Cooking babyback ribs- meat side up or down?

[BARDSLJR]

Last weekend I tried an experiment, this time cooking the babyback ribs with the meat side down, under the hypothesis that smoke is coming up from below, will hit the meat first and circle around it and exit through the roof vent. Should this give us a better, stronger smoke penetration?

Answer is, from this one trial, I can't tell. And also, I was using plum wood for the first time, and I have no experience with what to expect. What do y'all think?

 

Jim in Denver

[Tucker]

i always cook ribs naked bone down 2hrs, wrap in foil meat down 2 1/2hrs.

the bone helps protect meat initially, then meat down allows the meat to sit in the gathering juices

olive oil, salt, pepper.

hickory or apple wood

turns out excellent every time.

[BARDSLJR]

I most often use apple wood, too. I wouldn't have thought of olive oil. I usually use Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust for my rub- it's a good workhorse for anything porkish. I also use the 2/1/1 method, and have until now always cooked meat side up- I think will try meat side down a couple more times before I reach a conclusion.

[tony b]

Interesting experiment. I've just naturally put my ribs bone-side down, unless I'm using the vertical rack. Probably doesn't make that much difference, as I normally do ribs indirect (foil on the lower grate). 

[Tucker]

Mine are always indirect using the drip pan lined with foil

[BARDSLJR]

Mine are indirect as well. I use a large drip pan filled with water directly over the fire.

[Tucker]

water?

interesting, never have had to use water in the KK. 

[Tyrus]

Always have done the bone side down also, then wrap and foil for a time according to what kind of bend and color it presents at time.  The only defect/imperfection might be the heat drying the ribs or the grill marks if that bothers you. The moisture content is a concern but, since I haven't tried it and work by habit I guess this opinion will remain mute. If your searching for the holy grail rib, I'm all for that,,let us know if you find it.

[tony b]

That's the fun part of this hobby - no one "right" way to do it - whatever works for you and you get the results you want - that's OK. 

[BARDSLJR]

With regards to using water in the pan, I have always done it, first with my previous (Johnson) Kamado, now with Dennis's KK. I have tired it both ways and prefer the extra margin for safety that the water pan provides (and it catches fat drippings).  Remember, the humidity levels here in Denver (and for the previous Kamado, in Salt Lake City), are really minimal, often below 20%. You might achieve the same result with some intermittent spritzing, but I am comfortable with the water pan. Regarding bone-up/bone down, you are correct, one downside would be grill marks on the meaty side for doing bone-up. Can't speak to whether it might dry out or not. I will probably try it both ways a couple of more times, but at least from the  first trial, I can't tell if it made any difference in any way.

[Basher]

Because it’s indirect, I don’t think bone up or down will make much difference.
They are cooking from circulating warm air.
The water pan has to help with a more desirable wet bulb temp, especially in a dry area.
The water will act as a heat sink and take longer to heat up the oven.
Aren’t there some thermodynamic scientists here to expand on this?
I haven’t bothered with the water pan, only to catch drippings for a gravy so they don’t burn.


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[tony b]

21 hours ago, Basher said:

Aren’t there some thermodynamic scientists here to expand on this?

Do you really want to go there? LOL!

[Tyrus]

Spraying works wonders with apple vinegar soy and pineapple juice. Used a little spray margerine on top too. Doing these now for a quick freeze to use later, using one of my other grills to stay sharp

Edited September 29, 2020 by Tyrus

[BARDSLJR]

Gorgeous, Tyrus!

[SmallBBQr]

People still eat margarine?   Ribs look amazing though....

 

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[Aussie Ora]

I've done couple of rib cooks on Ora .and have found the best way for me is the easiest way .straight cook with foil on the lower grate . Bone down. the moisture retention in the KK .is amazing whilst still giving me a good bark .

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[BARDSLJR]

Okay, I know we are two nations divided by a common language, but what's "Ora"?

I found another reason to cook bone-side down. If you do meat-side down, moisture can collect on the bottom skin-side, possibly causing fractures in the casing that holds the piece together, with potentially disasterous results.

I think one of the challenges of cooking KK, or any Kamado-style cooker, is that the airflow is diametrically opposite that of a large offset style smoker. In the case of the offset, one is burning small "logs" of wood for the heat source, and there is very significant air flow up and across the cooking area in order to maintain the cooking heat point. For the KK, one has to tamp down the air flow to a whisper in order to maintain the constant (and low level) heat across the length of the cook, so the volume of smoke that crosses over the meat is dramatically less. AND you don't want a thick smoke, because you don't want a creosote taste imparted to the meat.

My solution is - and this is an experiment in progress (I will report on results as I have them) is to adjust the ratio of wood and charcoal in my 32" KK to about 50/50. After I go through the initial ramp up, which generates some pretty thick smoke, I squeeze off the air flow and then have the desired "whisper of light smoke" moving through and maintaining my heat level. I think the next long cook may be beef chuck ribs, which have turned out pretty wonderful in the past. Stay tuned....

[BARDSLJR]

BTW, there is an added benefit to this approach. Wood, even cured wood, is made up of nearly 50% water, while charcoal has very little moisture. So when you are burning wood, you raise the humidity level in your cooker, which benefits the meat- we are all trying to get our meat cooked to a given temperature to break down the collagens and get it tender, but we want to avoid drying it out- ergo, more wood in the mix is beneficial.

[Aussie Ora]

Ora is the name of my 23 KK it derives from the

Okay, I know we are two nations divided by a common language, but what's "Ora"?
I found another reason to cook bone-side down. If you do meat-side down, moisture can collect on the bottom skin-side, possibly causing fractures in the casing that holds the piece together, with potentially disasterous results.
I think one of the challenges of cooking KK, or any Kamado-style cooker, is that the airflow is diametrically opposite that of a large offset style smoker. In the case of the offset, one is burning small "logs" of wood for the heat source, and there is very significant air flow up and across the cooking area in order to maintain the cooking heat point. For the KK, one has to tamp down the air flow to a whisper in order to maintain the constant (and low level) heat across the length of the cook, so the volume of smoke that crosses over the meat is dramatically less. AND you don't want a thick smoke, because you don't want a creosote taste imparted to the meat.
My solution is - and this is an experiment in progress (I will report on results as I have them) is to adjust the ratio of wood and charcoal in my 32" KK to about 50/50. After I go through the initial ramp up, which generates some pretty thick smoke, I squeeze off the air flow and then have the desired "whisper of light smoke" moving through and maintaining my heat level. I think the next long cook may be beef chuck ribs, which have turned out pretty wonderful in the past. Stay tuned....

Ora is the name of my KK it derives from the mangarrai dialect meaning land crocodile. Hence Aussie Ora lol . As for your above comments .if you look at my rib cooks you will see this has never been the case. I have one simple method that works for me all the time .ark up Ora to 400f with both grates in .take out grates add smoking wood replace lower grate add foil replace top grate and ribs and dial it down which ever setting will get you to 250 f



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[BARDSLJR]

Gorgeous looking ribs. My experience with my 32" KK is that it is very difficult to get it to reduce temperature once it ramps up. I have had to build up to cooking temp really slowly so not to overshoot it, and then tamp down on the air flow to level it off. I will be using a BBQ Guru for long cooks in the future, so hopefully I will have addressed the control issue.

Thank you for clarifying "Ora"- I would have never figured that out. Netflix has made a lot of Australian television accessible, and I can usually figure things out from context: when the guy in "Mr. In-Between"says "we're going out for dimmies", I get he's meaning dim sum dumplings. Some of the language in Peter Temple's excellent mystery books, I just have to guess or Google. (By the way, "Secret City" and "Wanted" were excellent, too. Thank you, my Australian cousins!