First time smoking baby back ribs...

[paleoman]

Hi everyone! I had a quick question that I'm hoping for some suggestions.

I'm done numerous baby back ribs on a grill, with the process being...

• Membrane removed and dry rub applied
• Indirect cooking
• Wrap in foil with apple juice and steamed
• Unwrapped and cooked with BBQ sauce applied

I wanted to give a go at using my smoker, and found this link for a 2-2-1 method. Essentially, it does:

• Membrane removed, mustard, and dry rub applied (I used my Memphis style rub)
• Smoking at 225˚F for 2 hours, meat side up.
• Wrap in foil, with pats of butter and honey drizzled on meat side.
• Smoke for 2 hours, meat side down, in wrapping.
• Unwrap, and smoke for 1 hour meat side up with BBQ sauce applied.
• Covered and rested for 15 mins.

I followed this approach, using my Traeger pellet smoker with cherry pellets, and only applied BBQ sauce once on the final phase (I checked at the end of the hour and it seemed to have a good coating still.

Here's how it looked during cooking after unwrapping, before BBQ sauce applied...

End result...

I was very pleased! The flavor was wonderful, a bit spicy from the rub, but sweet from the honey/butter. It had a great smoke ring, as you can see in the last shot, and the meat was tender.

The only thing I noticed, was it was not as juicy as when I did it on the grill. What modifications could I do, to maybe improve on the moisture?

Should I add apple juice, when wrapping in foil?
Should I maybe add a pan of water, during the smoking process?
If so, should I put a rack in a pan with water, and the ribs on the rack (versus just including the pan in the smoker on the side?
Or should I try a higher temp, with shorting cooking? If so, how much, how long?

I really like the results of this method, so I'd like to try to refine it some. Worst case, I could smoke and transistion to the grill for steaming and finishing, but it seems more convenient to just use the smoker.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Fraser]

Sure you’ll get plenty, here’s my $0.02:
Your prep sounds great! I usually smoke to color, your 60min @ 225F is fine. Sometimes I’ll spritz with pineapple juice & apple cider vinegar once or twice.
If I wrap, I’ll kick the pit to 275-300F to shorten the cook. In the wrap, I’ll dump in a small amount (~2 Tbsp) of the juice mix and maybe a little bbq sauce in addition to your butter & honey. Wrap tight in foil, you’re looking to braise, not steam. At 275F you won’t need 2 hours; cook to bend, pullback, etc. If you’re nervous about physical/visual clues, just shoot for 202F temp. Adjust to your pref next time.
I think also the 1 hour tack-up time is a bit much. Another advantage of higher finish temp is shorter glaze time, 10-15 minutes. Only keep eye on them, high sugar sauces can readily burn; I like a thinner, low sugar glaze For that reason.
Don’t forget to rest them! I like to loosely wrap in foil and into a warm cooler.
Others may disagree, but I’ve not found a water pan to do much in a pellet cooker; the air simply travels too fast thru cooker. Remember, there’s a lot of air ripping thru a pellet cooker, more time in that breeze the drier your product. So, low to smoke to color, then crank & wrap!

Btw, a nice finishing touch is ‘dusting’ before service. Just put a small amount of your rub into a spice grinder pulsed to fine powder, load into a tea ball strainer, a few taps on ribs for presentation!

Hope this helps!
-fraser

 

[paleoman]

Sure you’ll get plenty, here’s my $0.02:
Your prep sounds great! I usually smoke to color, your 60min @ 225F is fine. Sometimes I’ll spritz with pineapple juice & apple cider vinegar once or twice.
If I wrap, I’ll kick the pit to 275-300F to shorten the cook. In the wrap, I’ll dump in a small amount (~2 Tbsp) of the juice mix and maybe a little bbq sauce in addition to your butter & honey. Wrap tight in foil, you’re looking to braise, not steam. At 275F you won’t need 2 hours; cook to bend, pullback, etc. If you’re nervous about physical/visual clues, just shoot for 202F temp. Adjust to your pref next time.

That does sound interesting with higher temp. Mine had a good bend to them, but were only at about 155-160˚F at the end (hard for me to measure with baby backs and the bones).

I think also the 1 hour tack-up time is a bit much. Another advantage of higher finish temp is shorter glaze time, 10-15 minutes. Only keep eye on them, high sugar sauces can readily burn; I like a thinner, low sugar glaze For that reason.

Makes sense.

Don’t forget to rest them! I like to loosely wrap in foil and into a warm cooler.

I had it loosely wrapped on the counter, for about 15 mins.

Others may disagree, but I’ve not found a water pan to do much in a pellet cooker; the air simply travels too fast thru cooker. Remember, there’s a lot of air ripping thru a pellet cooker, more time in that breeze the drier your product. So, low to smoke to color, then crank & wrap!

I definitely had some good smoke - raising after may be better. I'm wondering if water pans help. I used them in the electric smoker I had, but was unsure with the pellet cooker.

Btw, a nice finishing touch is ‘dusting’ before service. Just put a small amount of your rub into a spice grinder pulsed to fine powder, load into a tea ball strainer, a few taps on ribs for presentation!

Cool idea. I must admit, mine were very tasty and I didn't add any additional BBQ sauce, when eating (nor did anyone else).

Hope this helps!
-fraser

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Lots of different ideas and techniques, but if you're happy with the results, stick to your process.

We like ribs that are bite through, not FOTB, so I don't wrap. Also don't use a binder or remove the membrane. I, too, have not seen where a water pan does much and definitely believe that putting anything in a pan other than water has no effect on taste. If I'm cooking only 1 or 2 racks, I do them on a Weber with the fire off to one side. More than that, there're on a stick burner so not much help with a pellet grill...

 

[crazymoon]

PM, Your ribs look great, maybe add some juice next time??

 

[paleoman]

PM, Your ribs look great, maybe add some juice next time??

They look great and have wonderful flavor, just a tiny bit dry. I'm wondering if adding some apple juice, when wrapped, would help.

That, and maybe Fraser's comment about higher temp, and shorter time for the last part of the cook. I've got another rack, so next time I'm try some of the changes folks are suggesting.

 

[crazymoon]

They look great and have wonderful flavor, just a tiny bit dry. I'm wondering if adding some apple juice, when wrapped, would help.

That, and maybe Fraser's comment about higher temp, and shorter time for the last part of the cook. I've got another rack, so next time I'm try some of the changes folks are suggesting.

PM, I stick at 225* and do a 2-2-1 with good results for my taste. Many variations for cooking ribs and they all come down to folks personal preferences . Experiment and you'll get your method down to a science, best part about the learning curve is the product is always edible .

 

[DRKsmoking]

First off, they look great, and I love the colour.

Now everyone like said above ^^^^ has their way to do and love. I have done a few ways and love them all.
To me it is how do I feel today, what will I do with the ribs.

So read what everyone says , put your take on it and keep trying until you get what you and your family really like.

And that in my house is even a hard thing , as everyone has their opinion on how they like them.

Good luck and you are on the right trail.

David

 

[912smoker]

I say stick with the process that you and your family prefer. Most wrap with squeeze butter, brown sugar, honey(try Mike's Hot) and a little juice of choice....apple ,peach...
But if
"but were only at about 155-160˚F at the end " , the fat was not fully rendered.
Somewhere between 200-205 IT should help with the juices. The main thing to check for is tenderness, not temp.
Looks like your keeping a cook journal and that will definitely help you fine tune your process and help find the desired results!

Keith

 

[paleoman]

I say stick with the process that you and your family prefer. Most wrap with squeeze butter, brown sugar, honey(try Mike's Hot) and a little juice of choice....apple ,peach...
But if
"but were only at about 155-160˚F at the end " , the fat was not fully rendered.
Somewhere between 200-205 IT should help with the juices. The main thing to check for is tenderness, not temp.
Looks like your keeping a cook journal and that will definitely help you fine tune your process and help find the desired results!

Keith

So that's the thing I'm trying to figure out...

They were tender, didn't seem fatty (you can see that in some of the slices), but were a bit on the drier side. I'm trying to sort that out. I was worried about cooking longer, thinking it would only dry out more.

When I did this on the propane grill, the second stage, where it was wrapped, I added 1/2C apple juice to the rack (no butter or honey in that case) and sealed tightly. I would do 30 mins cooking bare, 30-40 mins wrapped, and up to 30 mins for finishing.

 

[sandyut]

Those look nice!

I do mine at 250 straight through. Just rub and smoke. @195-200 IT for a little chew, more for more FOTB.

The three packs I get at Costco seems to have a nearly nonexistent membrane that just shreds in little pieces, so i pretty much gave up and skip that step now.

 

[JckDanls 07]

I would do 30 mins cooking bare, 30-40 mins wrapped, and up to 30 mins for finishing.

WOW... You musta been running around 500 degrees cooking temp to cook that quick...

I use a little beer in my wrap... Since I'm drinking one or 5 while I'm cooking...

 

[paleoman]

WOW... You musta been running around 500 degrees cooking temp to cook that quick...

On my propane grill, I had it at about 350-375˚F doing 30-30-30 mins.

I use a little beer in my wrap... Since I'm drinking one or 5 while I'm cooking...

:)

 

[millerbuilds]

Ribs look great! I typically use time as a guide and pull when the meat has pulled away from the bones and is probe tender.

Nice work!

- Jason

 

[Fraser]

Mine had a good bend to them, but were only at about 155-160˚F at the end

Not near hot enough, imo. Connective tissue needs to be 195-205F (or, depending on the animal, sometimes even higher) to break down and become juicy. It’s tricky to temp ribs, I use a needle probe on a Dot or ChefAlarm.
Some other tips for moist & juicy spares:
1. Start with good quality, well marbled racks.
2. Refer to Step#1.
3. Dry-brine 2-4 hours before cooking.
4. Spritz once or twice during smoke.
5. Add apple/pineapple/mango juice in wrap. Just enough to braise. Wrap tightly.
6. Cook to 195F and begin checking for doneness (bend, pullback, probe tender, etc). Every rack is different. There’s a reason rib joints carefully (and usually single-) source their product. I’ve had some racks go to 210F before done.
7. Limit glaze tack-up time in the cooker, especially a pellet smoker. Or better, finish in the oven.

 

[paleoman]

Not near hot enough, imo. Connective tissue needs to be 195-205F (or, depending on the animal, sometimes even higher) to break down and become juicy. It’s tricky to temp ribs, I use a needle probe on a Dot or ChefAlarm.
Some other tips for moist & juicy spares:
1. Start with good quality, well marbled racks.
2. Refer to Step#1.
3. Dry-brine 2-4 hours before cooking.
4. Spritz once or twice during smoke.
5. Add apple/pineapple/mango juice in wrap. Just enough to braise. Wrap tightly.
6. Cook to 195F and begin checking for doneness (bend, pullback, probe tender, etc). Every rack is different. There’s a reason rib joints carefully (and usually single-) source their product. I’ve had some racks go to 210F before done.
7. Limit glaze tack-up time in the cooker, especially a pellet smoker. Or better, finish in the oven.

For step 6, are you shooting for that temp in the wrap, or after the wrap?
If after, are you getting it close and then adding BBQ sauce for step 7?

 

[sandyut]

For step 6, are you shooting for that temp in the wrap, or after the wrap?
If after, are you getting it close and then adding BBQ sauce for step 7?

I suggest you try not wrapping. I stopped wrapping anything and never looked back. I know all kinda of sites say wrap, 3-2-1, 2-2-1, bla bla bla. try skipping it.

 

[Redicans]

Ribs look great to me!! I use an offset so there are differences. I have done no wrap, foil wrap and butchers paper wrap. I prefer no wrap or paper wrap. Foil came out to soft for me but that's also because I should have pulled earlier. My favorite is paper wrapped as it keeps things nice and moist but the bark stays nice and there is still a nice bite to the ribs, that's how I like them. But sometimes no wrap is where it's at, Hahaha!!! I know confusing. You just have to try different methods and see what you like!

But what you did looks Awesome and I would love a plate of those!!

 

[Fraser]

For step 6, are you shooting for that temp in the wrap, or after the wrap?
If after, are you getting it close and then adding BBQ sauce for step 7?

After wrapping, give them about 30 minutes cook and then peek. You’ll need to open the top foil a bit to accurately probe. Close the wrap and continue checking every 15 minutes. Once you hit 195F or so, start looking for your doneness cues (bend, pullback, probe tender, etc), should be around 205F. Then unwrap and glaze. Time isn’t important here; by the time that’s done and ribs are back on, the rib temp will have dropped enough that the 10-15 minute tack-up will set the glaze but won’t allow overcooking. Pull them off, loosely tent for rest and you should be golden!