reassurance needed

[bo mack]

OK folks I did my first smoking last weekend on a Boston Butt and it turned out very good. Today it is raining and 45 degrees, I am doing 2 racks of spare ribs, and I am freaking out, thinking something will keep them from turning out very well. I am using hickory chips in a MES 40, Temps are running at around 240, give or take, I removed the membrane, did some trimming on the ribs, removed any thick chunks of fat, last night I coated with mustard and added a good coat of rub, I am going to let them run for about 3 hours or so before  I take a peek at them. So, what I am missing on this ?   Thanks

 

[chef jimmyj]

At 240+/-, No Foil, they will take pretty close to 6 hours to get Bend Test or Probe tender. If you want Fall Off the Bone, 2 hours or so in Foil with a little liquid is a good idea...The rest sounds good, No Peeking!...JJ

 

[SmokinAl]

Not missing anything. If you want fall off the bone ribs, foil them at 3 hrs with some liquid ( apple juice works well, or even water, not much just 1/4 cup or so. ) Let them cook another 2 hours, then take them out of the foil & put back on the smoker grate for 1 hour or a hot grill (500 degrees+) for a couple of minutes. If you have a thermapen, when the IT hits 195 between the bones their done. Good luck

 

[bo mack]

Thanks for the replies, now is the time to decide if I want to foil, or not to foil, I will be at 3 hours in just a few minutes

 

[bo mack]

Ok I gave in and went with apple juice and the foil, they looked good when I opened the smoker up

 

[loaf31]

I am a firm follower of the 3-2-1 method.

I like to foil mine after 3 hrs with some squeeze butter and brown sugar for 2 hours, then 1 hour out of the foil

 

[one eyed jack]

Ought to be just about dinner time.  How did they turn out?

I stopped wrapping ribs altogether about a year and a half ago.  Got tired of mushy ribs.  Seemed like Spares only needed about a half hour in the foil before getting too well done.  Worst thing was that they weren't predictable enough from rack to rack as to how much time to leave them in the foil.  I am much happier just foregoing the foil.

I generally don't even open the smoker till hour 5 and then I will start saucing,  if I have decided to sauce and start checking with the probe.