British BBQ Society Forums

Hey there, got a question for everyone, im looking for the perfect ways of doing ribs, read a fair bit but theres some interesting differences;

1 - read some receipes that say dont touch it for 3 hours, some say baste it every 30mins with juice or sauce from the start, what are peoples views

2 - some say dont put sauce on until the last 30 mins, some say put it on at before it goes in the smoker, some say dont put it on at the start but later.

3 - Is the 3,2,1 method the best out there?

think im done, thanks in advance, btw i love to understand why things have to happen certain ways, so if you can let me know why it needs to be done, it would help me hugely

ta

Owen

Hi Owen,

I think I would have to say that it depends on the thickness, style of ribs you have, temperature you are cooking at and what you are cooking for (Backyard, Competition etc).

3-2-1 is ok for spares at temps between 250-275, however in my experience this will give you "Backyard" fall of the bone ribs due to the amount of boiling that takes place in the 2 hours of foiling ( it is one of my preferences but no good for comps). I'm actually enjoying the dry ribs at the minute too.

Baby backs are likely to be overdone using that method, I tend to smoke my baby backs for eating at home at around 230-250, I do 2 hours in smoke, 1-1.5 in foil, 2 back on the grate. Spares are likely to be pretty tough at that though.

It's all preference and to be honest a lot of feel, you know when they are done, and you can check them whilst you are glazing and spritzing etc.


Hope this helps, any queries feel free to ask.

Cheers

Adie

My understanding is that the 3-2-1 method was conceived as a method for beginners cooking spare ribs to get fall-off-the-bone backyard ribs.

Now personally I prefer to eat ribs this way but for competition they're considered over cooked. This probably explains why we can never do well with ribs.

For spares I go with 1.5 - 2 hours in the smoke, then about the same in foil and then up to an hour afterwards to firm up.

For the first part of cooking, I don't baste, mop, glaze, spritz or anything, I just leave them well alone.

When in the foil I use a foil marinade and place the ribs meat side down.

For firming up after foil cooking, I will glaze with bbq sauce for the last half hour, I cut my bbq sauce with apple juice or beer so that it's nice and thin then I build up thin layers of sauce.

When cooking for myself, I might not even glaze them as I like dry ribs too.

I really haven't ever foiled, although maybe for my next backyard cook I will try it.

I generally don't even open the smoker for the first 2 hours, and smoke around 250. I do use a rub, and if you start mopping / basting / spritzing too soon, it will tend to wash te rub off. Leaving it for the 2 hours gives you a good bark. After that, I spray about every 30 minutes until done. I don't go strictly by time because every cook is different.

cheers everyone, rubbed the ribs tonight (2 x 2lbs of pork ribs), gonna give em a go tomorrow and not touch for a couple of hours.

Many thanks

Top tip for rubbing your ribs is to avoid leaving them overnight if there is a high salt content. It will draw out a lot of the moisture effectively curing your meat overnight.

Takes some snaps, looking forward to the posts.



Adie

All Weather Griller wrote:Top tip for rubbing your ribs is to avoid leaving them overnight if there is a high salt content. It will draw out a lot of the moisture effectively curing your meat overnight.

Takes some snaps, looking forward to the posts.



Adie

cheers Aide, there the sort of tips im after

Cool. Hope you get the weather for it today. I'm at my mums in Burnley (They have a have pipe ban here) but the rain is torrential. Not sure the locals are worried about the ban LOL.

Cheers for all the advice guys, i did two racks in the end, both rubbed the night before.

I left them for 3 hours, sprayed after 3 with apple juice, then every hour after that. They were good to go after 6 (foiled after 3 for an hour then put back in), I didnt sauce until they were off i then let them rest in foil for an hour.

I used a home made sauce (apple and chipolotte), i grabbed off the bbq fanatics site, they were good but I reckon i can do better, any way here's some shots

Rubbed, before they go in



After 3 hours



didnt do any photos after this, the beer had kicked in and i forgot, anyhow i hope to do more soon

Owen