Best ribs yet

[db14]

I had another go at ribs again this weekend and they were by far my best yet.  They were near perfect and I only say near perfect because I'm a perfectionist.  I was having a problem with being able to cook them as long as I wanted to, and as a result was leaving them in too long and they were getting a little dry and not coming off the bone as easy as preferred after only about 4 hours.  I made a few changes and the results were good.  Here's what I did 9sorry if it's too detailed for you, just the way I do things):

Since I am slowoly losing my ability to sleep in, I was wide awake at 8am on saturday and decided to be productive.  I went to the local meat market and got a 2.34lbs slab of bbr and a couple pork sausages (might as well while the heat and smoke are rolling.)

I got them home, started the OBS to get teh heat up while I got the ribs trimmed and prepared the rub.  I was also havving some issues wit hthe rub being too hot, but tweaked it and it was much more mild this time.  The spicy didn't bother me, but it was too hot for some.  I actually need to try to recreate this rub tonight so I can have something to go by next time, I didn't take any notes for some reason. (no pictures either  :(, I guess I wasn't expecting them to be this good.)  I then rolled the sausage around in the remnants of the rub, although it didn't stick that well to the casing.

I went outside to find that the smoke had already started even though I hadn't pushed the bisquette advance button yet  ???.  I put them in with the sausage on the top rack and the ribs cut in half and on the next rack down.  This is where I changed my strategy.  Normally I would put the temp slider all the way up and wait for it to get close to 225F.  The problem with this is The temp would get up to 240F and would be hard to get back down and I end up cooking the whole time 10-15 degrees higher than desired.  This time I took the opposite approach and undercompensated with the intention of cooking them longer.  I didn't move the slider all the way over.  After about 20minutes it was 200F, and I bumped it up.  Then 210F, and bumped it again.  I finally got it to settle around 220F.

After 3 hours of hickory, I pulled the sausage for good and had a little snack.  The ribs I basted with apple cider vinegar and then foiled and placed back in the OBS.  Before I was trying to get by without foiling.

After 1.5 hours, I pulled the ribs and the meat had started to pull back from the bone.  I removed the foil and placed them back in the OBS, no smoke.  Still holding the CT at about 220F.

After about 45min I pulled them for good and decided to dig in.  They weren't dry at all and the meat pulled off the bone easy, but didn't fall off (this was good, I don't want it to literally fall off, then you end up with pulled pork and bones.)  The flavor was good and not too hot.  The short end had virtually no fat remaining.  The thick end had a little left, but not much.  ideally I would have cooked for about 30 minutes more, but I had to leave and made teh call to pull them.  This was 4th go around with the OBS and ribs and I think I'm getting it down.  I'm ready to show these off now.

[FLBentRider]

Congrats on your success!

And you'll keep tweaking it here or there. Perfection is a moving target.

[RAF128]

Since I am slowoly losing my ability to sleep in, I was wide awake at 8am on saturday

8am.    That's sleeping in for me.   If I'm still in bed at 8 my wife would panic and call a coroner ;).  She'd at least put a mirror under my nose.
Glad to hear the ribs turned out.   I've only tried ribs once in the Bradley.    They were OK but I probably have to work on it.

[OU812]

Sounds like you gettin the ribs the way you like them, good to here.

[db14]

8am.    That's sleeping in for me.   If I'm still in bed at 8 my wife would panic and call a coroner ;).  She'd at least put a mirror under my nose.
Glad to hear the ribs turned out.   I've only tried ribs once in the Bradley.    They were OK but I probably have to work on it.

Well, my wife was in bed until after 10, which I was capable off a couple months ago.  She's only 24 and still in college though, so that's a different story.  I've got a few years on her and I have to be up at 5:30 during the week for work.  Getting older isn't always fun.

[Paddlinpaul]

Well, my wife was in bed until after 10, which I was capable off a couple months ago.  She's only 24 and still in college though, so that's a different story.  I've got a few years on her and I have to be up at 5:30 during the week for work.  Getting older isn't always fun.

With a 24 year old wife I think it sounds quite fun!

[DTAggie]

db  - sounds exactly like I have learned to use my OBS since getting it at Christmas.  The foil with some juice of some sort is awesome.  What rub did you use?

[db14]

db  - sounds exactly like I have learned to use my OBS since getting it at Christmas.  The foil with some juice of some sort is awesome.  What rub did you use?

I used my own that I have been tweaking over the last few tries and it was pretty good.  I finally got the heat down on it, but I might try to make it a little less sweet next time.  There's not much sweetness to it to begin with, but I dont' prefer my ribs sweet.  Plus I think the foil stage with the apple cider vinegar adds sweetness to it on its own.  Anyway, the rub is somewhat complicated and uses about 15 ingredients (although it wouldn't have to).  I don't remember the exact quantities, but let me know if you want to try and I'll get them for you when I'm at home (yep, wasting time at work).  Off the top my head it includes smoked paprika, black pepper, white pepper, ground mustard, cayenne, onion powder, granulated garlic, chili powder, cumin, sea salt, Lawry's, tyme, oregano, basil, brown sugar.  I think the largest quantity of any of those is 3 tsp.  Everything is mostly 1/2 and 1 tsp.  That allows it to be more diverse.  I'm sure you could probably get about the same flavor with half the ingredients, but it feels more special this way.

[ArnieM]

Congrats on the ribs db.  They'll get better each time.  Where's all the pics?

"I went outside to find that the smoke had already started even though I hadn't pushed the bisquette advance button yet."

The SG starts its cycle as soon as you turn it on.  I preheat, then add pucks and then press the advance button (3 times).  This puts it at the start of its cycle.

[db14]

Congrats on the ribs db.  They'll get better each time.  Where's all the pics?

"I went outside to find that the smoke had already started even though I hadn't pushed the bisquette advance button yet."

The SG starts its cycle as soon as you turn it on.  I preheat, then add pucks and then press the advance button (3 times).  This puts it at the start of its cycle.

You're right.  I guess I'm just use to always adding them with the meat and hitting the button a couple times to get it going.  In my mind they were going to stay put until I came back out and pushed the button.  Does the digital model add mind reading ability?

[ArnieM]

Does the digital model add mind reading ability?

I think that's a $50 option  ;D ;D