What am I doing wrong? Ribs

[TwilightChrome]

I received my new SI#3 about a week ago. I seasoned it upon arrival. Since then I've tried to do St. Louis ribs twice. I have had a really hard time getting them to cook through to around 195 degrees internal or "falling off the bone" softness. I will describe what I have done hoping that someone can point me in a better direction. I really want this thing to work,  and preferably in a mostly "set it and forget it"  unattended mode.

In both cases I have prepared the smoker by lining the bottom in tin foil, poking a hole for drainage, lining the top of the smoke box with tin foil, using foil boats for the pieces of wood that I put in, and using a small loaf pan about three-quarters full of water pushed against the smoke box. I use about 3 ounces of hickory wood. I set the Smokin-It to around 235 degrees.

For the ribs,  I am getting cryovac packages from a butcher.  They are fairly meaty St.  Louis ribs.  I trim the flap,  remove the silver skin,  and apply yellow mustard then a rub.  I refrigerate overnight in foil.  The day I cook,  I let them come up towards room temperature while I prep the smoker.  I cook on the top two racks.  I start with a cold smoker and cold meat and go straight to 235.

The first time I was trying 5 hours no peek.  At 5 hours they looked nice but were just under 160 internal and not too tender.  I put them back in another hour and checked.  Barely any warmer or more tender.  I went one more hour and after still not even getting well into the 170's, decided I should pull them lest they dry too far out.  The finished product was flavorful but a fairly hard to chew and break from the bone.  I don't mind them like that but the family likes soft,  tender ribs.

Attempt two today I tried 3-2-1. Three hours on 235, pull and foil wrap tightly,  two more hours under foil with some apple cider added under the bone side also at 235,  pull and cover in barbecue sauce and then finish for one hour unwrapped.  After the first 3 hours we were at 155-ish. After the two hours of foil we were barely ten degrees higher!  I resorted to dropping them foil and all into a 300 degree oven indoors for 50 minutes.  That got them up to 190. I then basted them in BBQ sauce and put them back in the SI for an hour.  I got the results I wanted but the workarounds are too much.  I could not for example travel with the SI by itself somewhere and confidently cook ribs in 5.5-6  hours. I would be worried I needed the oven too.

Other info
I live in Massachusetts,  and it has been 40-60 degrees.  Sunny and calm first try,  rainy and mostly calm on second (rolled the SI under a deck to protect it)
I heard since rib meat is thin and hitting bones can cause bad temp readings that you should not go off temp alone.  I also used a fork test  and holding the ribs with tongs by the middle rib and noting the sag.  They did not get tender in the SI by any of these measures. Only after the oven bump.



Questions
I read in some places that ribs can stall. Is that what is happening here? If so why couldn't the SI break through the stall once I wrapped on the second day?

Should I have just let them keep cooking that first day? What would happen at say 9 or 10 hours with ribs?  I would assume dry and tough and not more tender?

On the second day it seemed that the back half of the SI was cooking faster than the front half.  Is it possible that I have a bum unit? I do not have an ambient temp measurement device but hope to soon (igrill). Is there any way I can test to see if the unit is holding temp correctly throughout? The analog temp dial/ results are not instilling me with confidence.

Does anyone find having a top temp of 250 limiting?  It seems like with a 300 top temp in the SI that I could press through (but I would still have to foil)

Is anyone getting to 195 internal/very tender St.  Louis  ribs without the Texas crutch and just a 5-6 hour no peek?  If so how are your variables different than mine?

I am reluctant to try a brisket or other more complex and longer-cooking meat until I get ribs right.  Should I be?

Thank you in advance for any and all help.

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[swthorpe]

I have a #2 and my ribs are fall off the bone after 5.5 hours with a setting of 225-235F.   Do you have a remote thermometer to monitor the temp inside the smoker?  If so, were you reaching the 235F temp?

[Pork Belly]

You have a lot of notes but you do not mention the actual temp inside your smoker. I think smoker temp and the use of foil are your problems. In my #3 I can make excellent ribs in 4 hours or less depending on mass. I am attaching pictures of six racks of baby backs done in 4.5 hours in my #3. Those bones would pull loose if grabbed with tongs and twisted. For me if I have good pull-back of the meat on the ends of the ribs they are nearly always perfectly tender for our taste.

I would worry less about Internal Meat temp on the ribs and focus on your actual smoker temp. Ribs and chicken wings, I cook for texture not temperature, , if a bone pulls out they are done. Try a small load of bricks or another batch of ribs and track the smoker temp. I believe your unit is not getting as hot as you are setting it for. 

I would also loose the foil boats and foiling ribs I have no use for either, but continue if they make you happy.

[WeekendWarrior]

My ribs always take 6+ hours at 235, I believe my smoker runs much cooler that others.

[TwilightChrome]

Thank you all for the feedback. I have a remote thermometer on order and it should show up Wednesday. I can try another smoke next weekend. Assuming that my smoker "runs cold", what can I do about it? Is there a remedy or a workaround? I'm inclined to think that if I buy something and it says it goes to 250 degrees, it should get there if I turn it up to 250 degrees, and the same for 235 degrees... Can I replace the heating element? Anything else I can do?

[swthorpe]

The remote thermometer will give you a good indication of whether you are reaching temp in your #3, so I recommend trying another smoke when you get the remote.   It really sounds like the unit was not fully heating to temp, but you won't know that until you use the remote therm.   Some folks have said the dial was off a bit so that when the set to 225, they were actually getting to about 200F or so.   I believe there are some forum posts about adjusting the dial, but I would not do this until you know what kind of temps you are actually getting from the desired set point.

[NDKoze]

I agree with Steve that you should wait to do any adjustments until after you have tested with your remote Thermometer.

In case you do need to adjust your dial, you can find the link to the instructions from the following page on the Smokin-It website:

http://www.smokin-it.com/Articles.asp?ID=251

[TwilightChrome]

Great advice everyone and thank you for the link!   I am encouraged. I will report back with the results.

[DivotMaker]

Chrome - everyone is dead-on here.  I might just add the second on not worrying about meat temp on ribs; you will never get an accurate reading.  It's all about feel.  Like Brian said, use the "pull the bone" test, or you can also use a wooden toothpick to feel for tenderness and pull away from the bone.

As far as the "uneven" cooking you mentioned:  Slabs of ribs are thicker on one end than the other, so a full slab will never cook evenly.  I cut my slabs in half, and put the thickest ends on the lower shelf, and the thin halves on the upper shelf.

Just one more thing - sounds like lots of door opening and fussing over them.  If you are sure your box temp is up to 225-235, you should be fine with the "no peek" method between 5 and 6 hours.  I do lots of ribs, and have never had this technique fail, or vary much.

[Pork Belly]

I typically only use 100, 150, 235 or 250. I don't know if those are the actual temps I am getting as I do not check it that closely. I do know that I get good results.

I agree if it says 250 it should be pretty darn close to 250.  Play around. Check the temps you will get your unit figured out

[puddle jumper]

I'm with Weekend Warrior on this one, my ribs aren't done anytime short of 6 hrs but I might be cooking cooler than most,  I set my temp dial at 220 and walk away , at 5 1/2-6 hr I mop my ribs and pull about 45 mins after that's and they are fall off the bone tender,,some would call my ribs over cooked but that how we like them at my place..
Good luck..
PJ

[es1025]

I smoked mostly baby backs 5-5.5 hours no peeking. I would assume you would need another hour for the spare ribs. The one time i did a long time ago, i smoked them for 6 hours, 3-2-1.

[TwilightChrome]

I used my new iGrill to Calibrate the SI and am now much more confident of managing the ambient oven temp.  I am going to try a pork butt tonight and some more ribs this week.  Thanks to everyone for your help!