British BBQ Society Forums

HI ,

I tried my hand at smoking a rack of ribs for the first time this week, however they came out bloody in the middle and quite underdone.

I cooked unwrapped for 1.5 hours unwrapped, then 1.5 hours in foil with apple juice then 15 mins uncovered, the 30 mins with mop sauce uncovered.

i kept the temp around 250f

The ribs were quite meaty, but I was hoping that nearly 4 hours would be enough. This was purchased from the deli counter at sainsburies, I was hoping for the 'fall apart' texture I have heard so much from pro smokers, however the meat was little different to that of grilled.

Any tips?

Sadly the meatier the ribs the longer to cook.

you should be aiming for 3 hours uncovered the 2 hours in foil and then 1 hour to add your glaze anf also get the ribs to stiffen up a bit.

My first smoke was a big rack of Sainsbury's spare ribs.

They were 2.2 Kg and took 6 hours. I waited until there was about a centimeter of shrinkage back from the bones.

Here's the results and apols for the images, I'm not just a smoking learner

Curlie028 wrote:Rubbed those ribs with Magic Dust and set the starter.







No trouble at all setting the temp to between 210 to 230 and set the ribs on at just before 2pm.





6 hours later ................ wow!







Only a little bit of a smoke ring but they are delicious.

Thanks for the advice, do you think 250f is about right temp wise?

250f is fine if you want to cook them a bit quicker maybe push it up to 275f but personally i wouldn't go any higher than this.

smokeyBandit wrote:Thanks for the advice, do you think 250f is about right temp wise?

250F is a good temperature, most people aim for 225 to 275. Typical times for ribs are 4 hours for baby backs and 6 hours for spare ribs. There is no exact time and unlike pork shoulder and brisket wrapping in foil doesn't really speed things up, the best test I use is to pick up the rack with BBQ tongs and bounce the rack along its length just above the cooker (incase it breaks in half), if it's ready the rack will split where it bends (hope that makes sense), no break it's not ready

At 250f 6 hours should be way too long for spares. I cook racks that weigh about 2.25kg at between 250-260. I do 2hrs in the smoke, 2 hrs in foil then 15-30 mins to set the glaze. My ribs are considered a touch over for competition but they're borderline fall off the bone the way I lime them.

The op's time is probably just a little too short for cooking at 250.

Great advice, thanks guys, fantastic community here!

Steve wrote:15-30 mins to set the glaze.

What do you use/do for the glazing process?

For glazing, I take a BBQ sauce, either homemade or store bought, then thin it to the right consistency with beer, add a little extra sweetness with some honey and jazz it up with spices if required.

I heat this mixture and apply with a silicone basting brush. Simples