Country Style Pork ribs........................Epic Failure!!! Looking for where I went wrong.

corjen

Newbie

Original poster

Jun 18, 2011

26

10

Wichita KS

• Aug 16, 2011

• #1

Hello All, great site here. I pickrd up some very good tips. Have had very good sucess with other ribs, pork butt and Fattys.

So,all I had in the freezer was a rack of country style ribs, thawed them over night, rubbed and let them come up to room temp. Put them on my vertical smoker about 1 pm. Did the 321 method, Smoker stayed between 200 and 250 for entire time except when I was misting with apple juice. when I took them out of the foil for the last hour, checked the internal temp and it was only 135???? Anyway, after the hour, temp was only 145.....so I figured I better let them go for a while to get the temp up. 730 pm now, everybody is complaining that they are hungy..... I take them out @ 155 deg.  As soon as I touched them I knew somthing was wrong....Saraha desert dry!! Flavor was good, good smoke ring, ect. but dry, dry, dry.

I am thinking it was the extra time, but how could I have got the temp up without scorching them???

Anyway any tips would be great, thanks.

 

meateater

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Oct 17, 2009

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• Aug 16, 2011

• #2

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.  

 

pops6927

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• Aug 16, 2011

• #3

Have you tested your therm lately?  One quick drop on a hard surface and it can be off 30° or more.

 

venture

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Aug 1, 2008

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• Aug 16, 2011

• #4

As Pops said, you have to be sure of your therms.

Also CSR's are tricky these days because most of them are cut from the butt rather than the old way.

Hang in there and you will get the drill down.

Good luck and good smoking.

 

kielbasa kid

Smoke Blower

May 15, 2011

119

10

• Aug 16, 2011

• #5

"200 to 250"...on what?  The unit thermometer? 

Mine if off a consistent 32*.  That could be your problem?

Also, did you use a water pan? 

Did you marinate overnight with apple juice, cider vinegar and kosher salt? 

Apple juice tenderizes with its acid as does vinegar. Salt draws it in.

It's always good to have a hand cranked grinder, so you can hash your failures with some spuds.

As for the "3-2-1".............if this was a perfect world.....maybe!  You cannot trust it or count on it.

 

SmokinAl

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• Aug 17, 2011

• #6

   Glad to have you with us!

 

roller

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• Aug 17, 2011

• #7

Welcome...

 

bigeyedavid

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Apr 2, 2011

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Faribault,Mn

• Aug 17, 2011

• #8

Welcome aboard

 

chef jimmyj

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• Aug 17, 2011

• #9

Next time your getting close to dinner and your are making something thin like ribs or a variation and the temp is low like these were, do the following:

Foil them with 1/4C of your Apple Juice and and pop them in a 325*F oven. You will easily get them up to 195* in 1 Hour and the Braise you are giving them will replace the lost moisture.

It ain't the Classical CSR Smoking technique but it will feed a hungry family!

Speaking of family...Welcome to OURS!...JJ

 

Last edited: Aug 18, 2011

sqwib

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Sep 25, 2007

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Philadelphia

• Aug 17, 2011

• #10

Corjen said:

Hello All, great site here. I pickrd up some very good tips. Have had very good sucess with other ribs, pork butt and Fattys.

So,all I had in the freezer was a rack of country style ribs, thawed them over night,

Anyway any tips would be great, thanks.

Click to expand...

Are you sure they were thawed all the way through, I have thawed butts for 5 days and they are sometimes still frozen in the center. I don't think CSR's will thaw completely overnight, I could be wrong.

My best guess with the information you provided was that they were still partially frozen, that's assuming your thermos are accurate

Hoovering around 200° wont help either, try to keep your heat at around 225°.

Oh BTW

 

corjen

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Jun 18, 2011

26

10

Wichita KS

• Aug 17, 2011

• #11

Thanks All....appreciate the advise. I will check the thermometer on the smoker and my internal temp one. Again, great site, only problem is that I get so damn hungry when I am poking around on here!!!

 

Bearcarver

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Sep 12, 2009

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Macungie, PA

• Aug 17, 2011

• #12

I agree with the possible therm problem, but I have also found that when CSRs are cut apart, 3-2-1 seems to be much too long.

I guess it's because when cut in strips, either all the way through, or partially through, it allows the heat to hit it from too many directions, on too many surfaces, causing it to get done quicker & dry out. Just my observations.

My 2¢

Bear