Baby Back cook time / temp question

[jamiedolan]

HI;

I'm about to head to the grocery and pick up some ribs for tonight, baby back are on sale.  The last couple times we made ribs I baked them in the oven wrapped in foil at 300 for right about 3 hours and the very last time I made them, I didn't feel like that was quite long enough.

I'm reading smoker recipes that are stating to smoke ribs at 225 for 3 to 4 hours.  Since it was taking me at least 3 hours in the oven at 300, I'm not seeing how ribs could be done in 3 to 4 hours at 225.

I just want to roughly plan for tonight, we will aim to eat around 8, so I can still manage a good 6 hours of smoking as of right now if I need to.  I'm thinking at this point I should put them on as soon as I can and just keep them warm if I need to once they are done.

Any thoughts on the actual smoking time I should plan for?  I did get a meat thermometer that was rated very well, but it is just a regular one, not a leave in one.  I plan to get one of the leave in ones in the future from thermoworks or similar.

Thanks,

Jamie

 

[Walt]

Jamie,

I cooked 3 racks of babyback ribs for xmas.  I also had a 9lb butt in @ the same time.  As per advise on the forum, I brined for 24hrs, rubbed with a mustard / molasses binder & added rub.  Let sit for 48hrs in fridge.  Placed in the #2 @ 225 for 5.5 hrs with 2oz apple, 2oz cherry & 1charcoal brickette. If you are doing only ribs go small on the wood (maybe 2 to 3 oz). I had a pan with applejuice & whiskey in the bottom.  They were terriffic!  Stick them in & ignore for 5.5hrs, wrap in foil &rest for as long as you can stand it.  Good luck.

 

[jamiedolan]

Jamie,

I cooked 3 racks of babyback ribs for xmas.  I also had a 9lb butt in @ the same time.  As per advise on the forum, I brined for 24hrs, rubbed with a mustard / molasses binder & added rub.  Let sit for 48hrs in fridge.  Placed in the #2 @ 225 for 5.5 hrs with 2oz apple, 2oz cherry & 1charcoal brickette. If you are doing only ribs go small on the wood (maybe 2 to 3 oz). I had a pan with applejuice & whiskey in the bottom.  They were terriffic!  Stick them in & ignore for 5.5hrs, wrap in foil &rest for as long as you can stand it.  Good luck.

Thank You.  Are you wrapping in foil once they are done just to keep them warm?  Did you apply any sauce while they were still on the smoker?

Thanks
Jamie

 

[Walt]

I did not apply suace until I wrapped in foil after cooking.  The foil wrap was for resting to let the juices return back throught the meat.  .  We ate them 14 hrs after I finished cooking them so iI heated them on the grill to caramelize the suace & get them back up to temp. The bark was very nice when it came out of smoker before I sauce them lightly.  The bark was very nice as well once removed from pit.  Both ways were good.  Since I was also cooking a BB @ same time that's why such a long rest  the but was 12.5 hrs & the ribs 5.5 hrs.

 

[swthorpe]

baby backs will need closer to 5 or 5.5 hours to smoke at 225F.    I smoke them for 4 hours no peeking, then take them out and apply BBQ sauce, then back in for the last hour or 1.5 hours if they need it.  No meat therm needed for bb ribs...when the meat is pulling back from the bone, they are ready!

 

[jamiedolan]

Thanks for all the info, it's been very helpful.  I could only get 2 racks that were thawed, so I have 3 more racks in water thawing that I'm going to go and season and add to the smoker right now.

 

[jamiedolan]

Here is the video from the start of the smoke / roast:

http://jamiedolan.com/2013/12/26/start-of-first-rib-roast-12262013/

Wow my hands really smell like smoke from just the little bit of time I was out there putting in the second set of ribs and I've washed them at least a couple times since then. 

Jamie

 

[rickne]

If a picture is work 1000 words, then a video must be worth at least 10k.

All good advice above.  I think you are looking at a minimum of 5 hours.  If you add more cold ribs into the middle of the cook, it will prolong things. 

If you have a maverick or another brand of temp probe, you might want to drop that down the hole to monitor box temps...  especially if you add in the cold ribs halfway through.

 

[jamiedolan]

If a picture is work 1000 words, then a video must be worth at least 10k.

All good advice above.  I think you are looking at a minimum of 5 hours.  If you add more cold ribs into the middle of the cook, it will prolong things. 

If you have a maverick or another brand of temp probe, you might want to drop that down the hole to monitor box temps...  especially if you add in the cold ribs halfway through.

The only probes that I really have right now are just basic thermometers, I think I have a old cheap wireless one, but have no idea where it is.  I was just looking at amazon and thinking of ordering a cheap taylor with probe that seems to have okay reviews.

Jamie

 

[rickne]

I would invest in a decent thermometer.  You will want one to monitor meat temps anyway.  Not so important with ribs but it's invaluable with larger cuts of meat. 

And if you do invest in one, might as well get a dual probe so that you can monitor the smoker and meat (or two cuts of meat).

It will save you alot of guesswork and will probably pay for itself.  Those brisket's aren't cheap.  If you save one from ruins, you've almost paid for the Maverick.

best of luck with the ribs.  Keep us posted and let us know if you have questions.

 

[jamiedolan]

I would invest in a decent thermometer.  You will want one to monitor meat temps anyway.  Not so important with ribs but it's invaluable with larger cuts of meat. 

And if you do invest in one, might as well get a dual probe so that you can monitor the smoker and meat (or two cuts of meat).

It will save you alot of guesswork and will probably pay for itself.  Those brisket's aren't cheap.  If you save one from ruins, you've almost paid for the Maverick.

best of luck with the ribs.  Keep us posted and let us know if you have questions.

I just ordered one of the taylor ones overnight so I have something.  I really was wanting to order one from the thermoworks people, but my big hang up with them in that all of their products say the operating temp range is from 32 degrees up.  Well it is much colder than that much of the winter here.  It's 18 degrees now and going to be -9 on sunday.

So I'd by the TW8060 or the chefalarm if I knew they would work in these cold temps.  I wrote and asked them about it and they suggested the TW8060, but didn't really answer my question about if it would be okay in the colder temps, the manual online for the TW8060  says 32+.

I also considered getting the PID, which seems like a very good price from smokin-it.

I stuck the 5 inch temperature pen into the top of the unit and it read about 160 just a few minutes ago.  What relation does the box temp have to how well done the meat is?

Thanks

Jamie

 

[rickne]

Box temp alone has little to do with how well the meat is done.

BUT...

Time in the cooker combined with box temp has everything to do with how well the meat is done.

Also, Box Temp has everything to do with how LONG the meat needs to cook.

Cooking ribs at 250 may get done in 3 hours.  Cooking ribs at 200 may take 6 hours.

 

[jamiedolan]

Update:

Checked on them at a little over 4 hours; the 2 that spent just over 4 solid hours in there are done, but not into the fall off the bone tender area.  I put sauce on them and need to pull them out in another 20 minutes or so.

The other 3 racks will stay in, probably another 2 hours from now.

Flavor is absolutely amazing. 

Jamie

 

[rickne]

Very nice!!!  I've been sticking close to the computer because I was a little nervous about the "split cook" and lack of thermometer.  Sounds like things are turning out just fine.

Part of the fun of BBQing is getting to know the personality of your cooker.  When I saw your video, I thought that this was either a new cooker or you had spent alot of time cleaning your cooker.  I was wondering how that split cook would turn out.  I'm glad to hear that it is turning out fine.

 

[DivotMaker]

Hey Jamie, lots of opinions on ribs here - all good!  For what it's worth, a lot of us are into the "no peeky" method.  Just rub 'em and smoke 'em.  I smoke baby backs for 5 1/2 - 5 3/4 hours without looking.  I don't add sauce, as my family likes to add their own, so I go dry.

A good way to test for "fall off the bone" done is to use a wooden toothpick.  Stick it in close to a bone, and pull away.  If it breaks, they're not done.  If the meat gently pulls away - they're ready!  Good luck!

 

[jamiedolan]

So I pulled out the 2 racks that were in the longest about 2:15 til just after 7.  They looked done and the piece I tried on the end was very tasty.

I brought these over to my parents house for dinner and when I cut them apart I found they were medium to medium rare at best.  We put them in the oven at 350 wrapped in foil for over an hour, they are well done now, but are still not tender, so those 2 racks are still in the oven at my parents.

Now I have 3 racks still in the smoker, we just checked them after another 1.5 hours and they are fairly tough / leathery.

My feeling as to what happened here is that I really set myself back a lot when i had to open the smoker to add the 2nd ribs that I didn't have thawed in time.  It's only 18 degrees here tonight.

For both the wrapped ribs in the oven currently and the unwrapped ribs in the smoker, will they both get more tender if I give them more time?

Thank You,

Jamie

 

[jamiedolan]

Hey Jamie, lots of opinions on ribs here - all good!  For what it's worth, a lot of us are into the "no peeky" method.  Just rub 'em and smoke 'em.  I smoke baby backs for 5 1/2 - 5 3/4 hours without looking.  I don't add sauce, as my family likes to add their own, so I go dry.

A good way to test for "fall off the bone" done is to use a wooden toothpick.  Stick it in close to a bone, and pull away.  If it breaks, they're not done.  If the meat gently pulls away - they're ready!  Good luck!

Thanks for the tip.  I fully agree with just leaving them and feel like this is ideal based on all I've read and all the suggestions.  I just make a mistake today of trying to add to the smoker because the ribs were not all thawed at once.  I would have otherwise just left it alone.

I guess this is a good lesson for me to make sure I leave enough time.  I'm hoping my ribs can still be saved (made more tender) with more time.

 

[DivotMaker]

We all have learned lots of lessons about this hobby (addiction) we call BBQ, Jamie!  Next time, make sure the ribs are thawed, but leave them cold (fridge temp), then don't open the door once they're on!  I don't even break out the Maverick thermo during rib smokes - just time.  Never fails me!

 

[benjammn]

Do yourself a favor and get the Maverick 732 or 733, they are amazing at how well they work. Indispensable to say the least.
I normally don't smoke my meat right over the element since it is the hottest area and the thermometer is over that area. Can give a false reading since the cold meat will slightly cool the air around it. I know there is a graphic out there that I saw about the "field of cold" around the meat, just don't know where I found it. This would cause the thermostat to think it isn't as hot as it is and cook the meat more than you want.

 

[jamiedolan]

I will get one of the better thermometers very soon.  I did get one of the cheap taylor ones delivered today, so at least I have something that I can leave in the meat if I try to smoke this weekend.

I took the ribs off last night, maybe at 11:00 or so, they were done, but not tender.  So this afternoon, around 12:00 - 12:30 I put them in the oven at around 225-250 and have had them going for about 3 hours now.  I checked them about 20 minutes ago and they were getting fairly tender, I'm going to just leave them in the oven till dinner time, which is just about 2 hours at this point. 

Thanks everyone for the help.  I'll definatly just leave them in longer next time.

Jamie

Here is a video of the ribs in the oven with my explaining what is going on at this point.  I'll update again once we take the ribs out in a little bit.

http://jamiedolan.com/2013/12/27/smoked-ribs-update-12272013/