Ribs problem on Masterbuilt 560, hotspots?

[SmokeyJoe55]

Hello everyone,
So after reading all the great info on here I finally decided to make an account. I just purchased a Masterbuilt 560 after previously smoking on a Weber kettle because I want to get into more serious BBQing.

I just did my first smoke on it yesterday with St. Louis spare ribs from Costco at temps averaging 265. I cooked them about 1.5-2 hours unwrapped and them wrapped them for the final hour before putting them back on for 15 minutes with sauce and no foil. The probe read 200 when I pulled them but most of the ribs were very chewy/undercooked and you had to rip them off the bone. But now here is what I don’t understand, the thickest part of the ribs, the last 3 ribs at the end, came out absolutely perfect. They were so juicy that juice literally poured out of them when you squeezed them and they weren’t over done where the whole meat pulls off in one bite, they had the perfect amount of tenderness and juiciness. So how can the thicker part of the meat be done so perfectly but the smaller parts still tough and undercooked? Unless I’m missing something smaller pieces of meat cook faster.

I searched this forum and managed to find only one post that someone had of the exact same problem (not on a Masterbuilt though) and one of the replies from one of you pitmasters said it was likely due to a hotspot that many smokers have. And I remember videos on youtube showing potential hotspot on the Masterbuilt 560. Is it really this bad on the 560? I kind of thought this grill was too good to be true. I even smoked it on the top most rack with a water pan on the bottom grates and used a Maverick ambient probe right next to the meat to monitor temps. If this is the case I just may have to return it. I have no idea how one rack of ribs can come out so unevenly with the thicker part done perfect and the thin part undercooked.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Chasdev]

First, all cookers have hot spots so it's a good idea to rotate the meat halfway through the cook.
Second, to me anyway, placing the meat close to the exhaust slot may cause issues due to the hot air flowing out of the cook chamber.
I found that the cast iron grate gets too hot at the feed chute end as well so I place a low sided pan on a cooling rack (with legs folded) on the cast iron and another in the pan and put the meat on the cooling rack inside the pan.
That creates an air gap between the hot cast iron grate and allows me to add liquid, plus it catches the drips.
Even doing the above, I still rotate the meat halfway through.
Lastly, some rib racks are better than others in terms of tenderness and I've bought two and had one come out fantastic and the other (cooked at the same time) come out dry and tough.
Best plan is to seek lighter racks (under 4 lbs) and ones that don't have that thick layer of muscle on top.

 

[thirdeye]

The overall issue is they were not cooked long enough to get tender, after the wrapped step did you get much pull back, and did you probe them with a toothpick to check tenderness?

A smoking time of 2 hours is pretty short, I usually go 3 hours, then wrap for at least an hour, maybe 90 minutes if needed. A good way to check hotspots in a smoker is to buy a cheap tube of buscuits. Get your smoker stabilized at 250° to 275°, then cut 12 squares of aluminum foil and place them throughout your smoker. Open the tube of biscuits and put 1 biscuit on each foil square, then close the lid. After 15 minutes, with a camera ready.... open the door long enough to take a photo. The amount of development and/or browning on the biscuits will tell you where your different zones of heat are.

 

[SmokeyJoe55]

First, all cookers have hot spots so it's a good idea to rotate the meat halfway through the cook.
Second, to me anyway, placing the meat close to the exhaust slot may cause issues due to the hot air flowing out of the cook chamber.
I found that the cast iron grate gets too hot at the feed chute end as well so I place a low sided pan on a cooling rack (with legs folded) on the cast iron and another in the pan and put the meat on the cooling rack inside the pan.
That creates an air gap between the hot cast iron grate and allows me to add liquid, plus it catches the drips.
Even doing the above, I still rotate the meat halfway through.
Lastly, some rib racks are better than others in terms of tenderness and I've bought two and had one come out fantastic and the other (cooked at the same time) come out dry and tough.
Best plan is to seek lighter racks (under 4 lbs) and ones that don't have that thick layer of muscle on top.

Yeah I know about the hotspots at grate level that’s why I did it on the top most rack and used a water pan so I’m surprised it still happened. These ribs were 3 pounds too. I’ll try rotating to see if that helps. It must be a hell of a hot spot to have this at the top most rack with the thick end being done that much faster than the thin end. You would think putting the thick end towards the hot spot/hopper would mitigate that but I guess not. I also don’t like the sound of needing to cook them in a pan and all that, a good smoker shouldn’t require all that. I won’t give up yet and I will try again.

 

[SmokeyJoe55]

The overall issue is they were not cooked long enough to get tender, after the wrapped step did you get much pull back, and did you probe them with a toothpick to check tenderness?

Yes I got pull back especially on the thick end, one bone literally fell out as I moved the meat around. However the bones in the middle of the rack only had slight pullback, like 1/4 inch, and they were still kind of tough when probing it, but what I still don’t get is why the thicker part was done when it should be the part that takes longer. The only answer is a hot spot so I will do the biscuit test to see if I have a defective unit or something, Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[thirdeye]

Do the biscuit test and see what the photo looks like. All smokers have hot and cold spots, so you can use that information to your advantage.

 

[Chasdev]

As long as you have the fire "distribution tube" connected to the burn chamber correctly then it is what it is heat distribution wise, which should be just like all other units.