Smoked Ribs take too long
Smoked Ribs take too long
The big grill claims to fit 7 racks of ribs…. But three St Louis fills it pretty good. I may need to make the corn bread inside.
This time I planned slightly better, thanks to a recipe app, and generated shopping lists, but …… didn’t get to the store until morning, got a late start, endured massive crowds and got a really late start
This is not the recipe I wanted to follow but it’s the one I have time for: https://www.traeger.com/recipes/all-american-spareribs
I've always thought one of the reason who smokers are especially popular with older guys is that they've learned to slow down and are less in a rush. But yeah, you have to allow yourself the time, especially since no two pieces of meat are done at the same time.
"A rack of ribs is never late, nor is it early. It is done precisely when it means to."
Japanese Cucumber Salad was excellent! I expected spicy but really not.
Unfortunately I can’t give credit - my teen got it off a TikTok video somewhere - but I see a number of similar ones online
Corn bread was outstanding. Probably all the butter and cream, so I’m not looking at the nutritional info. I did cook it in the oven though, instead of the grill. my bad
- https://www.traeger.com/recipes/sage-honey-skillet-cornbread
- crust was perfect. Definitely all that butter
- I don’t usually like honey on corn bread but it worked great
- the whole milk and creamed corn made it feel so heavenly
- I couldn’t find fresh sage so I tried dill, but I don’t think that was flavorful enough
Try closing the lid?
That would be a boring picture …. Yes I minimize time open
I was being a smartass. It's a dad thing, I hear.
Got the WiFi working and it did notify me when it finished preheating, but it’s Still coming up from original temp since I realized I had to hurry it up
The ribs were a bust 😢 and there a rack and a half left over 🤬. However they did taste good and I can’t blame the recipe
- https://www.traeger.com/recipes/all-american-spareribs
- I bought way too much, expecting more people, but had to start before there was a cancellation
- apparently I did not get the whole membrane off, so the ribs wouldn’t separate.
- they dried out - I put them meat side up and didn’t get out there to spritz them enough
- my attempt to rush meant they weren’t on long enough to be tender. I definitely need more practice getting a good read on the meat thermometer with ribs. I probably screwed that up and should have at least taken more samples
I had a meat smoking and charcuterie business for 15 years. For St Louis cut ribs, dry rub them and let them sit in the fridge overnight. This gives the salt time to do its osmotic magic and helps prevent the meat from drying out. In my experience, 250F is a bit too hot for pellet grills. I found 225F to be a good balance of time, temp, crust, and moistness.
The ribs will stall around 160F for a while when the collagen starts breaking down into gelatin (endothermic reaction). When the temp in between the bones reads about 165F to 167F, start checking for a "break test." Twist the rack of ribs; if the meat cracks easily, they're done.
Edit to add: Even at 250F, that 4-hour number seems a bit fast. I'd expect closer to six hours for St Louis cut.
Thanks for the tips! I’ll try again in a week or two
I did completely untrimmed ribs on Saturday because I got a deal at the store, but didn't have time to do much of anything (we were doing a crawfish boil for the first time). I used pepper and slap yo mama cajun seasoning. I placed a small metal pan of water to increase the humidity. Literally left them alone for 4 hours at 250, didn't check at all. Wrapped in foil with some Stubb's in a cooler for 1.5hr . The meat was tender, maybe a little dry, and I cut them into individuals because of the membrane. I used 2 tbsp of sauce per rack, since I wasn't feeling like sweet meat.
I will definitely do untrimmed again, at least for casual weekend stuff. I liked the flavor I got from pepper+Cajun+Stubb's. Maybe should have spritzed.
Interesting idea with the humidity