First baby backs tomorrow.... here's my plan.

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aarondunlap

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 25, 2013
19
10
1) Leave them in the fridge till tomorrow at around 10am.

2) Pull em out and generously rub them down with my special rub

3) Get my smoker to ~230-240

4) Put them on, close the lid and don't open it for 4 hours (maaaaybe spritz them once or twice with apple juice/cider vinegar)

5) Sauce them for the last hour till they get to 190

First time doing ribs, so let me know if that sounds screwy.... I've read up on the 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 method, but I'm really anti foiling during the whole process.  I'm more of a "set it and forget it" kind of smoker.  I'd rather let them rest covered in foil at the end of the smoke.
 
I am still very new at this, however I have done a total of 4 racks of spare ribs now, ( two smokes ) and can at least share with how I did mine.

I put the rub on my ribs, the night before - cleaned them, removed membrane, rubbed them and sealed them up in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge.

The next morning, got my smoker as close to the 240 mark as I could. Since I was doing spares, I used the 3-2-1 method.

Layed out the spares on the cooking grate, meat side up. Sprayed them good with a 50-50 mix of apple cider vinegar and apple juice.

Kept an eye on the temps throughout, and opened the lid every hour for the first three hours and sprayed them good again with the above mixture.

The 2 hours after the first three, I put them in foil, sprayed real good once again, and sealed the foil up and returned to cooking grate. Actually for one of my smokes, the weather was horrible and had a hard time maintaining temps, so the 2 hour sealed in foil for that one, I actually did in the oven at 240. The other smoke I kept on the smoker the whole time.

Unwrapped them for the final hour, gave one more good spraying of apple cider/juice mixture. Last 30 minutes, I basted with barbeque sauce.

I can say both smokes, the ribs did not have a piece of dry meat on them anywhere, they were really good.

Others way more knowledgeable than me can help you more, just thought I would share my experience - and I did these smokes  from the knowledge I gained from this forum.
 
I find it's hard to get a good temp reading on ribs so I go more for the bend test, of course this only works with full racks. I will also do like I do with brisket and probe with a toothpick. I really prefer to cook them naked with SPOG and that's it. NO foiling is the best
 
I find it's hard to get a good temp reading on ribs so I go more for the bend test, of course this only works with full racks. I will also do like I do with brisket and probe with a toothpick. I really prefer to cook them naked with SPOG and that's it. NO foiling is the best

X2
Dirtsailor beat me to it. Do the bend test
 
Last edited:
Don't forget to pull the membrane off the bone side. It will never get tender and also keeps rub/sauce/spritz from soaking in from the bone side unless removed
 
 
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1) Leave them in the fridge till tomorrow at around 10am.

2) Pull em out and generously rub them down with my special rub

3) Get my smoker to ~230-240

4) Put them on, close the lid and don't open it for 4 hours (maaaaybe spritz them once or twice with apple juice/cider vinegar)

5) Sauce them for the last hour till they get to 190

First time doing ribs, so let me know if that sounds screwy.... I've read up on the 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 method, but I'm really anti foiling during the whole process.  I'm more of a "set it and forget it" kind of smoker.  I'd rather let them rest covered in foil at the end of the smoke.
This is a sound plan. I would keep the temp a little lower around 210* to 220*. So no need to spritz or even open the lid until after 4 and 1/2 hours or so just to check. Although I am not sure what kind of smoker you have. Good Luck, RP
 
I did not foil my last batch of ribs, and the wife politely directed me never to try that again.
wife.gif
 
The slabs are on the smoker... I couldn't really figure out how to get the membrane off... so i just left it on.  I've had ribs with it on there before that weren't too bad, so not thinking too much of it.  Here's some q-view!


I will post more pics as they cook!
 
What did she say was wrong with them?

Also, I have a chargriller offset smoker with a few mods.
Even though I spritzed often with apple juice, they still came out drier than with foiling.

Removing the membrane is relatively easy, although every rack is different and some come off easier than others.

You just use a butter knife to pry up the membrane from the back of one rib on one end, and then use a piece of paper towel to grasp the loose part. Then gently pull in the opposite direction.

It should come off cleanly in one piece, but sometimes it'll tear and you have to try again.
 
While I am sitting here just staring at my smoker, has anyone ever thought of putting a sheet of steel/iron in the firebox to "push" the heat into the main chamber (on an offset smoker)? Attached at the top of the opening to the main chamber and then angled downward toward the firebox vent? The heat rising would then move itself into the main chamber more easily I would think.
 
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