Help with baby back ribs

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big daddy 67

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 31, 2013
4
10
Garden Grove, California
I am in need of some guidance with baby back ribs. I smoked them on my XL Master Built propane smoker for 3 hours. The ribs came out dark brown almost black and they were tough. Any and all help will be appreciated.

Thank you,

Big Daddy
 
With only 3 hours and being that dark your rub probably has a high sugar content.

Try foiling after 2 hours to protect them from darkening. Foil will also help in tenderizing as well.

Using a rub with less sugar will also work.
 
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i agree with Dan-FireCraft...................with a high sugar rub it will darken , almost black but if you haven't pulled them off yet , you can still save them by wrapping in foil with a little bit of apple juice and butter in the foil and wrapped tight then back on the smoker to finish.
 
 
I am in need of some guidance with baby back ribs. I smoked them on my XL Master Built propane smoker for 3 hours. The ribs came out dark brown almost black and they were tough. Any and all help will be appreciated.

Thank you,

Big Daddy
I can't speak to much about your problem without more info, but if the ribs were tough then they were underdone, that much is certain. At 225° they would have needed 2 or 3 more hours cook time, depending on their size.
 
I'm wondering if maybe your temperatures were higher than you thought.

Three hours at 225 is not enough time to cook baby-backs, you need about 5 hours at 225.  Also, sugar usually doesn't burn until you get above 250* F.  You should make sure your temps are accurate and perhaps invest in a good digital thermometer to monitor smoker temps.  The Maverick ET-732 is a good one and is available on this site.

Good luck

Bill
 
I am wondering if you had too much smoke. The ribs were not tender, so they needed more time. But you said they were very dark, so how did they get that way? Smoke is the only thing I can think of, unless your temps were so high that it burnt the meat. That makes me think your temp gauge might be fine, or at least close. Did you run on propane only, or were you adding chunks/chips? If yes to chips/chunks, how much and how often? Did you wrap in foil toward end of cook, or unwrapped the entire cook?

At 275, spares an average size spare will cook in 4 to 4.25 hours. I seldom do baby backs, but as I remember, they cooked slightly faster (maybe 20 minutes less).

If you care to try again, I would do around two hours or so ( until they are a nice mohogany color) with light smoke. Then wrap in foil with the typical honey/brown sugar and whatever else you want and go for another two hours until the ribs are almost done. Then glaze both sides and go for 5 minutes to set the sauce.

Eat.


S.
 
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I'm wondering if maybe your temperatures were higher than you thought.

Three hours at 225 is not enough time to cook baby-backs, you need about 5 hours at 225.  Also, sugar usually doesn't burn until you get above 250* F.  You should make sure your temps are accurate and perhaps invest in a good digital thermometer to monitor smoker temps.  The Maverick ET-732 is a good one and is available on this site.

Good luck

Bill
I agree...how accurate is the smoker thermometer? Ever tested it for accuracy? Sounds like mine and many first smokers.. temps higher than thought! Get a good temp read.. and lets do it again. . Pictures next time.. that away we see what you see :)
 
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