First Timmer

hockeybh · February 23, 2006, 10:12:30 PM

Im cooking some spare ribs tomorrow, about 8 - 10 lbs of ribs. I have read that most people pull the ribs at about 3 hours of smoke at 200 degrees, then rap them in foil with apple juice and back in the bradley for 2-3 more hours at 200 degrees.(or could I just FTC them for this amount of time) Is there a certain temp they should get too or just till they are starting to fall off the bone.

Does this seam correct to you?

IKnowWood · February 23, 2006, 10:53:44 PM

I have heard this also. I have not done spare ribs yet. Only Baby-backs My favorite.

What I do is smoke it for 5 hours, within the last 45 min to hour I do take them out and baste them / sauce them then I take them out and FTC for 1 to 2 hours with some apple juice. Any more than that and they will get to cold and need to be quickly re-heated. I smoke the entire time, I like the taste of wood.

With the difference with Spare Ribs and Baby-backs I have read that Spares take 1 hour less. So taking them out after 3 hours and put them in foil with apple juice would be OK. With that you might not need to FTC. this method gives you a bit less smoke but that's Ok.

IKnowWood · February 23, 2006, 10:58:42 PM

Oh yeah forgot. Best test is rib exposure pull-back as well as twist feel. If you twist and it starts to pull off the bone... Its good.... Add this to feel, color and moisture. And just remember This is NOT EASY. and all ribs are different.

hockeybh · February 23, 2006, 11:16:17 PM

What about your vent? How open is it...

jaeger · February 23, 2006, 11:16:55 PM

hockeybh,
Sounds like a great meal!!![:p]
The times and temps seem about right. If you were cooking/smoking at 200 degrees the whole time it wouldn't take this long. When you load that amount of ribs and when you remove to wrap in foil, you will lose cabinet temp both times and it will take a while to recover the target temp of 200 degrees.
Also, instead of apple juice, this would be a good time to mop with a bbq sauce as an option and a chance to rotate the ribs.
........before you start, it will help if you take the ribs out of the refrigerator and let them start to come to room temp for an hour or so while you are getting the smoker preheated and everything ready.
Good luck and have fun!!!

Doug

jaeger · February 23, 2006, 11:23:01 PM

hockeybh,
I always adjust the vent as I am smoking to help reach my target temp. I usually keep it at least 1/8 open until the temp is reached. Also, be sure to remove the membrane off the back of the ribs!

Doug

hockeybh · February 23, 2006, 11:23:31 PM

Thanks, I have about half with rub on right now, and the other half ill rub in the morning. I was thinking of using some BBQ sauce. I heard you put that on the last half hr or so. So if I wasnt going to do the foil think, and want to BBQ sauce them how long would i cook them. Or should i bbq sauce them then put in foil?

GrillinFool · February 23, 2006, 11:23:59 PM

The 3 hours of smoke is a safe place to start. I like to use pecan on ribs. I like big spare ribs as well as baby backs. Your plan is safe and you will be very happy with the ribs smoked in the Bradley. You want to finish cooking before you FTC.

Personally, I do not care for the foil wrapping of any meats until it is time for FTC. I try my best to keep the box temp at about 200-210 and I belive that if you really dont go over the 210 box temp, then far less water moiture will evaporate. If you do go over the boiling point, you will begin to dry them out. It might take longer to cook, but the fat will really disolve into the meat.

I like ribs moist but not steamed. I think wrapping and cooking for a few hours, although it will make the ribs guaranteed moist, it also gives a "steamed" flavor. I personally like the outside dry and the inside moist. I like to mop ribs with apple juice and vinegar though and that does a very similar thing but in the Bradley, mopping is messy and adds quite a bit of cooking time.

At 185-190 internal meat temp, the meat will fall off the bone. But I do find that measuring meat temp in ribs is tough because you need to find a good meaty section for an accurate temp. This is where I mess up ribs the most.

If you want to smoke them and move them to your oven in the house, you will be able to "mess" around and watch internal meat temps and how "falling apart" the ribs are, without waiting for your bradley to recover after every time you open it up. I do this on occassion with stuff just to see what the difference between 190 and 193 is with a brisket for example.

The Grillin Fool

hockeybh · February 23, 2006, 11:50:14 PM

This is making me so stinking hungry. Im at work right now and didnt bring anything to eat :(

Yes I did take off the membrane allready, thanks.

thanks for helping me, ill let you know how it works out

IKnowWood · February 24, 2006, 10:34:59 AM

If you do sauce them while still smoking, then do so within the last hour, twice but make sure the last time you do it you will leave them in the heat for at least 30 minutes. This helps the Sauce do its think. But do not put on to much, it will just fall off and may a huge mess.

But once your happy with them in the smoker, take them out and foil them. Try not to sauce them as this reduces the magic of FTC (passive cooking , as per sage Olds says). When they come out of the FTC and you are at this time dying to get at them. You may just find they are sauced enough.

And Vent is no more than 1/4 open, less but not closed is good.

And yes, you need to move the ribs from lower and higher racks if you are using more than one rack in the Bradley.

bsolomon · February 24, 2006, 06:13:10 PM

I don't do the process of pulling and wrapping in foil and then putting them back in the Bradley - I just let them smoke and cook undisturbed until done. I start checking them at about 186-187 degrees.

However, if you plan to pull and wrap in foil, then I would agree with GrillinFool - there is no reason to keep them in the Bradley after they're wrapped in foil, so you would be far better off by moving them to a conventional oven where you won't have to worry about temperature consistency or refresh after you open the door to inspect.

hockeybh · February 24, 2006, 09:44:56 PM

The ribs have been in the smoker for almost 1 1/2 hrs. Cooked with apple wood. So in another 1/2 hour should I start putting on the bbq sauce? or at about what temp.

acords · February 24, 2006, 10:23:54 PM

I've always put a rub on about an hour before smoking. Preheat smoker to about 200. load ribs, smoke for 4 hours. I wrap in foil with sauce (some would not sauce, but it's what I prefer). Put back in the smoker untill tender, and the bones pull away from the meat. FTC for an hour or so and DIG IN!

Grab me another Stout

hockeybh · February 24, 2006, 10:42:24 PM

meat temp is at 145-150ish, still have another 45 min for 3 hrs. Might need to go longer, smells good though

GrillinFool · February 24, 2006, 11:46:55 PM

The ribs will get to 145-150 ish pretty quick but getting to 185 will take much longer then you think if you are keeping the Bradley at 210 or less.

The Grillin Fool