Ribs on the Drum, foiled & unfoiled.

[wutang]

Fired up the drum this past weekend for some babybacks. I have been reading other UDS users posting about how the drum is a very moist cooking environment (and I agree based on the moisture accumulation on the bottom of my drum) So I decided to do a little side by side comparison

3 slabs, rubbed and ready for some smoke


One slab went about 5 hours straight through. And the other 2 got a modified 2-2-1 method. It was probably about 2.5-2.0-.5 The slab that is closest in the pic is the unfoiled slab. You can see one of the rear slabs fell apart when I picked it up of the grate


Here is a cross section pic. The one on the right is the unfoiled


All in all it was good. My temps were running a little hot today so the bark is a little too crisp. The meat inside both was juicy and tender. But the unfoiled slab had a crisper exterior. I think that is probably a by product of temp and maybe a little too much brown sugar in the rub.

I will probably continue to foil in the future but wouldn't mind leaving them unfoiled from time to time.

 

[mballi3011]

Thanks for the side by side challange looks like it came out well. It does look like the foiled were alittle juicer but theyt both look yummo.

 

[irishteabear]

They all look really good. I'm thinking ribs are going to be in my smoker soon after seeing these.

 

[rivet]

Thanks for the comparison test and q-vue, tht was very helpful. Both your rib sets looked outstanding and I will definiteely be making them in the next coupl of weeks when the kids come down!

 

[bman62526]

Thanks for the experiment! I have done both ways, and to be honest - I can't make up my mind which method I like better. Guess that means I should get some ribs and try again, huh?

 

[grothe]

Both wrapped and and unwrapped look great ta me....Nice!!

 

[9manfan]

They both look very good, did you mop them at all when foiling them??

 

[sumosmoke]

Most definitely, Bman, get that experiment running asap!

Wu - nice side by side comparison of the foiled vs non-foiled comparison. Lots of discussion is held on the site about what method is preferred but, as with most things with this hobby, it's personal preference that wins every time.

Great work (as always)!

 

[wutang]

I added some cherry juice when foiling the 2 slabs. I sprayed the unfoiled slab with cherry juice a couple times when I had to open the lid anyway.

 

[wmarkw]

They both look real good!

 

[ocsnapper]

I've cooked lots of baby back ribs just not on a smoker yet, I can tell ya that warping them in foil will make them more tender then just cooking them unwrapped, as for taste they will come out about the same one being a little more juicier ( wrapped) then the other and fall off the bone.

Other then that I love them either way just pick the one that makes you want more..

 

[old poi dog]

Thanks for doing the side by side comparison. They only made me Hungrier. Thanks for the views.

 

[travcoman45]

Nice lookin ribs buddy! Always a good thin when ya get ta eat an experiment!

 

[bigsteve]

My kind of experiment!

I've done both ways. I'm not partial to either, like them both. Family prefers ribs falling off the bone, so I foil.

 

[billbo]

I have only just started to foil, I never have in the past. I have found that if I double foil, the racks don't fall apart when you lift them off the rack as happened in your pic.

I did a side by side last weekend of single vs double foil. It was not planned, I had a hole in one so I needed to double wrap.

The single wrap fell apart on the grill. The double did not. It held together just enough. I like a full rack to come off my smoker, not a pile.

 

[wutang]

Thanks for the tip, I will give that a shot.

 

[bigbaldbbq]

I wouldn't throw either one off my plate!!