Rib cooking temps

[Merrill]

I was curious about the temps we all shoot for when cooking ribs.
Cooking in the WSM, I prefer 250. I found they were too dry cooking
cooler. Cooking in my old Superior Smoker I preferred the results at
230-235. This weekend I had some fabulous ribs cooked at 220 for a
solid 8 hours and with the exception of his sauce choice, they were
pretty much perfect. Opinions? Different for spares vs backs?
Different depending on cooker used?

[Paul Reddick]

We cook at 220.  Takes about 3.5 hours in the Oyler.  These are spares and they are juicy and tender.

Paul

On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 2:01 PM, Merrill <capta...@comcast.net> wrote:

I was curious about the temps we all shoot for when cooking ribs. Cooking in the WSM, I prefer 250.  I found they were too dry cooking cooler.  Cooking in my old Superior Smoker I preferred the results at 230-235.  This weekend I had some fabulous ribs cooked at 220 for a solid 8 hours and with the exception of his sauce choice, they were pretty much perfect.  Opinions?  Different for spares vs backs?  Different depending on cooker used?

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Paul Reddick

Owner

Smoking Pig BBQ Company, LLC

1144 N. 4th St

San Jose, CA 95112

408-380-4784

[Sherman Watkins]

I prefer about 275.  I think it makes for a nice crust.  Having said that today's were cooked at 250.

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[Paul Reddick]

Sherman, do you put anything extra on them to help the crust form?

Paul

[Sherman Watkins]

Nope

[Paul Reddick]

Cool

[Big Jim]

  At the store I cooked everything at 325°

  Ribs, chicken, butts, brisket, sausage and pork loin.

  Everything went in a different times, BUTT all came off at same time, Just in time to start serving.

At comps we cooked at 250°

BeeJay

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[Buzz Dean]

In the BWS ribs cook at about 230° or so---spares will go 6hrs or so and be amazing(usually)--in the egg temp is usally  little higher and ribs are still great----but maybe my favs are from the times cooking direct on the cajun bandit--crispy spicy chewy bites of porcine pulchritude

[Merrill]

This is why I was curious, I was guessing we would see big temp
variances. A bunch of very good cooks and temps for the same product
have a variance of over 100 degrees...it may be even bigger if everyone
answered. This really validates my good friend Mr. Wiviott's lectures
to me in my early days of smoking. When we got together to cook, he
would chide me for constantly monitoring my oven thermometer. He
preached to me that it was about fire control and knowing your cooker.
He went completely by putting his hand on the dome of his WSM and wasn't
concerned about exact temps. His ribs were and are spot on every time.
I still use a temp probe, but he made sure I can go by feel when
something breaks down! :)

Merrill

[Merrill]

Paul,
Interesting that they cook so fast at a low temp.  My back ribs usually cook about 3.5-4 hours at 250 in the WSM.  Does the Oyler have a fair amount of air flow creating convection?

Merrill

On 4/28/2013 5:23 PM, Paul Reddick wrote:

We cook at 220.  Takes about 3.5 hours in the Oyler.  These are spares and they are juicy and tender.

Paul

On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 2:01 PM, Merrill <capta...@comcast.net> wrote:

I was curious about the temps we all shoot for when cooking ribs. Cooking in the WSM, I prefer 250.  I found they were too dry cooking cooler.  Cooking in my old Superior Smoker I preferred the results at 230-235.  This weekend I had some fabulous ribs cooked at 220 for a solid 8 hours and with the exception of his sauce choice, they were pretty much perfect.  Opinions?  Different for spares vs backs?  Different depending on cooker used?

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Paul Reddick

Owner

Smoking Pig BBQ Company, LLC

1144 N. 4th St

San Jose, CA 95112

408-380-4784

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Best,
Merrill

Check out my mom's new novel..."Child of Desire" by Verla Lacy Powers.
Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle eBook.

[Merrill]

Sherm,
When the wife isn't around, I occasionally throw a rack on the drum
smoker direct over the coals to get that nice crust. She doesn't care
for it, so it's not a regular routine. Lately, my dietary restrictions
have made most my favorite meats off limits! :(

Merrill

[Gerry Curry]

I think our good friend Mr Wiviott needs to send his Uncle Guido to visit Meathead. He's turned into a real thermometer freak lately! Either that or he's getting kick-backs from Therapen. ;-)

Gerry

[Paul Reddick]

Hi Merrill,   welp, I don't know the physics.  The smoker itself is just a big bread oven with an opening from the firebox and a couple intake holes and a stack.  I bought one, it's about 25 years old, from Armadillo Willy's for $500.  None of the automatic controls work so we just set all the openings and let it run.  We put in a new thermometer but who knows if it's reading correctly  :D.   The other one's newer and everything works ok.  We set them both for 225.  We're using medium spares, about 5lb a rack (we sift thru the loads at the store to get these weights).  I don't take their temp.  Danny taught me the "grab it by one end with tongs and look for the cracks" test, which I taught to the kitchen.  But it's pretty easy to eyeball.  Brisket is probed to mice nuts accuracy or it's wrong.  Butts too.  Upshot is, I don't know why they cook fast either!   What's cool about BBQ, like music and art, there's a million ways to do it and thousands of ways to do it great!  We don't get a crunchy bark on the spares (which I like) butt, I'm not changing a thing!

[Gandalf]

Here's some of the physics:

It may be related to the amount of heat held in the smoker vs how much the added meat can cool it down. Home smokers can get very cool with door openings and that heat has to be recovered in order to heat the meat. If your smoker has a lot of heat, and little heat loss, your meat will cook faster. Meat (or anything else, for that matter) heats from the outside in, and the RATE at which it heats is proportional to the difference in temperature between the meat and the air around it. The meat is trying to cool the air, the air is trying to heat the meat. A huge meat load would certainly cause the whole thing to cook slower, for the very same reason. If that wasn't the case, you could cook 20 racks as fast as one rack.

 

In almost everything I smoke, I start the process at about 300-325. That gives a LARGE difference in temperature between the meat and the air. That lets the meat heat fairly rapidly, initially. I let it go that way for about 1/2 a cook, then I drop it to the 225 range to let it finish. By that time, the meat is pretty well heated up inside, but it has not finished breaking down. The 225 thus holds the temperature and lets it break down without drying out.

 

Briskets are a problem because they are two different cuts of meat stuck together. One is a pretty lean, straight grained cut, the other is pretty fatty, multi-grained cut. The fatty one is stuck to one end of the lean one. No WONDER  people have trouble with them - think about the heat in the thin end - it gets PAST its prime temperature before the thick end even gets fully heated. The best solution I have found is to split them apart before smoking, and pull each piece out when it is ready. Foil is good after the smoke has flavored the meat because it traps moisture that could otherwise be lost, which is particularly important to the flat, which doesn't have much moisture OR fat.

Gandalf

 

From: smoker...@googlegroups.com [mailto:smoker...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Paul Reddick
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 11:18
To: SmokeR...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [BBQ] Rib cooking temps

 

Hi Merrill,   welp, I don't know the physics.  The smoker itself is just a big bread oven with an opening from the firebox and a couple intake holes and a stack.  I bought one, it's about 25 years old, from Armadillo Willy's for $500.  None of the automatic controls work so we just set all the openings and let it run.  We put in a new thermometer but who knows if it's reading correctly  :D.   The other one's newer and everything works ok.  We set them both for 225.  We're using medium spares, about 5lb a rack (we sift thru the loads at the store to get these weights).  I don't take their temp.  Danny taught me the "grab it by one end with tongs and look for the cracks" test, which I taught to the kitchen.  But it's pretty easy to eyeball.  Brisket is probed to mice nuts accuracy or it's wrong.  Butts too.  Upshot is, I don't know why they cook fast either!   What's cool about BBQ, like music and art, there's a million ways to do it and thousands of ways to do it great!  We don't get a crunchy bark on the spares (which I like) butt, I'm not changing a thing!

[Frank Boyer]

Might be convection.

Frank

[phil wingo]

i cook ribs HOT & FAST baby backs in 2 1/2hrs  275 -290. no foil philw --- On Mon, 4/29/13, Frank Boyer <fran...@surfnetc.com> wrote:

[Lucy Baker]

Phil, I assume you do not use a water pan.?

Lucy

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[phil wingo]

depends on cooker / mostly no philw --- On Mon, 4/29/13, Lucy Baker <noo...@verizon.net> wrote:

[Merrill]

Phil,
Are you cooking that hot at competitions?  I was definitely impressed with your ribs last time I had them at Westmont.

Merrill

On 4/29/2013 6:53 PM, phil wingo wrote:

[Merrill]

Paul,
A restaurant near me uses an Oyler with the mechanical draft working.
Quite interesting to see how it works. I fired up my DPP Fat 50 tonight
hoping to cook some chickens. It's more than I need for 2 chickens, but
I was hoping for some practice on the new cooker. I can keep a nearly
clear exhaust coming out burning logs, so I am very happy with the air
flow. The problem was that when I was within 25 degrees of temp, I went
to the fridge to open the chickens and they were both bad. Too late to
take them back, so no smokey goodness for us tonight. Some good
practice before our upcoming comps, so not a total waste.

Merrill

[Merrill]

Meathead is a big thermo freak...and he gets a lot of freebies! :)

[Paul Reddick]

Yes, the clear stacks are awesome when only burning wood.  Danny told me I needed green wood for these Oylers and that's what I use and even the greener stuff burns without smoke from the stack.  If I see any smoke, I go check the settings.  Usually coming from the 'broken' one and the wood shim has slipped from one of the dampers.  Comparing my mobile rig to these smokers...well, no comparison.

Can I axe what that rig runs ya?  It's a beautiful, compact setup from what I can see.   Plus those chickens would get lonely on it, so you better toss in a couple racks!

Paul

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[Merrill]

Hey Paul,
It is compact, but designed for decent volume on a mobile unit. I could
add a couple racks to those chickens and still have room to cook for a
couple hundred people. Fully loaded, she will hold 32-36 butts. I
cooked a 74 pound case last Friday and it looked pretty empty.

Equipped the same as mine, the Fat 50 goes for around $5000 new. Mine
was just over 2 years old and in mint condition. I got it for about
half the new price from a highly motivated seller...he was no longer
catering and his wife wanted her car back in the garage. There is one
in Dallas listed on the Smoke Ring forum at $3500. DPP closed for a
couple of years when the economy tanked, but has now reopened.

Merrill

[Paul Reddick]

Cool.  I meant compact in that it looked well-designed without taking a bunch of space like my mobile rig does.  These BBQ toys ain't cheap, are they.....

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[phil wingo]

yes , for comps also philw --- On Tue, 4/30/13, Merrill <capta...@comcast.net> wrote:

From: Merrill <capta...@comcast.net> Subject: Re: [BBQ] Rib cooking temps

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[Bryan Foltz]

'fraid not... 

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[Gandalf]

When I have cooked them that hot, I got a fairly tough 'skin' on the outside although the inside was fine. This becomes obvious when you go to tear two bones apart, and it splits fine, but keeps most of the 'crusty skin' on one rib. Even when cutting with a knife it tends to want to stay in one piece rather than cut. (I use a very light rub and no sauce while cooking.) There must be some way to prevent that outside toughness while cooking at those temps. Foil? Mopping?

Gandalf

[phil wingo]

i have never had a problem with toughness, cook 3 racks yesterday. tender and juicy. philw --- On Wed, 5/1/13, Gandalf <Gandalf...@comcast.net> wrote:

[Buzz Dean]

the different results may come from a couple different things----where on the cooker temp is measured, air flow of cooker and position of ribs in that airflow---rub will have an effect too

[Merrill]

Spot on Buzz. Quite a few variables and any combination can give you fits. Some cookers are better than others for hot temps. The high volume air flow combined with high temps in my Big Jim gave me a chicken skin I could never match in my Backwoods. 

Merrill

[Merrill]

On 5/1/2013 1:55 AM, Paul Reddick wrote:
> Cool. I meant compact in that it looked well-designed without taking
> a bunch of space like my mobile rig does. These BBQ toys ain't cheap,
> are they.....

Hey Paul,
Not cheap and getting more expensive every day. I sold my Superior
which would hold 20 butts to get this pit with almost twice the volume.
I miss the insulation and efficiency, but the extra volume, ability to
cook whole pigs and being trailer mounted were more important for most
of my uses. Being a stick burner is not as convenient for competition,
but it sure is fun for the show. I cooked for 125 people at my
headquarters last week and I think people spent as much time asking
questions and checking out the pit as they did eating the food. I
didn't mind at all! :)

Merrill

[Paul Reddick]

The show is a huge part of it for onsites, that's for sure.  But yeah, it looks nice and clean and neat and well designed.

Paul

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