1st Baby back ribs on Kamado Joe

[ikilby]

With the sun briefly out today, i thought I would use my Kamado joe again to get some practice in.

I cooked 4 x full baby back ribs and 1 x chicken.

They were pretty good, maybe a little spicy - quite tender, but I think I can get them better.

I was measuring the temps of the chicken, and I think I over cooked the ribs a little as they were in the Joe for 3 hours at 250F.

However, I was pretty pleased with them, and only the bones are left

Here is a picture I took before they all went.


20120715_170657 by ikilby21, on Flickr

[RobinC]

Ribs look like they've got a nice colour. Why do you think they were overcooked?

[ikilby]

Well firstly as i was monitoring the temp of the chicken.
The Maverick said the chicken temp was 150F and it seemed to stall for a while.
I took my Thermapen out and stuck it in the chicken and it was about 155F, i then stuck it in the ribs and they were 188f.

So i guess they had been at this temp for a little while.

Anyhow, they were not very juicy and did not come off the bone as easy as i wanted.

My rub was a tad warm, but very nice (did not have smoked paprika so used hot paprika.

The chicken i cooked was delicious and so tender.

[RobinC]

If the ribs didn't come off te bone as you like they were probably underdone. 3hrs is pretty quick for baby backs

[ikilby]

Thanks Robin,

how long should i give them at 250F? - 4 / 5 hours

AM i still looking to get 185-190F in the meat temps?

Sorry I am a newbie to this cooking, but i must say i am hooked !

Regards
Ian

[RobinC]

Probably more in the region of 4 hours ish. I've never ever taken the temp of ribs and i think few people do. There are various tests for doneness for ribs I tend to use the tooth pick test where you insert the tooth pick inbetween the ribs, if it inserts easily (think knife in room temp butter) then they are done. Other people use a bend test (google it)

[keith157]

Did you foil them at all? If not give it a go after a couple of hours smoking foil then and give them another hour or aso, maybe two. You can always ad a couple of spoons of fruit juice/cider or zyder depending on your tatse . Then uncover glaze, if you are, until done.

[JEC]

Nice ribs there and good to see the ceramics family is growing some more

[KamadoSimon]

They look good though! A lot of the 'classic' recipes suggest a 3-2-1 approach where you cook as you did, uncovered just in their marinade / rub for 3 hours, foil for 2 & then uncovered again for 1. Obviously, there are lots of variations on those timings too... But the foiling really helps soften the meat.

Pulled pork typically gets cooked to 190-205F, and although it is a different cut, I wouldn't be worried that the ribs were at 188F. But as others have said, babybacks are difficult to measure given the relatively small amount of meat on them & closeness of the meat to the bone. A better test is the toothpick or flex test.

Also, be careful of letting your pan run out of water underneath the ribs - anything dripping off the ribs into the pan could give you nasty bitter addition to the your meat if it doesn't go into water & burns / smokes instead. I have found my water pan gets too hot if just placed on the ceramic heat deflector under the grate & I am using a temperature of 250F or more - but we don't have much height to play with either. So I am going to use a couple of lengths of steel rod cut to size to raise it up off the deflector just to see if that helps at all. Will let you know if it works.

Cheers,

Simon

[ikilby]

Thanks all for the info.

You guys are so informative and really helpful, and have me hooked on my Joe and BBQ.

Thinking about what to cook next I need the practise- i hope the weekend turns out a bit drier

Thanks again guys - i will post on my next cook.

Regards
Ian