Ribs gone wrong

[mnmike]

The other day i tryed baby backs for the first time. I rinsed and peeled the skin off the back and used famous daves rib rub and let them sit overnight. I smoked them for 3 hours at 180 then took them out and put stubbs mopping sauce on them and foiled them and put back in for a hour temp got up to 190. I then took them out and sauced them and cooked for another hour. They were very dry and very spicey and salty. First did i keep my temp to low when smokeing them? And did i use way too much rub( i put it on pretty heavy)?? Was very bummed was a couple very nice looking slabs before i wrecked them

[muebe]

The ribs should be cooked at 225F the whole time with the vent wide open. It sounds like they may have been overcooked... Do you have a DBS or OBS? Where were you getting your temp readings? If you have a OBS and were using the door temp gauge then that may be where your problem was. The best thing to use is a wireless thermometer and place the cabinet temp probe just below your lowest rack of meat.

As far as the rub....I have not used the Famous Dave's Rib Rub but if it contains a lot of salt and you left them in the fridge overnight you may have accidentally created a brine when the moisture from the meat was mixed with the salty rub. Then that would force all that salt back into the meat. Some rubs you want to use lightly because of their salt content...especially on ribs.

[mnmike]

Yes i have a obs and i used a temp probe and hung it down throught the vent and hung it just below the bottom rack i used the top 2 slots also. Thanks will keep that inmind on the rub also am guessing i used waaaaay too much rub on them. They seemed overdone but the meat was not pulled back on the bone. Does cooking/smokeing at too low of a temp cause them to dry out also?

[Habanero Smoker]

I only cook spare ribs, and cook them at 212°F, and I'm still one that adjust the vent; but that is a matter of smoking/cooking styles.

You may have used too much rub, but did you check the label on the ribs? It may have been "enhanced" pork, which is means the meat is injected with a brine including salt and phosphates that make them salty to begin with, and some complain about a metalic after taste. A lot of times the stores will repackage the ribs and they are not relabeled properly. If it doesn't have a label or specifically state no water or additives added, I always ask someone behind the meat counter.

[muebe]

Habs makes a great point about pre-brined ribs. If they were already brined then that rub with the salt would push them over the top!

Smoking/cooking the ribs at 190F IMHO would not dry them out. But it would take much more than 5 hours for them to finish at that temp. I do mine at 225F and the vent wide open using 3-2-1 for St.Louis and 2-2-1 for Baby-Backs. If the meat was not starting to pull back from the ends then the ribs were not ready yet. This just might be a case where you got some bad ribs from the store and it was not your fault ;)