rib "MUSH"...
(aka "Garbage")
You just want it to come off the bone CLEAN with a "wee" pull...
Just experiment with
other factors...
Sounds like you hit the "doneness" dead on!
My wife asks "Why don't we go out for dinner anymore?" I could only answer "Think about it."
If you want good food, you cook it yourself.
Q, without an external temp sensor it will be hard to do multiple racks at one time. I believe you can get by using the door sensor as long as you keep the meat above the sensor (which essientially is the top rack). Once you get the meat below the sensor it starts to skew the door temp sensor reading.
A couple of things that I noticed before I was able to make ribs the way I liked them:
3-2-1 and 2-2-1 are guidelines. I am aactually cooking my bbr's in a 3-1:30-:45 method most of the time.
225F is a good starting spot for the temp, but try to err on the low side of that. I had issues with mine because I would be shooting for 225, and would end up at 240, then 235, then 230, you get the point. I spent a lot of time over 225 while I was trying to get there. Now I make sure I do the opposite and the results have been much better. I spent a lot of time in the 210-220 range. This seemed to make the biggest difference in going from what I would call chewy ribs to tender ribs.
I always go heavy on the rub. Unless it's hot, there's really no downside. Especially if you're foinling or sprtizin, I find that dulls down the rub flavor to begin with.
Meat does make a difference. When I pay a little extra for the good meat, I can always tell the difference.
Patience and trial and error. It may be beneficial to try smoking one rack at a time until you get it right. There are less variables involved and less meat at stake.
Hope something in there was useful. Keep at it.
Interestingly enough I just did 2 pork butts and I had them on the 3 rack up so right at the level of the door probe. I put one of my temp probes on the rack between the butts and it stayed matched in temp the whole time, so you are right above or below and they are getting way different temps.
Time is a factor for sure. Iam going to do a test the next go round. When I take the ribs out at 3hrs to foil them they seem fairly well along in the cooking process, so I am going to see how done they are at the 3 hr mark. These things maybe nearly done at 3 and are getting over cooked.
Unless it is a warm day I have trouble getting over 210f. On the butts threw the night and up till the sun came around the house I was at 200f max. Not till the sun hit it did the temps start to climb. I have a PID coming from Mikeradio so the second element conv. is next for me, plus a fan.
I never spritzed the ribs just add AJ to the foil wrap but I think I will get a sprayer and try that.
A family of 4 doesn't go to far on one rack of ribs :D :D :D But I will do 2 side by side on 2 racks and put them on 3 and 4 rack where I usually use 2 and 3 rack.
Thanks for the insight and I will get this nailed down. One thing we have decided is that we like our ribs sauced. Sometimes I buy the precooked Maui ribs that you just heat on the BBQ which are surprisingly pretty good and they like those so I will be saucing the ribs from now on.
You go buddy.
I know YOU will get the ribs the way YOU like them in know time.
Keep practicing cousin. You'll certainly get it down pat by the time you get to be my age ;D
I can usually run 220 in the OBS. I always put my stuff on the upper two racks if possible. The cabinet temp seems to be a function of the ambient temp, wind, extension cords and outlet. Of course the meat load and moisture also affects the temp.
I never figured I'd need a PID. But, set it, forget it, and go to bed was nice doing a butt this weekend.
I've done the ribs both dry and sauced. I kinda like them dry with sauce on the side. The rib places around here do them sauced, sometimes pretty heavily. To each their own.
Yeah I had no problem getting 248f once the sun rose. I have got all the cord issues out of the way, 15 ft 12 ga cord, dedicated outlet. But it was pretty cool here that night and it was looking like rain too. We are way cooler here than even Seattle Wa. since we are up against the mtns and right on the ocean. We have a fairly short growing season that starts late. Basicly the May long weekend is our safe zone for planting so it is still chilly at night. I was still getting frost on the car windows the first week of May.
I have tried the dry ribs and there ok but I am not big on the sweet and sour dry pork you get with Chinese food either.
I agree that they sure look tasty. I have just one suggestion.... for your daughter...
Hey bree230, get dad a larger cutting board for Christmas... ;D