2nd Effort on the DBS - RIBS!

[NorthernSmoke]

First try a couple of weeks ago was a pork shoulder. 2nd try were RIBS! I pretty much followed Icerat4s advice and I have to say that these turned out really good. The meat absolutely fell off the bone and all diners were suitably impressed. I was concerned about the color and level of smoke, but I'll explain in the photos below:

Rub on - ribses waking up after a good nights sleep in the fridge:


Out if the smoker after 4 hrs. of hickory and about 1 hr. with no smoke at about 205-210F average:


Once they left the smoker, I sprayed on some apple juice and threw them in the oven sealed up nice and tight with a foil cover at 195F and left them for another 4 hrs. Here they are finished. That gleaming white part is clean bone - these babies were tender:


My only concern was that the color looked burned. They didn't taste burned, but the appearance wasn't appetizing. I wonder if I could have used less smoke. Maybe I should have taken them out of the oven and sprayed them more often ( I only sprayed them once at the beginning before I put then in the oven).

Any suggestions/comments welcome and thanks to Icerat4 and everyone else for your help!

[Gizmo]

Technique sounds good and I don't really know why the ribs continued to "Brown" after putting in the oven exept was there any apple juice in the bottom of the boat?  I don't see any in the picture.  I would have about 1/8 inch in the bottom for moisture.  If you did have liquid in the bottom, try 1 to 2 hours less in the oven.

The only difference that I do, is after the 4 hours of smoke, I pull the ribs spary and boat them.  Then they go in the oven for 1.5 hours or more depending on how tender I want them. 

[NorthernSmoke]

Hmm... I put a little juice in the bottom of the boat, but not that much. This was only 4 lbs. of ribs - maybe I left them in the oven too long? The whole cook including the 4 hr. smoke was 9 hrs. (4 smoke, 1 no smoke in the smoker and 4 in the oven).

[Gizmo]

Possibly.  I haven't needed to go over 6 hours including boating and have done them (last time) in 3 hours but that was only with 1 hour of smoke which wasn't enough smoke for my taste, but when you don't have the time......

If I need extra time after the 6 hours while preparing the rest of the meal, I would turn off the oven and let them FTC the oven modify way.

[NorthernSmoke]

Maybe  the problem was simple - I just cooked then for too long. They still tasted great - it was more of an appearance thing. It was easily fixed by slathering on some barbecue sauce  :P

[Gizmo]

I always prefer better taste over appearance.   ;)

The fun part is making the tweeks to get exactly what you want.

[SKSmoker]

When I do ribs, I hose them down with a 50/50 mix of apple juice and maple syrup. I spray them after the first 1.5 hours of cooking, at 30 minute intervals and it seems to work for me. Never oven'd, foiled, or boated my ribs, but perhaps the lack of moisture on the ribs, or too much rub?

[icerat4]

Cut the temp back on the oven to 190 and 3 1/2 hours they seem to be right on the cutting edge of turning dry.But ya got them out just in time.Make sure ya juice them down 3-4-5 times in the smoke prosses and then put the apple juice on the bottom of the foil pan and on the top ofr the ribs .This will create a nice steam bath while in the oven.But nice job .Good stuff.

[SKSmoker]

I just saw a post on here from someone saying to use Turbinado sugar, or Suger in the Raw as it has a higher burning point and won't turn so dark. I am going to give that a shot, maybe that is part of the appearance problem as well?

[projump]

I got some tubinado sugar at Wal-Mart, but havn't tried it yet. ;D Those ribs look real fine.

[Habanero Smoker]

Both brown and turbinado surgar have the same burning point. Turbinado may be easier to use in rubs.

[NorthernSmoke]

I just saw a post on here from someone saying to use Turbinado sugar, or Suger in the Raw as it has a higher burning point and won't turn so dark. I am going to give that a shot, maybe that is part of the appearance problem as well?

Actually, I used Turbinado sugar for the rub. But I'd agree with Hab, it's probably easier to use in the rub than regular brown. Having said that, I  believe my Smoke and Spice cookbook says something above it being less susceptible to heat...

[Habanero Smoker]

I should have given a longer explanation yesterday morning, but I was running on 2 hours of sleep. There was quite a long discussion on Turbinado sugar some time back. Since then I have had more time to research it. From what I've read, Turbinado is less susceptible to heat then refine sugar, but Turbinado and brown sugar are interchangeable in recipes, and both are less susceptible to heat over refine sugar. You can say Turbinado sugar is processed one step more then brown sugar, with some molasses and  most moisture removed it crystallizes, and has less of a molasses taste. Being in crystal form, it also makes it easier to use, and store then brown sugar. I often use Turbinado in my cures, instead of brown sugar. I just use a food grinder to make it a finer grind or powder. I still use brown sugar in most of my rubs.

"Turbinado Sugar is made by crushing the freshly-cut sugar cane to squeeze out the juice, rich in molasses, vitamins and minerals.  The cane juice is evaporated and spun in a centrifuge, or turbine, to produce the large sparkling golden crystals.  For this reason, this style of natural large sugar crystals is often referred to as Turbinado Sugar." 

If Turbinado sugar has too strong of a taste, another sugar that works well is Demerara sugar. I've been seeing that more often is some stores.

[NorthernSmoke]

I've seen the demerrara sugar in the store next to the regular brown sugar. Another option they have is called "Best Brown" which is darker and has a more intense sweetness and molasses flavour (good on cereal).

You know, the more I read about and contemplate smoking, the more I realize that this really is going to be a mixture of science/art. It reminds me of my days brewing beer. We did it from scratch (referred to as "all-grain" brewing) and it was a real feat of chemistry/art to get things just right. I can see that smoking is going to be much the same. I think I'll be getting a journal to record times, temperatures and recipes. There's just too much to keep track of for my screen door-like mind  ;D .

[HCT]

NorthernSmoke, The journal idea is a smart move. Just too much to forget when you're newbies like us.