Baby back ribs tough and rubbery

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00squirrel

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 20, 2014
6
10
Knoxville, TN
So after having success with other items I did my first attempt at smoking ribs. I smoked 4 racks of baby back ribs using the 2-2-1 method at about 225 degrees. The flavor was wonderful but the ribs were tough and rubbery. Any suggestions? Do I need to go longer in the foil?
 
David I couldn't really tell how tender they were coming out of the foil. I was monitoring the temperature using my smoker's thermometer and it was staying close to 225.
 
Smokers built in thermometers are notorious for not being accurate.  I assume you pulled the silver skin off the ribs.  Had the meat pulled back from the bones about 1 inch"?  If not, I believe they needed a longer cook. 
 
Try a maverick dual probe therm. A great tool to have and very accurate. Have a feeling you needed more time in the cooker. Masterbuilt, and most other dial therms are pretty unreliable. Were u smoking bb's or st louis ribs?
 
I have a Masterbuilt smoker as well, learned rather quickly the thermometer is unreliable. I have a dual digital thermometer and always hang one probe in the center of my smoker for more accurate temp.
 
Also with that many racks, 2 hrs isn't near long enouh in foil, I experienced the same results a few yrs back.
 
So after having success with other items I did my first attempt at smoking ribs. I smoked 4 racks of baby back ribs using the 2-2-1 method at about 225 degrees. The flavor was wonderful but the ribs were tough and rubbery. Any suggestions? Do I need to go longer in the foil?
Like others have said I think you were probably smoking at a much lower temp than you thought. Do a search for bend test and pullback. 
 
Tough and rubbery, not cooked long enough. Post picture next time
 
I agree with geerock about not foiling. I used to think that foiling was the only way to go for ribs. Don't get me wrong, it can and does produce great results. But I took some advice from other members on here when I was having the same problem you are. I didn't foil. Just used the bend and toothpick test. My baby backs came out moist and tender but had the best texture ever!
 
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