Cook Time for a Rack of Spare Ribs

[Captain Morgan]

Chris you mean a Weber Smokey Mountain or a Weber charcoal grill?
On the WSM I'd play for around 6 hours. Are you familiar with the 3-2-1 method?

 

[LarryWolfe]

Chris welcome aboard! Well I don't need to tell you about your fist mistake, (using match light)! We all make mistakes! Like the Captain said you are looking at about a 6 hour cook for a 5lb rack of spares cooking with a dome temp of around 250, give or take a few degrees.

What the Capt. is referring to when he says "3-2-1 Method", you start off smoking the ribs for three hours, foil for two with a little liquid of your choice (juice works great) and the last hour unfoiled. This method works great for spares. I normally tend not to foil anything, but with ribs you almost have to in order to come up with a consistently tender,moist product. Good luck and let us know how they turn out.

BTW, do you fire your cooker the traditional way or do you know about the "Minion Method".

 

[LarryWolfe]

Chris first of all I am sorry you are a friend of Rempshits!

With the juice, when you get to the "2" part of the (3-2-1 method)meaning "foil" add a little juice of your choice (apple, pineapple, grape, whatever kind you want to use). Once you foil the ribs with the juice they will "steam" in the fruit juice plus the natural juices. This will help tenderize and keep the ribs moist.

 

[Woodman1]

Hey Chris! I use apple juice myself, but pineapple works as well.

 

[Captain Morgan]

I've never used pineapple, but it's very popular with rib experts. I use a mixture of apple juice with a little apple cider vinegar vinegar mixed in. I also use more turbo sugar in my rub than most. The key thing is not to let the ribs steam in the foil too long....you don't want them mushy or falling off the bone. The final hour lets the meat firm up some, and develop a little crust on the outside.

 

[Texana]

The best is Pineapple Habanero by Texas Pepper Jelly .... of courst I am partial.

Put it on the last 30 to 45 minutes of cooking time ..... hmmmmm good.

 

[Shawn White]

Hey Chris, I will join you on the spare cook on Sunday. I will be doing about 12lbs. This is my first spare cook on my WSM, though I've done a few racks of BBs before.

I'm gonna try 3-2-1 as well with juice.

With the BBs, the recipe I use calls for 90 minutes in foil with juice. For my personal preference I reduce that to 60 minutes, but spares being a different beast I plan on doing the full two hours.

 

[jminion1]

The 2 in 3-2-1 is too long check at 45min uless your looking for fall off the bone.
Jim

 

[Shawn White]

I wasn't sure about the '2'.

I do like the ribs a bit soft, I like the bones to come clean, with a little effort. Pre WSM days I use to boil ribs with soya sauce, garlic, honey & ketchup then brown on the grill. I preferred the Competition Ribs to BRITU ribs, but I'm not looking for fall off the bone.

I know spares can be a bit tough and quite fatty so I thought maybe they needed the extra foil time. When I reduce the foil time, assuming they still need about 6 hours, would you say 4-1-1 instead of 3-1-2? Or do we just skip that hour in foil and go 3-1-1?

Thanks very much for the advice Jim.

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Re: These Spare Ribs

I am a good freind of Greg Rempe, yes, he has freinds, and good ones. I am using a WSM. I didn't know about the 3-2-1 thing. I talked to Greg and he filled me in. What do you mean about juice?? Thanks.

Did he lend you money??? :-D

 

[Captain Morgan]

Shawn, you baby backs won't need the 6 hours. I'd go for around 2 hours, then, as Jim said, check the bb's at about 45 mins. They really do steam fast....then you are probably ok for another hour in the smoke.
I really prefer bb's.

 

[Greg Rempe]

Don't know about Mango Juice.

Foiling is really about preference. If you like your ribs fall off the bone tender/mushy then 2 hrs is in that neighborhood. If you want them a little stiffer then put them in foil for less time. It's up to you as to how long you leav them in. Remeber, like I've told you before...each cook you will learn something new. Make sure you log what works well and what doesn't so you don't make the same mistake twice!

Good luck and I will be waiting to here the reviews on Monday...if you need help Sunday, you know how to find me!! :-D

 

[Woodman1]

I will say , unabashedly and with predjudice, that Texana's post about glazing with the Texas Pepper Jelly Pineapple Habanero is very true! Another method that works great is to take a squeeze jar of honey, and glaze your ribs with that before foiling/wrapping. Then sprinkle with muscovado sugar. Suweeeeeeeet Dude!

 

[Woodman1]

Chris, I don't really think you need to add any moisture to the foil. There is enough in the meat to create the necessary steam. I find that the added moisture often cooks them so much that you don't need the "1" part of the equation! Keep in mind though, that we are cooking on different media. Try it both ways. Also, you can use plain brown sugar instead of $6.00/ lb muscovado!

 

[Greg Rempe]

Chris, to answer your second question, Woodie is talking about Texas Pepper Jelly...not the stuff you get in the store. Texana has a great product and a lot of people like to use it in, well, everything!

The Texas Pepper Jelly website is in the links section. Check it out!

 

[Woodman1]

Red, love the avatar and signature!

 

[Shawn White]

thanks for the info folks, I will try foil for an hour this time, I can go longer next time if I want them softer

Chris, sure I'd try the mango juice, perhaps mix it half with apple juice (not such a strong wild flavour) the first time then make it stronger in the future if you like. Tomorrow I will be using 2 parts apple 1 part grape 1 part pineapple, I like it and it goes well with the rub I'm using.

I posted a recipe for Honey Mango BBQ Sauce with chipotle you might like to try some time. I posted this previously on another board. It is my mango version of a Bull's Eye clone recipe. You can see pictures of it by clicking on the 2004-09-26 Pork Loin Roast and Chicken link. The veggie and apple slices were grilled with it as well.

 

[Finney]

Redneck,
You and Larry should be buddies now.
Since you are flying the 'Battle Flag' of the army of Northern Virginia.

 

[Woodman1]

Is "Northern Virginia" like sayin your from "Southern Maryland"?

 

[Finney]

No...
But Ohio is like 'western' West Virginia. :?