First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

[jclarkhpa]

Hello, I did my first cook on my KK last week, and circumstances caused me to do my most challenging cook, ribs. I have a few questions, but first I'll tell you what I did. I had two spare ribs available so they were immediately inducted into my first cook. I brined them using the recipe found on this forum somewhere, with water, brown sugar, salt, etc. I had to cut them (rib tips, and St. Louis cut then had to be cut in half) just to fit in my brine pot. So two spare ribs became four 1/2 St. Louis ribs and four rib tips. I put a little dry rub on them and they were ready to go. I didn't use my KK rib rack because they were too small for it, next time I'll figure out a different way to brine them so they are full size and can stay on the rack. However, I did put in both the heat deflector wrapped in foil along with the drip pan wrapped in foil. (photo below)

I set the KK up with a full basket of charcoal (both CoCo and some mesquite lump) and a little wood. I got it up to 230 and put the ribs on. I kept them there for 3 hours, then pulled them and put them in foil with some brown sugar, butter, honey, and a touch of BBQ sauce. As an experiment, instead of BBQ sauce for a couple of the rib tips, I put in blackberry jam instead. I put them back on the KK for another two hours. After that I took them out of the foil (they looked and smelled good) and put them back on the KK for another 45 minutes. Here's what they looked like when I brought them in.

Here's a picture of my plate with some homemade smashed potatoes with carrots. I have one of the rib tips with the blackberry jam on it, and the other was plain. I thought both tasted good. So, here's my problem. Everything went fine except for two things. 1. The ribs were too firm. I'm assuming I should have cooked them for at least another hour, but during which part? Before foiling them? Extending the braising in the foil? After foiling? They were still juicy from the brining, but they weren't tender at all. The taste was good, etc. How do I get them more tender? 2. They could have used a touch more smoke. However, I'm not sure how to do it correctly on the KK. I had some wood mixed in the charcoal basket, hoping that they would smoke throughout the cook. However, I also know the first part of the smoke it the more acrid part, so you're supposed to let that go and wait for the smoke to become clear or blue before adding your meat. How do you add wood without getting that first wave of acrid smoke? Also, if your heat deflector and drip pan are in there, I'm assuming you have to take everything out to add wood, then put everything back in and wait for the temp to stabilize again. Is there an easier way? I feel like I made a lot of progress with my ribs compared to past attempts, but I still have room for improvement. If I can get them more tender I think I'll have a winner. Any suggestions or tips you have would be appreciated. Regards, jclarkhpa 23" Dark Autumn Nebula

[EGGARY]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

So, what advice would you like on Ribs ? They look good to me.

Every cook will be a learning experience. That is my take.

Welcome to the "family".

Happy New Year!

[5698k]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

What advice are you looking for?

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[jclarkhpa]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

Sorry,

I'm looking for advice on how to make them more tender. I had to use a fork and knife since they were too firm for teeth. Yet, they came off the bone OK. I know I need to cook them longer, but I'm not sure if I should cook them longer wrapped in foil or if I should have kept them cooking longer before I wrapped them. Does it matter?

Thanks,

[5698k]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

Every cook is a bit different, but if you left the ribs on longer at first, they would get more smoke, and that would help with tenderization. Every time I cook ribs there is a bit of a judgement call based on how meaty they are, fire, ect. Maybe try an extra 30 min. on both first and second stage, and then finish for as long as it takes. Mostly don't put any real time frame on them.

I have also done as well without foiling them, just be patient. Maybe once cooking them untill you may think they're overdone, and see what happens!

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[Tucker]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

I've always used a total cook time of 4hrs, based off of Chris Lilly's four stage rib recipe. Not sure if that recipe was posted in teh firum or not, but you can get teh book from Amazon "Big Bob Gibson'sBQ Book".

It has a ton of great recipes in it.

I don't always follow the steps, but i do maintain that 4hr duration and have not had a bad rib cook yet.

keep cooking

[Loquitur]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

It doesn't look like the meat has pulled back from the bones enough. Next time raise the temp to 250 and cook them on the main grill level.

[tony b]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

As noted, ribs are bite tender when the tips of the bones are showing about 1/4". Also second the suggestion to move to the main grill level to improve smoke contact.

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

With everything except ribs I cook to temp and pay little attention to time other than to get a general idea of the finish time.

With ribs I do a physical check for doneness..

Using tongs I grab the rack from the end with the end of the tongs at about 40% in.. Then I bounce the rack up and down to check how flexible they are.. when the meat just starts to tear they are ready.

If you want them to fall off the bone wait until the meat breaks and the racks fold..

I like it when the meat will tear just enough that the slit slowly opens..

My wife likes them with more tooth, so I pull them when the surface first shows tiny tears but won't spread or deepen..

[Syzygies]

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice

Well, here are my unreconstructed, subjective opinions:

Foiling: We tried this both ways, a number of times, and settled on "never foil anything". The texture is better, not foiled. Ribs need six or seven hours to cook tender without foil, and to render enough fat (a function of the season, winter pigs are fatter).

Sauce: I'm a "from scratch" cook in all other arenas. We grind our own flour, we skin, partly dry and freeze our tomato crop each year. When I cook Thai I have to look for a can opener for the coconut milk, wondering each time if I own one. So the idea of constructing a barbecue sauce by opening various jars has always struck me as bizarre. We like salt, pepper, and sometimes chiles as a rub, nothing more. Jam is to disguise cheap meat, but anyone who can afford a KK can afford better meat. Whenever I've tasted through these complex sauces to the meat (e.g. at a cook off) I've tasted cheap meat.

Smoke: Meat absorbs smoke only up to some cutoff temperature. One can enhance smoke absorption and the telltale red smoke ring by starting with really cold meat, and a cold cooker. I always generate smoke using a smoke pot: A two quart cast iron dutch oven, with several 1/8" holes drilled into the bottom, filled with apple and/or hickory chips, with the lid sealed on with flour/water paste to prevent any possible convection through the pot. Set this pot on the charcoal, and light the fire directly under the pot using a weed burner and Mapp gas. The smoke pot limits the combustion byproducts such as creosote, which taste really nasty, allowing the use of more wood than anyone could use loose on the fire. This is a distillation process in effect, allowing you to cook with armagnac rather than moonshine. The smoke is distinct, but one more spice that harmonizes with the food rather than taking over.