Inexpensive Method for Grilling ribs to your perfection.....

[GrillZilla]

While I currently do not own my OSB yet nor have I ever cooked on one, I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night so I will take a crack at this. 

I have become addicted to reading this forum and salivating over the wonderful photos!  In my readings, I have come across the reoccurring questions about proper methods for smoking ribs, and the many post about them not coming out exactly the way you intended.  While discussing the most interesting discussions on P&C insurance today, I could not help but brainstorm an effective and cost efficient method for making the ribs you enjoy...let's face it...we all like ribs a little different...fall off the bone meat, tender but tug off the bone, hard bark, soft bark, BBQ sauce, no BBQ sauce, seared on BBQ sauce...etc etc... 

While I have become pretty astute at cooking ribs on my gas grill, I admit that I have never used the OSB...(but soon will).....with that being said, I expect the forum experts to modify and correct my thoughts freely....I take all tips with an open mind...anyway, based on what I have read here, this is what I would do if I wanted to make ribs the way "I"/"You" like them...and it is a process of eliminating as many variables as possible, as there are so many that if you keep changing methods prior to pinpointing what it is you enjoy, you will probably go in circles for a while...and that can get $$...

What I plan to do when I get my OSB:

1.  Start out with a basic BBQ dry rub that will be considered a constant.  This is not to be the secret super hidden in the closed recipe, but just a basic, simple mixture of good spices that will not change.  I have a simple one that is excellent on rubs that I pulled from a great grilling book (not sure if I am infringing upon copyrights, so I will hold off on naming the book)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp pure Chile powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (ONLY FRESH)

2. Take 2 racks of BABY back ribs (membrane removed), cover with rub, and tuck away in the fridge for one night (Covered).

3. Prepare the smoker using the methods provided for smoking ribs (this is just my third post so I am not sure how to link post yet - give me some time - and experts, please feel free to add links to OSB temp settings for rib cooking, as I read many, most saying to heat to 250, but I don't know how to link the post)

4. Cut the rib racks in halves, making 4 equal parts.

5. Cook using the 3-1-1 method (as this appears to be the round about method - link please with mopping procedure (Remember, we are aiming for consistency here)

6.  Now, here is where the variance is.  Smoke for three hours (using wood of choice)...once all four have smoked for three hours, place two halves in two separate cooking trays - in trey #1, baste one of the halves with your favorite sauce (just one of the halves, not both), in trey #2, leave both unsauced.  Now, cover both treys and place in oven and set timer for 45 mins.

7. Preheat grill when this is done to 450-500. 

8. When the stove buzzer goes off, remove trey #2 ONLY of ribs (2 halves).  Set timer on stove for 15 minutes and leave trey #1 in the stove. 

9. Remove the foil from trey #2 and baste only one rack with the same preferred BBQ sauce of your choice.  (So now you should have 2 halves in each trey; with only one half in each trey covered with sauce)

10. Take trey #2 to the grill and sear for 10-15 minutes. 

11. About this time, the oven should be going off.

12. Take ribs out of stove (trey #1) and off the grill (trey #2) and do the foil boat method for one hour (Experts - I did not see where the apple Juice should be at room temp or straight out of the fridge when placed in the boat, but I assume it should be at room temp when added to foil boat...correct if wrong)

Now you are done and you should have 4 half rack or ribs with only slight changes, allowing you to hone in on your STYLE of ribs.  After eating, you can determine the texture, tenderness and moistness that you prefer as you should have; dry rub only rib oven finished (less sear), dry rub only rib seared, BBQ sauce oven cooked and one BBQ sauce seared rib. 

From this, you can deduce the proper TEXTURE, TENDERNESS and MOISTNESS....once you pick the one you like, it just becomes a matter of adjusting Smoke/Oven/Sear times to your liking........which I would highly reccommend keeping a good log of your progress.  But the process should point you in the right direction of finding your rib. 

The next step is getting creative with the dry rub / sauce combo, but only after you hone in one the cooking method.....

I wrote this as I have done way too many circles mixing different spices and sauces and cooking techniques, and not taking the time to figure out the exact COOKING method I prefer.  It can get very expensive and unsatisfying if you constantly change all the variables in the process each time you attempt it.  My thoughts are to keep as many seasoning/saucing constants as possible, increase the cooking variations with as little overhead as possible.  Once you find your style, than focus on your flavoring....

Just my thoughts.  And again, experts please correct me if this is a poor approach to limiting circles in cooking ribs....it is just an idea I came up with today....cheers!

PS You could do spare ribs using the same focus but using the 3-2-1 method. 

 



   

[Smokin Soon]

Ribs, my friend are a a very "personal" cook. It might take 2 or 3 tries to perfect to your liking. But there are no bad cooks during the process. It just depends on your tastes.

[NePaSmoKer]

Here is a pic of OBS ribs, 225* low and slow  ;D nuff said.



nepas

[GrillZilla]

Very nice NePa, but when was the sauce added?  Did you Foil boat?  Sear on grill?  Please teach me, as I already follow your jerky ideas...tks.

[NePaSmoKer]

Smoked in the OBS for 4 hours then tossed in my Traeger for 2 more hours @225* added the sauce the last 15 mins, took off Traeger, foiled for another hour. FTC

My wife like em falling apart and when i do em this way i can barely handle em. I don't own a gas grill anymore after getting my Traeger.


nepas

[GrillZilla]

fyi...this is just an idea for newbies (like myself) to find their style of rib in an organized fashion, with an emphasis on cost reduction...that's it, nothing more.  

[GrillZilla]

Thanks NaPa.  They look outstanding!!

[NePaSmoKer]

Yeah understand that. Some folks like em burnt and kinda hard, some soft and tender. Ribs are a personal taste thing.

nepas

[Mr Walleye]

GrillZilla

When I do ribs, usually back ribs, I remove the membrane and rub them down, preheat the Bradley to about 260 degrees. Once I load the ribs I adjust the temp to 220 and I begin applying about 3hours of smoke for my taste. I usually have the vent at least 1/2 open. You will probably want to do a rack rotation about halfway through. Once the 3 hours of smoke is complete I let them continue for 1 more hour without smoke. Then I put them into a foil roaster, add a splash of AJ, cover with foil and throw them back into the smoker at 220 for another 3 hours. After this I will put them on the grill just long enough to sauce them. They turn out very tasty and tender every time.

Mike

[GrillZilla]

Mr. Walleye, thanks for the tips on this.  I will be sure to try this method when I get my smoker.  Do you do a mop or spritz of any kind during the smoke period?  and nice to see another insurance fellow.  Cheers from the south!  (Stinking soft mkt is driving me nuts - HA)

[Mr Walleye]

I don't usually mop. This method does produce a very tender rib that easily comes off the bone and this is my preference. I know, like a lot have said, everybody's idea of tender is slightly different and it's just a question of getting a couple of rib smokes under your belt to get it dialed into your taste preferences. It looks like you are on the right path for sure. My recommendation is to keep good notes on not just how you did them but your own critique so that at a later date you can remember how you were going to tweak them one way or another.

There's nothing like jumping in with both feet! It's all good!  ;)
Keep us posted.

Mike

[carpie99]

GrillZilla

When I do ribs, usually back ribs, I remove the membrane and rub them down, preheat the Bradley to about 260 degrees. Once I load the ribs I adjust the temp to 220 and I begin applying about 3hours of smoke for my taste. I usually have the vent at least 1/2 open. You will probably want to do a rack rotation about halfway through. Once the 3 hours of smoke is complete I let them continue for 1 more hour without smoke. Then I put them into a foil roaster, add a splash of AJ, cover with foil and throw them back into the smoker at 220 for another 3 hours. After this I will put them on the grill just long enough to sauce them. They turn out very tasty and tender every time.

Mike

How long does it take you to get back to 220 after you load the ribs?  I am at 200 after 30-40 mins after loading the ribs.  Do you do 3 hours of smoke after you get to 220 or when you put the ribs in?  I tried to get the ribs to room temp before I started but I don't think I took them out early enough.

I don't have any roasters ... wrapping them in TF should serve the same purpose, right?

[Mr Walleye]

Carpie99

You want to start the smoke when you put the ribs in. It will take a while for the cabinet temp to recover to 220 but just be patient.

Tin foil will work just fine. I quite often use it if I don't have any foil roasters handy.

Sounds like you are well on your way. Keep us posted how they turn out.  ;)

Mike

[carpie99]

Carpie99

You want to start the smoke when you put the ribs in. It will take a while for the cabinet temp to recover to 220 but just be patient.

Tin foil will work just fine. I quite often use it if I don't have any foil roasters handy.

Sounds like you are well on your way. Keep us posted how they turn out.  ;)

Mike

Well it went pretty well for my first time out.

Had 4 racks of ribs going.

Got the OBS to 220 and smoked the ribs for 3 hours with some Jim Beam Bisquettes.  After 1.5 hours I did basket swap.  At the 3 hour mark I took them out placed them in roasting pans with some apple juice and put them back in the OBS.  I went to the golf course and played 9 holes and got back about 3.5 hours later.  The temp was also a little higher (250) than I would have liked because of the afternoon heat (90 degrees today).

Unfortunately I couldn't do a rack swap during basting (because I was golfing) and the bottom rack got a little overcooked.  Took em out right when I got home ... basted em with some Sticky Fingers BBQ sauce and then put em in for 30 mins on the racks.  They were really pretty good.  The bottom rack was a bit dry but the other three were very tender.

One other thing I noticed at the end was that I forgot to check the water when I switched in the roasting pans.  I have no idea when the bottom bowl dried out but I think it would have been alot better to have some water in there for the last 30 mins with the sauce curing.

Next weekend ... Boston Butt :)

[Mr Walleye]

Congrats Carpie99!  ;)

A couple of tweaks here and there and you'll be golden!  8)

Mike