What did I do wrong smoking ribs?

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rajung

rajung

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2015
468
Cedar Falls, Iowa
Had a group of 14 Family members last week- end
I decided to do my part and make chops ,wings, dogs and brats on grill, all went good.
Bought a 40 inch Smoke Hollow electric smoker. and also decided to smoke 8 racks of Baby Back.

Removed back membrane, seasoned with rub, smoked at 225 deg for 3 hrs, wrapped in foil with some apple juice and smoked for 2 hrs.
Removed ribs , added BQ sauce and smoked unwrapped for 1hr.
They were ok but never really had the meat pull back from bone tips and did not really turn out better than an oven cook I think other than very good smoke flavor.
I also changed the wood chips every time they burnt out, about once an hour which I don't know if that needs to be done that often or just one round of chips?
This smoke stuff is all new to me and clean up might not be worth the outcome of first batch of eight racks, what a mess
I also made sure water tray always was half full, which is a little tough when the glass door window fogs over and water tray ends up with a bunch of grease drippings in it.I have watched so many youtube videos about smoking and all had a different way to make them and claim they all tasted so great, so I thought no matter which version I use they have to turn out great? Some even did a smoker to oven to charcoal grill back to smoker thing! noooo Waayyy for me, heck, I think the only thing they did not use was microwave and toaster oven.
Any seasoned smokers have idea on what I did wrong?
 
That seems like a lot of cooking for baby backs. 6 hours is close to twice what you normally cook them. Don't know how well your smoker maintains temperature when loaded like that.

The pulling back from the bone ends isn't a very good indication of doneness. Best way is to pick up a rack with tongs near the end. Grip it so you can hold the rack horizontally, and then give it a little shake. If the rack "breaks" or cracks, it is done. You can also try to twist a bone. Generally it takes a lot less force to twist them when done.

I prefer St. Louis ribs myself since there is more meat. I salt them a few hours ahead and then use dust on them rather than a rub with salt included.

Normally I only worry about smoke on ribs the first hour or so. Once they start cooking the smoke quits penetrating as well and you just leave black stuff on the outside.

In general, home smoked ribs will be more flavorfull than restaurant ribs because many time restaurants boil them. It makes them fall off the bone, but sucks out flavor.

YMMV.
 
I’ve found that adding a lot of meat to the smoker adds time to the cook. Also, that’s a lot of taking them off and putting them back on. How long were they off? If you’re looking, you’re not cooking!

I usually put them on and every hour lift the lid to spray them down with apple juice. The last hour I will foil them and run the barbecue sauce down them.

The last ones I cooked, I couldn’t pick them up without the bones falling out and they were absolutely delicious.
 
I made baby backs over the weekend and like you, used the 3-2-1 method at 225 with a couple of variants:
- 3 hours smoking with a wood blend (hickory, cherry, maple, apple)
- 2 hours double-wrapped in foil - no apple juice. I find additional liquid unnecessary as it can result in either under cooking or make the meat too mushy. YMMV
- 1 hour out of foil, no sauce. I rarely sauce the ribs directly. If I do add sauce, it is after the 6th hour. Pull the ribs, sauce them, and caramelize over high heat on the grille (or even use a propane torch).

Changing out the wood chips is only necessary during the first three hours. Very little, if any, smoke will be absorbed during the last hour unwrapped.
Did you soak the chips before adding them to the tray? If not, you may want to give that a try to see if they last longer.
 
I agree with all, love the 3-2-1 method for ribs. Key issue here is probably what "225" means.

Did you measure it with a digital thermometer or did you read it off your spring dial. Spring dial = educated guess, but might as well be telling you On/Off. I had a cheap smoker years ago that just had "Low, Ideal, Hot"... once I measured with a good meter, I found that "ideal" on that dial was 285+ aka NOT IDEAL

Anyways, you can't rush bbq and until you know for certain how your smoker runs ie hot or cold, and you tune for the cook it'll be trial and error
 
I have never used a Smoke Hollow but electric smokers work almost as well as charcoal. Looking at the smoke hollow on Amazon it looks like a nice unit. As for your ribs I think 8 racks at once would be really tough to do for an amateur (no offense as Im one as well). I have tried the 3-2-1 method and after many cooks I have found that a simple smoke/cook works just as well if not better for baby backs.

My way of doing it:

Prep ribs night before cook by cleaning, trimming and removing membrane
Slather ribs with yellow mustard and sriracha sauce (yep sriracha sauce) and don't worry they won't be too spicy
Sprinkle ribs liberally with whatever rub you like and pat the ribs
Tightly wrap ribs in foil and refrigerate

Next day sit ribs out for about an hour and pre-heat smoker, put wood chips in the tray for your smoker but don't close the tray until you put the ribs on
place ribs in smoker and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. No need to put more wood chips in just once. Don't open the smoker until its time to remove ribs. If you want sauce then do that the last 30 min or so of the cook. Often I only put sauce on the side or sauce as soon as I take them off since they need to rest for about 15 min anyway.

Good luck!
 
If the meat doesn't shrink away from the end of the bones then I suspect it hasn't been cooked long enough. BBQ is low and slow, so 225 is perfect, just sounds like not enough cook time. The recipe I follow says 225 for 3 hours, then 250-275 for the last 1-2 hours, checking every half hour for doneness. It's done when it passes the pull test, grab the bones and pull apart, meat should tear in the middle easily but not pull away from the bone. Mine have always been moist and tasty (with no foil or apple juice, I never sauce until out of the cooker and ready to serve).

I only use wood chunks and put them in at the beginning of the smoke, anytime you open the cooker up, you lose a tremendous amount of heat which has to build back up to continue the cook.
I don't wrap anything in foil to cook, smoke flavor won't penetrate thru the foil.
I also don't use water in the pan, I don't believe it is needed, in my experience it doesn't make the meat more moist. In theory, it's function is to act as heatsink which gives a more consistent heat, which seems like what you'd want but in practice I haven't noticed any difference. My smoker I still has the pan installed, just no water in it. I have seen it with fuel type smokers rather than electric, but I have never had electric, so there's that!

The recipe I use here: Best Ribs In The Universe: Baby Back Ribs By The Legendary Mike Scrutchfield - The Virtual Weber Bullet (which can be used on any BBQ where you can control the heat well.)
 
RocKKer I use a WSM as well and love the results. The above mentioned recipe is a good one as well. As for water pan sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.
 
Now y'all have triggered me to smoke baby back's this saturday (my first time)

I'm going to use a green mountain Daniel Boone pellet smoker which has
a reliable/consistent electronic temp control.

Anyone done babybacks without the texas crutch? (foiling half way through the cook)

I've heard from several people that 5 hours at 225 makes a perfect babyback.
Other larger ribs MUST use foil but babybacks not necessarily.

Does your experiences agree with that?
 

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Never had a pellet smoker/grill but I have friends who do. I would own one for sure as I like the way the food turns out and the ability to control heat (very easy to cook on).

I have smoked ribs several times and never use foil on my smoker! On my grill or oven i use foil and indirect heat. I do 3 racks of ribs at 225-250 for 3 hours. I have found that with baby backs they are done in 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I once cooked them longer and the were not near as good. I think that was 4 hours so 5 hours is way too long for these small ribs.

Grills/smokers are a lot like pools...a lot alike but still different. Just one mans opinion...
 
I've done some further reading and totally confused on cook times for babyback ribs not using foil.

Lots of posts online that say 225-250 F cooking temp and 3 hours.

Then I see a bunch more that say 5 hours (same cooking temp, at least that is consistent).
Being a tough meat with the calogen, I know from smoking pork butts that pulled
pork isn't perfect til that calogen has melted away and thats at an internal meat temp of 205 F.

I would love to have these ready in 3 hours, but dang if it doesn't seem like 5 is more logical.

I'm not rooting for "fall of the bone" as that is considered in most parts sacrilege lol.

I suppose I'll aim for 3 but keep it going if they don't bend at 90 degrees when picked up
at the half way side with tongs.
 
225° is waaaay over rated and takes way too long. Cook at 325° naked until ribs pass the bend test.


(not my pic)

See the crack on the top of the meat? See how the rib is not quit bending at 90°? Perfect!

Start checking at the 3 hr mark and every 30 minutes after that.
 
Thanks for the input.
The water tray, and wood chip tray have a channel for water and a pull out tray for chips so no need to open door to add.
The temp was running at about 211- 225, it has a digital temp LED.
I did not use the temp probe as I have seen by most comments that Baby Back Ribs, or any rib the bones are an issue.
Kind of reminding me when I first had pool, " what the H%@@ am I doing this for "?
May have to try again soon but cut back on the amount
nope, did not soak wood chips like I would have on my charcoal grill.
Thanks again for ideas and you can see how one way may not work for another, so many opinions on what works best.
May have to try what 4ever3 posted since it seems the simplest for a rookie like me
 
borjis since all cookers cook differently I would keep the temps closer to 250 and under 300 for sure. Also be sure to get one of these if you don't have one...

077924021886.jpg
 

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