My ribs sucked pretty bad

[chrisbax]

Hi Guys
Did my first bunch of ribs on my MAK 1 and they weren't that good. I am sure it was operator error so I need some help. Here's how I did them:
Trimmed off membrane, light salting for an hour in fridge, then applied mustard and rub (sweet money). On the grill at 225' for 2.5 hours, meat side up. Then pulled them off and put brown sugar, parkay, and honey on each side and double foiled. Back on the grill at same temp (225) for 1.5 hours. Pulled them, removed foil, and BBQ sauced them and back on the grill at same temp for 45 mins.
Flavor was good, decent smoke ring, but the texture really sucked. They were chewy, tough to get meat off the bone, and not the fall off the bone I wanted/expected. Almost couldn't rip them apart without a knife. Very disappointed. Was it just a time issue? Everything I read seemed to say that 3-2-1 was slightly too long so that's how I arrived at the trimmed times I used. Open to some help to get the fall of the bone texture I'm looking for.
Chris

 

[scooter]

They were undercooked. Were they spares or BB's?
Go hotter, 275F. With spares I go 3 hours then wrap. Back in the cooker for 45 mins should get you fall off or close to it (I like 30 mins in foil). Out of the foil, sauce and back in the cooker for 10-15 mins to set the sauce. All at 275.
Use a thermapen between the bones to help you know when they're done. When the meat between the bones is about 205F range you have fall off the bone ribs.
There are other ways to tell when ribs are done, the bend test, bone pull test, poke with a probe test, etc. I've tried them all and have found the bend test to be most reliable other than taking a temp reading between the bones. The bend test I use is to open up the foil, with both hands pick up the rack from the middle then observe how the rack ends bend down with gravity. If the ends bend down easily and the meat on top in the middle where my hands are cracks then they are done. If the ends don't bend and seem stiff then I rewrap in the foil and back in for another 10-15 mins then open up the foil and check them again. Keep doing it until you get the bend you're looking for. And don't bother saucing them until they're tender.
I rarely use my thermapen any more to test for tenderness but for the first year or so I used it very successfully to help me get the feel for when ribs were done. I've seen a big name BBQ competitor using a Thermapen to test rib tenderness using the temp between the bones and he was pulling them in the mid 190's but he was going for a KCBS bite which is pull off the bone, not fall off the bone.

 

[chrisbax]

Thanks Scooter. Very helpful reply. I'll try your method. One more MAK specific question: Do you feel you get enough smoke at 275? I always assumed the higher the temp, the less smoke so that's why I went with 225. The fellas at MAK feel that 225 is a magic number for a balance of smoke production and heat. Good smoke flavor and smoke ring at 275?

 

[Big Poppa]

smoke is gentile at best on pellet cookers 275 is fine.

 

[NorCal Smoker]

I used to cook at 225 F, but now cook like Scooter says with great results. As BP says, smoke is light at 275F. I use an Amazn tube smoker to add a bit more smoke when I cook ribs at 275F.

 

[TentHunter]

Yep, they were definitely underdone.

Chris, I don't take ribs out of the foil to sauce until I know they are tender. I use the bend test that scooter mentioned. The bend test works so well because the connective tissue itself is what's telling you if the ribs are done or not. If the meat doesn't tear a little when they bend then the connective tissues haven't broken down yet and need more time. I usually re-wrap and don't bother checking again for 20 - 30 minutes.

I also cook the ribs at 225° for the first couple hours to get a little more smoke, just like you did. Remember anything over 245° and the fan on the MAK kicks into higher speed. I do raise the temp to at least 275° - 300° when I foil, and leave it there when I sauce.

On a personal note, I don't care for the Parkay/honey/brown sugar combo, (but that's just me). It's too sweet IMHO, and I don't care for the parkay taste.

Traditionally most braising liquids have some kind of acidic component, which helps tenderize and balance the flavor. That's why I prefer the Cider vinegar/brown sugar/beer mix we talked about, or if I use honey, then I cut it with a little cider vinegar and use real butter (not Parkay).

Whatever you do, keep playing with them. Learning how you like to cook 'em is half the fun!

 

[chrisbax]

Thanks Cliff!

 

[scooter]

I'm with Tent on the Parkay. Years ago I switched to using pineapple juice instead of Parkay. My foil mix is brown sugar, agave syrup, a 50/50 mix of garlic and onion powders (light sprinkling), Tiger Sauce (hat tip to Johnny), pineapple juice.

They get enough smoke flavor at 275F unless you want heavy smoke, try it once. I think it's quite perfect. If I want more smoke then I kick on my Smoke Daddy but the tradeoff there is a darker color on the finished product which I try to avoid. I like the nice darker red color without the Smoke Daddy over the deep dark red with the added smoke.