Smoked this large side of pork ribs… 7 hours total, Inc. 1 hour of rest. Glazed it with a BBQ wet rub I came up with, I was pretty proud for a first time attempt especially as it fell off the bone. Hickory smoked, in a barrel smoker.. anyone got any tips on how to improve? Honest criticism please!
by AllAtSea_Again
42 Comments
Hard to tell from photos! It’s not the standard LOOK of a rib I go for but I mean if they were fall of the bone and tasty then who am I to judge !
They look good man! I’d shave an hour off so you get that clean bite instead of full fall-off the bone, but if you dig the ultra-tender vibe roll with it. Bark and color are already on point, nice work.
ribs are subjective. people like fall off the bone (i personally do) and others like to take bites off the bone. some people like the membrane on (i don’t mind it) others hate it.
competitions are even more subjective because they’re expecting people to cook to not fall off the bone specifications and everyone seems to think this is the superior way just because it’s how “competition” ribs are supposed to be cooked.
bottom line is, if you enjoyed them, then they’re good
The cook looks great but where’s the pepper and seasoning! 🙂
https://preview.redd.it/qguhzzlr7tgf1.jpeg?width=203&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea4ae2196c1d59ef3f1449cfb054cad16e1e8e2d
Well I’m not seeing much pull away from the bones which is usually a sign of collagen not quite breaking down enough. Also I think I’m just more a dry seasoning person – I glaze at the end. Just go all the way, no wrap then glaze in a bbq/liquid mixture in foil while it rests. Here are a few shots of recent ribs! So really it’s probably just a seasoning difference.
https://preview.redd.it/e67vujad8tgf1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=184cadc7b1f45a835de890300100f30993807470
Looks great, try a real heavy dry rub next time. It’s a really unique flavor and texture
Trim the flap meat off the backside and smoke it separately if usable.
Honestly, it “looks” like it was cooked too fast and too hot? But that’s also wild speculation on my part as I can’t taste your picture. Did you like them? Did they fall of the bone? If so, you’ve won cooking today!
These look great for glazed ribs. A LOT of people here are going to lambaste you for not having a dark bark, which you get with a much heavier dry rub.
https://preview.redd.it/6bath0nratgf1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff21c3ac0bf0335ac4753e1b7c7242b657862585
Those look really great for a first effort mate! Personally I LOVE fall off the bone ribs, I mean I wont push away a rack with some bite. But when they fall off the bone, oh my. Just begs for some bread lol
Ribs look pretty good, but put that silverware away. Ribs are finger food.
I tend to have to make two type of ribs. Half the household wants it ‘fall off the bone’ – the other prefer a bit more of a bite.
Cook it to your audience and preference.
They have a beautiful glaze, I personally am a dry rub, fall off the bone guy, but that’s strictly a preference.
https://preview.redd.it/w5gi02iectgf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39b0238907210cadfc201405692a7750fefd05e3
Looks good, clean smoke as well …..
7 hours does sound like a long smoke for ribs. But that all depends on your smoker and temp.
I use the 3-2-1 method with pretty consistently good results. 225-240f (107-115c)is my smokers sweet spot. 3hrs smoke open 2hrs wrapped (in butcher paper) then sauce and grill for like 15-20min not a full hour- ever. But that’s my smoker and really that is thing you need to play with to balance the tender and juiciness levels you prefer.
To prep I remove the silver skin and cover my ribs in a thin layer of mustard to get as much rub to stick as possible. I have an electric mini fridge style smoker that takes chips and usually about 2-3 handfuls in that first three hours is sufficient. Also- love the Jack Daniel’s barrel chips for ribs.
I would say your ribs are upside down, and I like a darker bark
Look good from Texas
Looks good. That’s the underside though. Usually you would present the other side of the ribs
This is the beauty of smoking, there is no “wrong way”. Everyone has their own opinion… amazing how they’re all right😜
Bottom line is if you and your company liked them, then it was a good cook.
This is the best part – you now get to do it again… and experiment: Different seasonings, cook times, temperature, wrap/no-wrap, sauce/no sauce.
There is no wrong answer. Screw what the idiots will say here – some people have a very narrow mind when it comes to smoking meats, and will troll if you don’t do it the way they do. Ignore those people and certainly don’t invite them to your next cook out. I however, am always available.
By the way, they look fantastic.
I usually go for St. Louis style in terms of cook times and “doneness” – so some bite as opposed to “fall off the bone,” which I personally find to be overdone. As other commenters say – very subjective! Here’s a pic of a recent smoke: salted and dry rub wrapped overnight, if I recall correctly about 3 1/2 hours total cooking time for baby back ribs, membrane removed. Glazed in just the last half hour of the grill. Amazingribs.com is a wealth of knowledge for ribs (or any type of bbq – did a whole pig using their info and it turned out perfect the first time I did it).
https://preview.redd.it/59357csbgtgf1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22773f834ace123562a0ff6dc8c3c9c09346f819
If you liked them, doesn’t matter what anybody thinks …
My two cents, if they tasted great and got good reviews, you’re golden.
I prefer much more bark with a more prominent dry rub. The additional textures and flavors make a difference and are fun to customize. Aesthetically, they seem undercooked. I look for more pull-back from the bone.
It all depends on what you’re going for. Watch some videos on different regional styles in the US and pick a method. Going through styles from Texas, KC, Memphis, etc has really helped me develop my own style while learning a lot along the way.
You’ve got some good feedback already but I’d add that 1 hr is too long of a rest for ribs. They generally only need 10-15 minutes. I thicker rack like that might need 20 but not an hour.
Bbq sauce as a binder??? You’re lucky you didn’t end up with black, burnt sugar on the outside of the ribs.
The cook looks good. Only criticism is that there is little to no bark. Make sure to season it liberally with Kosher salt, 16 mesh black pepper, and a little garlic do develop a nice thick bark.
Edit: Also, use pickle juice or just water as your binder. You don’t need something super thick. Especially if it has sugar in it, it can burn easily.
Looks pretty good. How did it taste?
Looks great hope they tasted as good as they look
Try the 3 2 1 method for American bbq
Good looking ribs! My advice would be more black pepper for texture and appearance, paprika is another nice addition mostly to make them prettier. A great trick is to spritz them several times with a Belgian Tripel, it creates a beautiful caramel layer, they higher the ABV the better.
They look fantastic
For proper rib methods check out youtube channels HowToBbqRight and Meat Church. Theyll show you fall off the bone and firm methods. My preference is fall off the bone.
An old timer told me to practice temp control and venting with hot dogs. You can eat them even if you mess up. My kids love them and still ask me to smoke them to this very day. We call them smokies. Point is hot dogs are usually cheaper than a fine cut of brisket or something more expensive. Hope this helps you dude. Enjoy the ride
Hard to tell from the inside of the rack but I’m not really seeing any bark. Did you sauce the ribs from early in the cook? That could have prevented bark formation. I smoke with just rub (salt, pepper, brown sugar or maple sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder) until I have a dark bark and am passing the bend test, then glaze with a couple layers of sauce just for the last 20-30 minutes, and let that reduce until it’s tacky.
Beautiful!
Pick someone on the internet and follow what they do, see link below for my guy Malcom Reed
[Competition Rib Recipe – HowToBBQRight Baby Back Rib Method](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CevV-HkDbBM)
Next, Remove the membrane and rub mustard on the ribs at room temp as a binder, both sides. Coat both sides with rub and throw on the smoker at 230 degrees for about 3 hours. I like using hickory or apple wood. Wrap them and back on the smoker for 2 hours. Unwrap and glaze, back on the smoker for 1/2 hour to an 1 hour (3-2-1 method). Check temp about 200F – 203F.
The British conquered the world looking for spices, don’t be afraid to use them. 🙂
In the end it is what you like and no one else. Good luck Sir!
They look more sweet than savory, to me. I prefer a bark on my ribs over a glaze. But if they were tasty and tender, good on ya.
Honestly? They look like a solid attempt for someone that’s going for the ‘idea’ of good bbq but doesn’t really know what it’s supposed to be. It’s more like hollywood bbq.
1] They’re not well trimmed. That flap on the back just makes things cook unevenly and gets charred. Same with pic 3, that flap on the left. The baseline butchery for your meats in the UK is going to be a bit different, you won’t just be able to pick up a pack of st louis style spare ribs, make 3 cuts, and call it good so you may have to work a little bit more in this department. What you’re looking for is squared (no overhanging meat flaps), even, and manageable. It’s fine to have some thick spots, don’t go hacking off things just to make it perfectly even, but be aware of the thicker portion it’s position relative to the heat. Take stuff you trim and either use it for sausage or season and smoke it separately, chef’s snack!
2] There’s no bark. Some may say this is a person preference, sure, but it’s one of those issues that once people taste having it done correctly…it’s a 90-10 split. Bark is not only super flavorful but it creates a layer BELOW which you can render the fat to the pillowy, yellow, flavor bomb that people love. If you don’t form a proper bark you just render that fat off into the catch pan or drip tray and the surface becomes leathery. You can always glaze, mop, or sauce after forming bark AND it’ll stick better to the ribs without getting tacky or mealy but you gotta build that bark first.
3] It could be the camera / lightning or because you don’t show the top side but for 7 hours, even given this size I’d expect a more pronounced smoke ring and a much deeper mahogany color. Looking at the meat, you may not have been smoldering the coals producing the right kind of smoke. What you’re looking for is a thin blue smoke (often called TBS), not white, not black, and not absent. A bbq fire has three basic elements, the heat source (usually lump charcoal, will also be part of the flavor profile), the flavor or accent woods (dried hickory, apple, cherry, maple, etc), and oxygen. Often the coals of the flavor wood becomes part of the heat source once it burns down or they’re one in the same with things like pellet smokers. But the point is you need a bed of coals and some smaller pieces of wood smoldering or lightly burning on top of it to produce smoke with the right amount of oxygen. Thankfully, fire management is something that be learned and once you know what you’re looking for, it’s really quite forgiving. You don’t need to super baby it holding exactly 105C or some nonsense. Get it going, toss a couple fresh splits on every 30m or so, move some coals around, check the air flow and make sure you’re getting a thin, blue’ish hue’d smoke.
4] Time, 7 hours is a lot of time for ribs, even thicker ones. When we say bbq is dry, that word exists on a spectrum for, “less than ideal” to “drier than a nun’s cunny”. These look dry to me but more towards the former rather than the disastrous latter. A freshly cut rib this thick should be oozing for the first few minutes even when properly rested.
Don’t wet marinade or glaze meat you intend to smoke. You can add a little sauce at the very end like on ribs. But don’t do what you did. Meats should be dry seasoned for smoking. If you are one of those people who think you need a binder go for it with a little of something, but binders are never needed.
And this goes for literally anything in life you are doing for the first times. Never do your own thing or experiment when you are just starting out. You don’t know what you’re doing. Do a little research. Follow a recipe and directions. Once you understand the “standard” process then you make changes and experiment.
Yo you gotta crank the rub level waaaay up! Those look pretty under done too, don’t go by temp on ribs, use the bend test
Looks great for a first time smoke!
Looks good my guy. Keep going and enjoying. Trim the meat off the underside and maybe do more of a rub to get more bark. People like to keep a diary of their cooks too, might help you remember things.