Newbie pellet head first disaster...what went wrong?

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limbery

New member
This was my 3rd. cook on my new grill....first try was a boneless lamb roast on my Memphis Select with temp probe...turned out perfect. 2nd. cook was just a whole bunch of burgers which also turned out perfect....(OK that's stuff I've done many times even on my old gas grill)...today I thought I'd be adventurous and bought a whole bunch of beef ribs....they were all pretty uniform in size about 3" squares with a bone on one side and a fat strip on the opposite....I'm assuming my mistake was that I didn't marinate them in something for a couple of days? I just applied some rub and put them on the top rack at 200 deg. for about 4.5 hrs. metal drip pan was underneath with water and a bit of beer...internal temp probe was set for 150 which was what was showing at the 4.5 hr. time.... Well they were tasty but that's about all...stringy fatty and tough (I guess that's just the way ribs are except for what I must have done wrong to get them so tough?) Had to promise my wife that next time I'll do better (something that I can't screw up like a couple of steaks?)
So....What's the method for doing beef ribs?....and is it any different for pork ribs?
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Ahhh, you're just going through the learning curve. Believe me, I attended the "BBQ School of Hard Knocks".

By your description, it sounds like you had beef short ribs. I'm with Big Poppa. 200° isn't high enough for cooking them. And at a final temp of 150° I would expect them to be tough, stringy and fatty. The trick is cooking them until the connective tissues have broken down. This needs to be somewhere around 190° in my opinion.


Here's a contest thread where two of us posted beef short ribs: http://www.pelletsmoking.com/pellet...s-contest-win-everybody-wins-1679/index3.html



limbery said:
...and is it any different for pork ribs?
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If you have a good method you like for pork ribs, then try it with beef ribs. My method is simple and not really any different form pork ribs:

- Smoke them for a 30 minutes - 1 hour.
- Bump the temp up to around 275° and cook for around 2 - 2 1/2 more hours, until they have a nice color.
- Foil them tightly with a small amount of liquid and cook (braise) for at least an hour or two at the same temp to break down the connective tissues.
- For Beef ribs - after an hour or so check them by using a toothpick or thermometer probe and poke into the meat. When they "feel" like there's almost no resistance (just a little resistance) then they should be plenty tender enough. If not, re-wrap and check in another 30 minutes.

- Take them out of the foil then sauce and/or finish them however you like.
 
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limbery

New member
wneill20 said:
I just did a batch last week i treated them like pork and they came out fantastic. 3,2,1 method at 225*
Click to expand...
Could you expand on the 321 method?
OP here.... Thanks for the comments and info.... today I'm seeing if it's possible to salvage my ribs which I refrigerated overnight...I'm going to put them back on at 275 with the probe set at 190 and see what happens....rather than throw them out just yet I might as well experiment....will post results...
 
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
yeah you may want to get them hydrated slightly....spritz with apple juice and water mix

321 uis a method of rib cooking that I think doesnt work but it is legend...3 hours on the cooker...2 hours on the cooker in foil and a little liquid and one hour back on the grill unwrapped...way overcooks the ribs.
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
limbery said:
today I'm seeing if it's possible to salvage my ribs which I refrigerated overnight...I'm going to put them back on at 275 with the probe set at 190 and see what happens....rather than throw them out just yet I might as well experiment....will post results...
Click to expand...

Heck yeah, can't hurt!

Like BP said get them hydrated. If it were me, I'd throw them in some foil with maybe 1/2 cup liquid (apple juice, beer, beef broth, etc.). Braise them for a couple hours @ 275 and I bet they turn out fine.
 
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limbery

New member
OP here....thanks to all your helpful suggestions I saved my ribs! 4.5hrs. at 275....took them off with internal temp at 180...moisturized the ribs and foiled them... they were pretty good....Next time I'll do them right from the start and they might even be better...Do you think they might have been even more tender if I let them cook to 190?...I was afraid they'd be getting to dried out if I left them...
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
limbery said:
Do you think they might have been even more tender if I let them cook to 190?...I was afraid they'd be getting to dried out if I left them...
Click to expand...

Yes. They usually have enough fat marbling that you don't have to worry about them drying out. especially if they're foiled.

Glad you saved your ribs - Great job! :)
 
Scallywag

Scallywag

New member
:
limbery said:
OP here....thanks to all your helpful suggestions I saved my ribs! 4.5hrs. at 275....took them off with internal temp at 180...moisturized the ribs and foiled them... they were pretty good....Next time I'll do them right from the start and they might even be better...Do you think they might have been even more tender if I let them cook to 190?...I was afraid they'd be getting to dried out if I left them...
Click to expand...
No pics!! Didnt happen...:p
 
sparky

sparky

New member
limbery said:
OK...next time I'll take pics.... (that's one thing that I find a bit funny about these BBQ forums....I mean don't you guys get tired of looking at meat?)
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what? your kidding right? dude, its all about the pics. turning ok food into 5 star meals. thats whats its all about. no pics, didn't happen partner. and anyway, we got nothing else to do put look at pictures. some of us are very boring and long winded (finger pointing towards myself). lol......
 
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scooter

scooter

Moderator
limbery, next time get extra ribs and cook them to different finish temps then compare them side by side. Experiment. Try different rubs and techniques then compare. Experiment, experiment, experiment! You will never know how you like anything best if you don't experiment and compare side by side. Take lots of notes so you can repeat a success! Taking notes will be the single most important aspect of your experiments.

And no, we never get tired of seeing food porn! :)
 
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limbery

New member
Well I guess I'll have to have a camera near my cooking stuff then....
I wouldn't say I turned the ok food into a five star....but I saved a disaster that would just be wasted and made it edible..... I wouldn't rate it as anything beyond just mediocre at the end....but I've learned a lot the hard way from my mistakes and next time I know it will be excellent thanks to all of the fine advice and recommended reading from you folks.
 
Jarhead

Jarhead

New member
2-2-1 works for me.
2 hours on the smoker @ 225-250, unwrapped.
2 hours, wrapped in foil, add some broth, beer, AJ, honey, etc.
1 hour unwrapped, and a finish glaze applied every 15 minutes.
Your IT should be around 185-190, if not cook 'em a little longer.
Good eats right there.
 
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