British BBQ Society Forums

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?

ConorD wrote: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.

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 )

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.

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