3-2-1 Method for Loin Back Ribs on Traeger

rhaertel

New member
I've picked up some loin back ribs at Costco (~3 lbs. each rack, so these are not baby back ribs) to smoke for a party I'm having tomorrow. I've never cooked a rack so big--I've stuck with the baby back so far. I'm a little bit worried that the 3-2-1 method for loin back ribs might not be enough time to get them as tender as baby back ribs are using the same method. Part of my concern is that the Traeger 3-2-1 recipe has one put the grill on "smoke" (which in my experience is only about 150-160º) for 3 hours, and then increase the temperature to 225 for the "2" and "1" stages.

Will I need to make any adjustments in timing or methodology to get tender ribs for my party?

One option is to base the timing on the temperature of the meat, which is obviously fairly hard with ribs because of the bone, but these might be meaty enough to make it work. But I don't know what temperatures I'm aiming for at the various stages. I've also considered doing 2 hours on smoke, 2 hours on 225º, 2 hours in foil, and 1 hour with sauce.

Would any of those methods work, or do you have other suggestions?
 

Pockets

New member
Well I have waited for 3 days for the guys in the know here to answer you as I am the rookie here. To me "smoking" is under 250. I have been doing mine at 220-225.
 

Mmmmm

New member
3-2-1 works well on St Louis spares at 225. Loin backs would likely be overdone if you run a higher temp. Depending on your preference with regards to tenderness I would run the grill at 225 and do times of more like 2.5-1.5-1.
 

Diverreb

New member
FYI... I have a Yoder Pellet Smoker and cooked three racks of Baby Backs today. New to Smoking... Read about the 3 -2 -1 at 240. All I can say is I never made it to the 1. Did 3 then wrapped in foil with some butter and Apple Juice. Took the foil off after 1.5 hours and the ribs were way to soft to put back. The tasted great, but I don't like fall off the bone, which theses were after the 3 - 1.5. Can't imagine how they aren't over cooked at 3-2-1, but maybe I need to drop the temp down to 220... I was just following one of the online recipes.
 

Salmonsmoker

New member
Go to Big Poppa's website and click on BPTV. He has a lot of instructional cooking videos and one on St.Louis ribs. I think you'll find that he runs a higher temp. than 220-225F. They also take longer than BBacks.
 

TentHunter

Moderator
Sometimes loin backs are thicker than spares, sometimes spares are thicker and have more meat than loin backs. It depends on how they were cut.

I treat loin backs, baby backs and spares exactly the same as far as time, temp, etc. If you have a method you've used before, with spares or baby backs, just stick to it and I'll bet you'll be fine.
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
OK

1. the search button is your friend.

Here is my take...3-2-1 is a horrible way top make ribs...I dont know any top smoker that cooks them that way and I dont knopw anyopne that tries it more than once unless they like soup.

Also please keep in mind that the one poster that says smoking under 250 is correct but the trends defy that absolute...there are many benefits to a hotter smoke...including time on the cooker.
 

Diverreb

New member
Cooked my second batch (Baby Backs) on the smoker... Same prep, No Foil, 3 Hours @ 275, and then sauced and let cook after lowering the temp to 225 for another half hour to glaze the ribs. Much better.... Still not there yet, but making good progress. They were at Temp at the 3 Hour mark, so next time I'll try saucing at 2.5 hours....

Richie
 

killerq

New member
dont use foil unless you are under a time crunch...foil will change the texture even if you unfoil and " set the bark"...wrapping briskets,ribs, pork butt and especially chicken in foil is just a crutch to created tenderness/steam when you dont have time to do them properly....
 

TentHunter

Moderator
dont use foil unless you are under a time crunch...foil will change the texture even if you unfoil and " set the bark"...wrapping briskets,ribs, pork butt and especially chicken in foil is just a crutch to created tenderness/steam when you dont have time to do them properly....


For many, including me, foiling is a PREFERENCE, NOT a crutch! If there's one thing I've learned about BBQ it's that there is no one "proper" way of doing it.
 
Last edited:

killerq

New member
no, it was my opinion....there are very few facts in BBQ,,the one fact im aware of is everyone has their own opinion of what great BBQ is.
 
Whatevs dude. Thats right killerq i have my own opinion(s) about what constitutes for BBQ, but I'm not gonna be arrogant enough to state such when we have an infinite supply of tremendous cooks on this site. Grand Champions of many a BBQ contest. We are talking about real competitions. Way better cooks than I. I took your original statement as a statement of fact. Look back at it and see how infinitely uninformed it is. Study it. If i knew everything there is to know about cooking BBQ id go to the house. Why go on? Why even cook in the first place if i know all there is to know? Id go on to something else like rocket science or something. Ive conquered all. Geez i deal with people of your ilk every day. Go ahead, keep on talking w/o the experience to back it up. Most ppl are humbled when talking about stuff. Not you…wow you are a god. Sorry Big Poppa.
 

Nite Ryder

New member
It would be interesting if the OP came back on here and let us know what he ended up doing and what his results were. I've used a #75 Traeger since 2003, I've cooked many different cuts of meat on it over the years, but one thing I've done from day one was keep good records of what I did and how I did it. I made a form to use that allows me to record the temp every 15 minutes in the smoker, temp of the meat, and outside temp, plus all the other variables that could matter. Probably sounds kind of anal to you guys, but I started out doing this not knowing a whole lot about using a smoker. Over the years I've been happy with the results. Recently I bought a digital thermostat that Traeger uses on their newer smokers, it changes the whole process. I can set the temp and forget it until I want to make changes, this smoker makes more smoke at a lower temp than it did before, and uses fewer pellets. It's a new learning process all over again. I just did a rack of ribs, and for the first time I used foil. I was happy with the results but my dinner guests were even more happy, and I guess that is what counts for me...
 
Top Bottom