Ribs without foil?

[ConorD]

Watching a load of Food Network and online vids of various rib cooking methods and I wondered if anyone has mastered cooking ribs (spare or baby back) without the aid of foil - just lower and slower - and getting the same "fall of the bone" results.

I have seen a few restaurants in MvF doing this but wondered if anyone managed it in the back garden?

[Swindon_Ed]

I have seen a few restaurants in MvF doing this but wondered if anyone managed it in the back garden?

The cooker is a big part to play here, as if you look at most of the BBQ joints on DDD & MvF they're using Ole Hickory & Southern Pride smokers, which have offset fire boxes & the grills are attached to a rotisserie so the ribs get a much gentler cook moving around in the smoker. I've noticed a difference in cooking with my Backwoods that i can now cook good ribs without the need to foil, but it's a reverse flow smoker with 10 gallons of water acting as a barrier against the direct heat.

If you compare this to cooking on a ProQ or WSM, the ribs just sit there with the heat source maybe a foot directly below with either a clay saucer or 3 litters of water acting as a barrier, it's just not going to work very well.

But having eaten at a few different BBQ joints in the US i wouldn't call the ribs you get over there fall off the bone.

[ConorD]

True but I did see one on MvF where they cooked the ribs in what looked like a large bread oven with the coals maybe a couple of feet below the ribs and at 160-180f with them describing the one bite, clean bone finish.

I'm not planning on changing my approach just yet but was wondering earlier in a moment of contemplation (and trying to avoid work )

[grum]

I'm a total beginner and this was my first go but i followed the baby back ribs recipe on my Weber app ( ) which said to cook/smoke them on low for about 2 hours on a weber kettle - no foil. I was really pleased with them.

There was a rub on there for about 2 hours before cooking as well.

I wouldn't quite say they fell off the bone but they were really tender and tasty.

[chokethechicken]

Cook ribs without foil and have them fall off the bone? Yes from my experience (wsm with clay saucer). With or without foil.