Struggle with baby backs

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Struggle with baby backs

Postby Chasdev » Mon Oct 18, 2021 10:39 am

I cooked two racks in my pellet cooker and the results were not optimal.
At about four hours in at 275 they were super tender when probed and were pretty darn floppy too.
Problem (maybe or maybe not) was that the temps averaged around 175 internal, higher at one end and a little lower at the other.
I decided to keep cooking so I wrapped and ran another hour before checking temps again.
Unwrapped them, mopped and set about to firming them up a bit when I noticed the internal temp had dropped and they had tightened up quite a bit.
I finished setting the glaze and pulled them, put them in a covered pan to cool down for an hour.
They never recovered the tenderness I was hoping for, what gives?
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Re: Struggle with baby backs

Postby GTR » Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:38 am

My first question is what did you wrap in, foil or paper? And if in foil, what if anything did you add? ie. brown sugar, butter or any kind of broth. And lastly, was this your standard cooking method? If you changed up some things, I’d suspect that could have been the culprit.
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Re: Struggle with baby backs

Postby Chasdev » Tue Oct 19, 2021 5:54 am

Foil of course with cider vinegar/apple juice sprayed on top some fairly set mop sauce and dry rub (on top of initial mustard wipe).
Differences were that I used the pellet rig instead of a charcoal gravity unit AND running at 275 where 225 is my normal go to temp.
The oddity is how tender they were at a "low" temp, which caused my thinking to tilt and keep cooking.
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Re: Struggle with baby backs

Postby GTR » Tue Oct 19, 2021 9:11 am

Sounds as if it’s just the learning curve on the pellet rig. Plus the higher temp. I generally run my ribs 250-275 in a barrel grill set up with the fire and meat offset. However rarely do they take more than 3 hours. Hour and a half or when they start pulling off the bone wrap. Another hour or so then glaze get it set and rest. Your cook times may need adjustment due to the increased temps.
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Re: Struggle with baby backs

Postby Slippy » Sun Dec 12, 2021 12:00 pm

Babybacks are my go-to... I have never used a pellet smoker, but I can't imagine it would be any different.

1) Remove silver skin from backs
2) slather and Rub
3) smoke for 2 hours at 275°F , unwrapped
4) Double wrap tightly in foil. Smoke for 1.5 hours wrapped, no additions to foil
5) after 1.5 hours, open foil add finishing stuff (I use Parkay squeeze butter and honey, but many choices here. I think I've tried them all, but this is my favorite)
6) put back in smoker for 20-30 minutes
7) Let rest for 20+ minutes
8) eat

To get a little more technical. What I usually do is salt my ribs the night before, then use a non salt rub the next day (Memphis Dust).. If I wake up and decide to do ribs that day, I skip the overnight salt, and just use a regular rub with salt in it.

It's a pretty failsafe method.. I trust these times with any size baby back... I try to get the "Extra Meaty" Swift ribs when available. Cheers.
Rockwall TX | BigHat Ranger Offset, Large Big Green Egg, Really old Weber Kettle, big pile of pecan and post oak....
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Re: Struggle with baby backs

Postby Norway Joe » Sun Dec 12, 2021 1:34 pm

I follow the 3-2-1 method with my Weber pellets smoker set on 225. . It works great for me. The 2 hours period is wrapped in foil with a little apple juice, brown sugar and a little honey. Last hour mopped with sauce.

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Re: Struggle with baby backs

Postby OldUsedParts » Sun Dec 12, 2021 5:54 pm

Norway Joe wrote:I follow the 3-2-1 method with my Weber pellets smoker set on 225. . It works great for me. The 2 hours period is wrapped in foil with a little apple juice, brown sugar and a little honey. Last hour mopped with sauce.


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Re: Struggle with baby backs

Postby 1MoreFord » Mon Dec 13, 2021 12:52 am

In my ole offset I ran at ~250°F throughout the cook. Never wrapped and never temped. I used the bend test and looked for the cracking at the bend.

I do similar with my pellet grill but cook @ ~200° for an hour or so to get as much smoke flavor as I can and then bump up to 250° until they bend test.

I've never attempted to temp ribs but folks on other forums that do say you have to take them to 195°+ to be cooked.
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Re: Struggle with baby backs

Postby Rambo » Mon Dec 13, 2021 8:32 am

1MoreFord wrote:In my ole offset I ran at ~250°F throughout the cook. Never wrapped and never temped. I used the bend test and looked for the cracking at the bend.

I do similar with my pellet grill but cook @ ~200° for an hour or so to get as much smoke flavor as I can and then bump up to 250° until they bend test.

I've never attempted to temp ribs but folks on other forums that do say you have to take them to 195°+ to be cooked.

I do as Joe; I’ve never checked the temp on a rib

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