Pork Ribs?

[Bukmstr]

Alright guys, tell me your smoking tactics for pork ribs. I have the brisket down pat IMO.....but seem to over cook ribs where they just fall apart. I usually wrap them in foil after a copule of hours @ 225-250 on the pit and then cook for another 1.5 to 2 hours. Am I cooking them to long in the foil?

I do not cook them enough cause the wife really does not care for ribs. Plan on smoking some at the deer lease this weekend for the fellas.....

[MarshJr.]

yea, i hate it too when the meat is super tender like that...

haha...j/k,
let em sit for alittle bit after cooking to cool down, they will harden a bit to cut them

[yazoomike]

200-225 until they are done. no wrapping required.

[Blue Water Breaux]

imo, you are cooking them WAY too long. I cook my ribs in foil and actually close them up, only opening them once, maybe twice at most to check and see how much longer they need to be on the pit. My ribs usually only take 50-60 mins, MAX and they are falling off of the bone. Also, you can put ice or water in the foil to make them more moist and juicy.

[Too Tall]

Also, you can put ice or water in the foil to make them more moist and juicy.try apple juice next time.

[Roger]

Try the 3-2-1 method, trim your ribs and give them a good rub. Wrap and put in the frig over night. Take 'em out of the frig and start the fire. When the temp stabilizes at around 225 degrees. Put 'em on the smoker and moniter the temp in the smoker. After an hour I'll start to spritz mine with apple juice, once an hour. After 3 hrs take 'em off and wrap in foil, pour about a 1/2 cup of apple juice in before you wrap 'em up. Let go for 2 hrs still monitoring the temp in the smoker. After 2hrs unwrap 'em and place back on the smoker for 1 hr. They'll be done. Look for the meat to just suck up on the bone just a little bit. Enjoy

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v225/Rooster5101/funny%20stuff/Bacon.gif

[notthatdeep]

Method mentioned by Roger, 3-2-1 works everytime.

[Northsider]

Method mentioned by Roger, 3-2-1 works everytime.Yes sir it does.

[brazman]

I want to chime in with my better-than-restaurant-quality smoked pork ribs:

Bend a rack of ribs into a gallon ziplock bag, pour in enough apple juice to cover the ribs, plus 1/3 C salt and 1/3 C sugar. Brine overnight (this is soooo crucial).
Get your grill going, I use a Weber kettle grill personally. I get my coals going in a chimney starter, about 2/3 full, put an aluminum baking pan right in the center of the coal grate then shake hot coals on either side of the pan. Carefully pour off the brine from the ziplock into the aluminum pan, put the grill back on and put the rack of ribs directly over the pan. This will catch the drips and help keep the ribs moist with a little steam. I don't add anything to the ribs during the cooking process, no rub, no sauce, no nuthin'! I throw some unsoaked mesquite chunks on the coals, enough to keep it smoking like a banshee, every 15-30 min for about 2 hours. Then I wrap the rack in foil and let it set for another 30-60 min just to make certain the meat is done. Pull off the grill and let it set for a good while, 10-15 min. It will let the meat firm up, redistribute the juices, and get all perfect and stuff. Meanwhile, pull that delicious aluminum pan-full of brine and meat drippings out of the grill and pour off into a big sauce pan. Boil that stuff down to get rid of most of the water (but don't scorch it!!!!!) and use it to make the best barbecue sauce you could ever hope to eat. We pour it over mashed potatoes. It's almost better than the ribs. Almost.

2 C reduced brine/drippings
2 C ketchup
2 T mustard
2 T soy sauce
2 T Worchestershire Sauce
2 T honey
as much tobasco or pepper sauce as you want
2-3 T apple cider vinegar

Of course, if it's too runny for your taste, add more ketchup or even a commercial BBQ sauce (cheap, like Kraft or something) to thicken it up. The smokey porky flavor is something you can't buy in stores!
Hope someone tries this and has the same results I've had. For what you get out of it, it's really easy and people will start talking about you. Trust me.

[jarrod croaker]

cut up 2 bell peppers and 2 onions put in alum pan with rips pour on 1 bottle of italian dressing cook at 300 till bone is about to fall out then gently remove ribs from pan and put directly on grill this will toughen the meet back up so the bones dont fall out cover in your favorite sauce and ur in business . same method works on loins and briskets if you poke lots of holes in them

[Roger]

JMO, but in over 30yrs. of smoke'n meat I've never brined ribs, poultry always and some larger cuts of pork. Also, you don't need that stack blow'n smoke like a freight train. Just a thin blue line of smoke is all you need to get the flavor, anymore will tend to give you a bitter taste or a creosote taste in the meat.

Starting ribs in the oven or boiling them is sacrelegous. JMO

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v225/Rooster5101/Food/MyNextSmoke003-2.jpg

[Old Whaler]

I learned this from an old man who smoked meats all the time. Rub the ribs down the night before. Start fire and let ribs get to room temp. Never put cold meat on a fire. Smoke at 225F for several hours and pull off and wrap very tight with saran wrap and then wrap tight in foil. Put back on grill for about two hours. The natural juices just steam and brake down the fat. Pull them off and let cool for thirty minutes. Unwrap and slice. I guarantee they will be awesome.

[scwine]

Did not see it mentioned, but I always grab a paper towel and pull off the membrane on the underside before cooking. Anyone else?

[Roger]

scwine, you are correct, I guess I just forgot to mention it.

[boats-r-me]

OMG!!! never wrap in foil..... Place the ribs (meat side up) right on the hot grill. No seasoning yet!!! After 15 minutes, rub the meat side with Emeril Lagasse RIB RUB. Its about $3.00. The membrane side toughens up and will later have that snap to it when you bite it, and the meat side fibers loosen up from the indirect heat to let the seasoning in. Get a good coverage with the rub before you flip it. Then flip the meat side down and sprinkle some more rib rub on the membrane side. Cover for 15 more minutes. Then soak the membrane side with BBQ sause, and flip the meat side up, soak (Lightly)with bbq sause a cover again for 15 minutes. The meat pulls back off the bone a little, and the juices drip clear when you pull a bone to test. 45 minutes, clean, and very good!!!

[RubenZamora]

I agree. no wrap in Foil. Thats not BBQ'ing ;) Thats just as good as oven baking. Leave that to the Ladies :)

[anomaly]

Absolutely!

Did not see it mentioned, but I always grab a paper towel and pull off the membrane on the underside before cooking. Anyone else?

[TheOnlyAddiction]

if you have to use foil you mite as well use an oven!

[bcj]

Lots of different methods. I pull off the membrane, rub overnight (mostly with John Henry's Pecan Rub or Stubb's Spice Rub) and cook with indirect heat on a big green egg (http://www.biggreenegg.com) with no foil or any other wrapper. I put a drip pan a couple of inches below the grate with dark beer in it. I stand the ribs up in a rib rack with the "fatter" end on top to allow the juices from the fat to fall down the rib. Smoke around 215-225 for about 3-3.5 hours.

Using a ceramic cooker like the gig green egg holds the moisture in so well that you'll actually have liquid drip down the outside of the egg from the top air vent. Works well for almost anything.

Brian

[Fisher_Of_Men]

Well, I love to cook ribs, especially in competition. I have several trophies for my efforts. Here's what I do. I season my ribs, meat side only with Best Stop seasoning from Scott, La. then I smoke for about 2.5 hrs at 250-275 degrees,(Pecan Wood is all I use on ribs) or until you can grab a bone, twist it and it barely gives from the meat. I immediately remove them and wrap in foil and let them sit on the counter for about 20-30 minutes. They will finish cooking and the foil intensifies the seasoning. I have seen some of the cook notes that said it looked like my seasoning was inside my meat, not just on top. I credit this to the foil wrapping at the resting stage.
When you cut these babies the meat will not just shred off. You will have beautiful cut ribs. If you like them a little sweet, when you take them off the pit, just brush with a little honey before wrapping in foil for the resting period. I've even been known to brush them with a little jalapeno jelly.

Good Luck...

[Titus Bass]

One of the best threads. I am going to try all the tips. I love to try new ways to grill or BBQ things.Some were good,some not fitin for the human being.

[poppadawg]

Good thread. Everytime I have tried the foil methods, it seems that I lose alot of the smokey flavor. Its tender but just doen't have enough of that true Q flavor. Does anyone else notice that?
same problem with brisket, which is disappointing to me with all the time invested

[Tiny]

I like to wash mine w/ vinegar and let sit about 30 minutes, then wash off vinegar w/ apple juice.

Smother with mustard then apply the bug rub.

Wrap tightly in a plastic garbage bag and let sit in fridge over night.

First thing in the morning, pull the ribs out and let them sit, opened and get to room temp.

Fire up the pit and get temp to 200 - 250 (mine stays at 250)

Make sure you have a good White smoke before putting the ribs on...

I then smoke the ribs until the meat pulls up on the bone.

In the mean time, I make my sticky sauce. El Cheapo BBQ sauce, Honey, Brown Sugar and Cayanne Pepper.

Apply the sauce and wrap the ribs to cook for about 30 minutes for tendering..

Unwrap the ribs and put back on the smoker to dry.... you should have no smoke at this time.. When they are not dripping wet any more.. they are ready!!

I've gotten 2nd and 3rd place at our company cook off with this method, also 2nd cut at Galv. Co. Fair and 5th place at TC fun fest.

[Tiny]

Ohhh... when we have BBQ at the house or a friends.. my kids ask "are these your ribs?""" if the answer is no... they frown and won't eat 'em... if the answer is yes... I can't keep them away from them!

[Fisher_Of_Men]

I love to cook ribs. My friend makes this Strawberry pepper jelly and I love to baste my babybacks with it. I can never cook enough of these tasty bones... They taste better than they look...:cheers:

[tpool]

What tinyrogerd01 said....... I coat in mustard too (you will not taste it - it is there to help the rub 'gel' to the ribs).......... I make my own rub out of brown sugar, cayenne, garlic powder, black pepper, and a few more things.... I also finish in the tin foil 45 minutes or so (just for the tenderizing part). You can leave on the grill all the way, but I do not suggest it cooking with wood (oversmoked)... But if you wanna call BBQ'ing with charcoal and slathering in BBQ sauce BBQ'ing then go ahead and leave them uncovered... :-)

And I'll be trying some other rubs and spices that have been mentioned here!

T-BONE

[das71198]

Here is a good link to a BBQ web site. They have some great information.
http://forum.texasbbqrub.com/
The next site has everything you would like to know about ribs.
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/ribselect.html
This is a rib prep site.
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/loinbackribprep.html

Enjoy your BBQ.

[drfishalot]

pull the membrane, rub em, smoke at 225 for 4.5 hrs, rest a "while", then eat, won't need any sauces or jellys or basting.

[bwebster]

texasbbqrub.com original rub w/ worchestire (sp?) for several hrs, or overnight. fire up pit to 225 (i like to use pecan) and 3 to 3 1/2 hrs...let rest loosely covered for 30 minutes to an hr