Ribs



J

John Gaughan

Guest
I need help cooking ribs. My problem is that the ribs are
always tough. At restaurants the meat is so tender I can
almost lick it off the bone, and I can easily gnaw the meat
off the bone in short order. At home, I can gnaw for hours
and the meat is so tough I just cannot get it all. The taste
is decent, but the meat just is not tender enough.

I cook the ribs on the grill, generally under indirect heat.
I have a wide charcoal grill with attached smoke box. I have
tried it with the fire in the smoke box, smoking the ribs in
the main compartment. I use regular old Kingsford charcoal
and hickory chips soaked for at least a half hour. I've
tried it with the fire in the main compartment, but on
different ends (there are two grill plates, I put the fire
under one and the ribs over the other). I've tried it under
direct heat, the ribs directly over the fire. This generally
produces ribs that are slightly more tender, but more
charred (the dripping fat causes flare-ups, and I don't
usually have aluminum drip pans handy). I like the slightly
charred exterior but my wife hates it ("it tastes like
burnt!"). Generally when I use wood chips the meat is very
tough, although even without the hickory it still is tough.

Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?

--
John Gaughan http://www.johngaughan.net/
[email protected]
 
John Gaughan wrote:
> I need help cooking ribs. My problem is that the ribs
> are always tough. At restaurants the meat is so tender I
> can almost lick it off the bone, and I can easily gnaw
> the meat off the bone in short order. At home, I can
> gnaw for hours and the meat is so tough I just cannot
> get it all. The taste is decent, but the meat just is
> not tender enough.
>
> I cook the ribs on the grill, generally under indirect
> heat. I have a wide charcoal grill with attached smoke
> box. I have tried it with the fire in the smoke box,
> smoking the ribs in the main compartment. I use regular
> old Kingsford charcoal and hickory chips soaked for at
> least a half hour. I've tried it with the fire in the main
> compartment, but on different ends (there are two grill
> plates, I put the fire under one and the ribs over the
> other). I've tried it under direct heat, the ribs directly
> over the fire. This generally produces ribs that are
> slightly more tender, but more charred (the dripping fat
> causes flare-ups, and I don't usually have aluminum drip
> pans handy). I like the slightly charred exterior but my
> wife hates it ("it tastes like burnt!"). Generally when I
> use wood chips the meat is very tough, although even
> without the hickory it still is tough.
>
> Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
> something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?
>

Try using this recipe from AB; it's more like steamed, but I
finish them off in a Weber grill outside, smoking it with
apple and hickory wood.

True BBQ take hours (6 to 10 hours) of slow low temp
cooking.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936-
_11125,00.html

Enjoy,

Rich

--
-----------------------------------------------------------
----------

Dum spiro, spero. (Cicero) As long as I breathe, I hope.
 
On Sun, 07 Mar 2004 20:52:56 -0600, John Gaughan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
>something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?

You're not cooking them long enough. 3-4 hours for baby
(loin) backs, 5-8 hours for spare ribs, assuming a
smoking/indirect temp of 275-285 or so.

When the ribs start to bunch up, exposing 10-20% of the bone
ends, they're usually done. They should twist and break
apart easily.

-sw
 
On Sun, 07 Mar 2004 20:52:56 -0600, John Gaughan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I need help cooking ribs. My problem is that the ribs are
>always tough.
<snip>
>
>Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
>something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?
>

If possible John, I'd consider talking to the folks at AFB,
or at least (and perhaps before subscribing) checking out
the BBQ FAQ. Bill Wight posts the links to it regularly, but
here it is:

http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/

While most of the guys and gals over there are far more
experienced than me, a couple things strike me as possible
problems off the top...

1) If possible, it's time to dump the briquettes and switch
to natural lump charcoal. Burns cleaner, allows you to
restock unlit during the burn if necessary on long cooks
without all the nasty black smoke that'll come up from
trying that with briquettes (which contain not only
charcoal, but coal dust, vegetable starch, and other non-
charcoal ingredients).

2) Soaking chips just makes creosote. Instead of chips,
toss in a fist-sized chunk or two of hickory. It'll burn
as well as smoke, and do you better than chips for an
offset rig.

3) Stay with indirect heat. Cooking over direct will usually
burn the outside before the inside is at the tender
stage. Ideally about 250 or so on the temp (so fire
control is important to learn), as well as patience...say
about 4-6 hours.

Those are the biggies I saw off the top. Like I said,
the BBQ FAQ and AFB would be able to answer those
questions easily.

Bob
 
John Gaughan wrote:

> I need help cooking ribs. My problem is that the ribs
> are always tough. At restaurants the meat is so tender I
> can almost lick it off the bone, and I can easily gnaw
> the meat off the bone in short order. At home, I can
> gnaw for hours and the meat is so tough I just cannot
> get it all. The taste is decent, but the meat just is
> not tender enough.

I know the die hard rib grillers may disagree, but I find
that ribs turn out better if they are precooked. I rub mine
with salt, pepper and garlic powder and lay them in a
shallow pan, cover and seal with aluminum foil and cook them
for 1 1/2 - 2 hours at low temperature. Then apply you
favourite sauce and finish them on a grill. Be careful not
to pre cook them too long or the meat will be so tender that
it will fall right off the bone.
 
Slow cook at 220-250°. Spare ribs will take 4 - 5 hrs; they
will be done when you can pull them apart easily.

Let them rest 10-20 minutes wrapped in foil after taking
them off the heat.

Since this is rfc and not afb, you can also braise ribs -
brown them and then simmer in liquid until tender. This is
more common with short ribs than spares, though.

--
------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
----
Louis Cohen Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8'
42.8"

"John Gaughan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I need help cooking ribs. My problem is that the ribs
> are always tough. At restaurants the meat is so tender I
> can almost lick it off the bone, and I can easily gnaw
> the meat off the bone in short order. At home, I can
> gnaw for hours and the meat is so tough I just cannot
> get it all. The taste is decent, but the meat just is
> not tender enough.
>
> I cook the ribs on the grill, generally under indirect
> heat. I have a wide charcoal grill with attached smoke
> box. I have tried it with the fire in the smoke box,
> smoking the ribs in the main compartment. I use regular
> old Kingsford charcoal and hickory chips soaked for at
> least a half hour. I've tried it with the fire in the main
> compartment, but on different ends (there are two grill
> plates, I put the fire under one and the ribs over the
> other). I've tried it under direct heat, the ribs directly
> over the fire. This generally produces ribs that are
> slightly more tender, but more charred (the dripping fat
> causes flare-ups, and I don't usually have aluminum drip
> pans handy). I like the slightly charred exterior but my
> wife hates it ("it tastes like burnt!"). Generally when I
> use wood chips the meat is very tough, although even
> without the hickory it still is tough.
>
> Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
> something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?
>
> --
> John Gaughan http://www.johngaughan.net/
> [email protected]
 
In rec.food.cooking, John Gaughan <[email protected]> wrote:

> Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
> something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?

Cook them at a low temp (200 to 250 or so, maybe 300 if you
are impatient) for around 4-5 hours. You would be better off
ditching the Kingsford, and using a pure wood product,
commonly known as "lump" or "natural" charcoal. The ribs are
done when they start to break apart when the rack is bent
sharply back on itself. If the meat is falling off the bone,
the ribs are overdone.

--
...I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who
 
In rec.food.cooking, John Gaughan <[email protected]> wrote:

> Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
> something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?

Cook them at a low temp (200 to 250 or so, maybe 300 if you
are impatient) for around 4-5 hours. You would be better off
ditching the Kingsford, and using a pure wood product,
commonly known as "lump" or "natural" charcoal. The ribs are
done when they start to break apart when the rack is bent
sharply back on itself. If the meat is falling off the bone,
the ribs are overdone.

--
...I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who
 
In rec.food.cooking, John Gaughan <[email protected]> wrote:

> Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
> something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?

Cook them at a low temp (200 to 250 or so, maybe 300 if you
are impatient) for around 4-5 hours. You would be better off
ditching the Kingsford, and using a pure wood product,
commonly known as "lump" or "natural" charcoal. The ribs are
done when they start to break apart when the rack is bent
sharply back on itself. If the meat is falling off the bone,
the ribs are overdone.

--
...I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who
 
John Gaughan wrote:

> I need help cooking ribs. My problem is that the ribs
> are always tough. At restaurants the meat is so tender I
> can almost lick it off the bone, and I can easily gnaw
> the meat off the bone in short order. At home, I can
> gnaw for hours and the meat is so tough I just cannot
> get it all. The taste is decent, but the meat just is
> not tender enough.
<snip technique>
> Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
> something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?

To get ribs tender you have to cook them at a low
temperature for a long time, to get them tender. The ribs
you get at the restaurant have been cooking for I would
guess at least 2 hours if not much longer. The local rib
shops here start cooking their ribs before daybreak to serve
them at lunchtime.

--
Darryl L. Pierce <[email protected]> Visit the Infobahn
Offramp - <http://mypage.org/mcpierce> "What do you care
what other people think, Mr. Feynman?"
 
On 3/7/2004 9:52 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great
(and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

I realize that this isn't "TRUE" BBQ ribs, but what I do
(with excellent results) is: Put a metal rack in a pan, add
1/8" - 3/16" of water to the pan and about 1/2 - 3/4 tsp of
liquid smoke. Put the ribs on the rack (bone side down),
seal with aluminum foil and bake in the oven @225 for 2
hours (sometimes longer if it is a thick rack of ribs).
Then I take them out and either finish them on the grill
(weather permitting) or under the broiler. In either case,
when finishing them, they are LIBERALLY "slathered" with
BBQ sauce and "re-slathered" about every 10 minutes (or
whenever I turn them). They come out nice and tender and
have a good flavor.

The water/steam and low temperature combine to disolve the
collegen, and although some folks will say they are being
"steamed", they don't have the "taste, or lack there of"
that you get if you boil them.

> I need help cooking ribs. My problem is that the ribs
> are always tough. At restaurants the meat is so tender I
> can almost lick it off the bone, and I can easily gnaw
> the meat off the bone in short order. At home, I can
> gnaw for hours and the meat is so tough I just cannot
> get it all. The taste is decent, but the meat just is
> not tender enough.
>
> I cook the ribs on the grill, generally under indirect
> heat. I have a wide charcoal grill with attached smoke
> box. I have tried it with the fire in the smoke box,
> smoking the ribs in the main compartment. I use regular
> old Kingsford charcoal and hickory chips soaked for at
> least a half hour. I've tried it with the fire in the main
> compartment, but on different ends (there are two grill
> plates, I put the fire under one and the ribs over the
> other). I've tried it under direct heat, the ribs directly
> over the fire. This generally produces ribs that are
> slightly more tender, but more charred (the dripping fat
> causes flare-ups, and I don't usually have aluminum drip
> pans handy). I like the slightly charred exterior but my
> wife hates it ("it tastes like burnt!"). Generally when I
> use wood chips the meat is very tough, although even
> without the hickory it still is tough.
>
> Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
> something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?
 
Thank you all for your suggestions. I figured I needed to
cook them slower and for a longer time. Now I just need to
go find lump charcoal. You would be amazed what things are
impossible to find in this backwoods "city" of Montgomery,
Alabama...

--
John Gaughan http://www.johngaughan.net/
[email protected]
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> I need help cooking ribs. My problem is that the ribs
> are always tough. At restaurants the meat is so tender I
> can almost lick it off the bone, and I can easily gnaw
> the meat off the bone in short order. At home, I can
> gnaw for hours and the meat is so tough I just cannot
> get it all. The taste is decent, but the meat just is
> not tender enough.
>
> I cook the ribs on the grill, generally under indirect
> heat. I have a wide charcoal grill with attached smoke
> box. I have tried it with the fire in the smoke box,
> smoking the ribs in the main compartment. I use regular
> old Kingsford charcoal and hickory chips soaked for at
> least a half hour. I've tried it with the fire in the main
> compartment, but on different ends (there are two grill
> plates, I put the fire under one and the ribs over the
> other). I've tried it under direct heat, the ribs directly
> over the fire. This generally produces ribs that are
> slightly more tender, but more charred (the dripping fat
> causes flare-ups, and I don't usually have aluminum drip
> pans handy). I like the slightly charred exterior but my
> wife hates it ("it tastes like burnt!"). Generally when I
> use wood chips the meat is very tough, although even
> without the hickory it still is tough.
>
> Is smoking to blame, or (more likely) am I just doing
> something wrong? What do you guys recommend I try?
>
>
Your indirect method sounds fine - I think you just need to
increase the time - depending on the type of ribs (country,
baby back, St. Louis, etc.) they can take anywhere from 4 to
6 hours over indirect (and very low) heat.
--
Donna A pessimist believes all women are bad. An optimist
hopes they are.
 
On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 19:28:35 -0600, John Gaughan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Thank you all for your suggestions. I figured I needed to
>cook them slower and for a longer time. Now I just need to
>go find lump charcoal. You would be amazed what things are
>impossible to find in this backwoods "city" of Montgomery,
>Alabama...

Yeah, it's not always the easiest to get. When you find it
on sale, be sure to stock up. Our local supplies (in MN)
disappear around December. Menards (a big lumber/hardware
outfit) started carrying it again last week...of course they
carry briquettes year-round.

One thing to consider is checking the yellow pages, or a
local good (real charcoal type if you can find one) BBQ
joint. Often the supplier is local. You may have to buy
larger bags, but the price will probably be nice.

Bob
 
On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 19:28:35 -0600, John Gaughan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Thank you all for your suggestions. I figured I needed to
>cook them slower and for a longer time. Now I just need to
>go find lump charcoal. You would be amazed what things are
>impossible to find in this backwoods "city" of Montgomery,
>Alabama...

We get lump charcoal for our smoker from Barbeques Galore.
You might want to see if there's a store in your area.
 
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