Cooking Ribs on Big Green Egg

Is the look and texture I referenced in my original post because they are getting over cooked or under? The meat was cooked last time but did not pull off the bone.

You need to cook a little hotter with more smoke. Don't soak the chunks.

We did some on the infrared charbroil over the weekend.

They were done in an hour. I wasn't convinced until I tried them. Made me think of this board. They were absolutely delicious, and had a perfect texture.

The smoke ring does not add taste. It is a looks only thing. It's all kind of a mystery how it best develops, but the scientist who works with Amazing ribs has done some work on it and has some tips on conditions for getting a smoke ring.

As for fall off the bone texture, many (especially competition) frown on that as overdone. They want a bite to lightly pull the meat away from the bone. That said, many folks like fall off the bone, so I have done it that way depending on the crowd.

Here are some time/temp/foil approaches I assembled from a bunch of books and online sources. Some are for babybacks, which take less time, so note that.

Meathead at Amazing Ribs says 225 (in his babyback recipe): "It's a magic temp that creates silky texture, adds moisture, and keeps the meat tender. If you can't hit 225°F, get as close as you can. Don't go under 200°F and try not to go over 250°F." As for foiling: "Almost all competition cooks use the crutch to get an edge. But the improvement is really minimal and I never bother for backyard cooking." And: "On the rare occasion that I crutch ribs, I crutch for only 30 minutes. Push ribs much beyond 30 minutes and you risk overcooking the meat and turning it mushy."

Harry Soo says 275: "275 degrees renders the fat better and faster. Faster is good so the rib does not dry out. Also, bark forms better at 275 degrees on ribs." Harry also spritzes every 15 minutes after the bark forms a couple hours in. After 2 hours, he foils for 1.5 hours. Link

Aaron Franklin says 275 in his video series. He sauces and spritzes after a couple hours. Then he foils with spritz and sauce for a couple more hours. Unwrap to test for readiness. When done, rest 20 or 30 minutes loosely wrapped in the foil. Link

Myron Mixon's book: 275 and spritz (apple juice, vinegar, imitation butter) every 15 minutes after the first 45 minutes of cooking. He says to start the ribs in a foil pan and then, after 3 hours, foil with apple juice for 2 hours. He then kills the fire, sauces, refoils, and lets rest one hour inside the cooling smoker.

Chris Lilly's Big Bob Gibson book: 250 for about 4 hours. Sauce and return to 250 for 20 minutes.

Gary Wiviott's Low and Slow: He keeps it simple for beginners by not giving temps, just vent settings. Spritz with tart wash (cranberry juice, olive oil, rub) 4 hours in. Check for readiness at 4.5 hours. Spritz and repeat every 30 minutes if they need to keep cooking. No foil involved.

Smoke & Spice: Has several rib recipes that call for smoking at 200 to 220. They say mopping/basting on a water smoker is not necessary, but they do it for flavor every hour or two, or if lid is off for another reason. See page 49, "To Mop or Not".

Smoke ring will develop with a temp differential....if the meat is well-chilled when it goes onto the egg, you'll get a nice pink ring.

For pork ribs, I remove the membrane, rub w/mustard, coat liberally w/dry rub (which must include a bit of sugar, imho), then refrigerate overnight. The next day, put the cold ribs onto the egg and cook indirect for 1.5 hrs at 275-325 degrees (using a drip pan atop the plate setter). Take off, wrap in foil, and add a little liquid (apple juice, cola, cider, beer, whatever you like) and put 'em back on the egg for another 1.5 hrs. When you can stick a toothpick easily into the ribs, they're done. Take out of the foil, brush with a light coat of sauce, and bump the temp up a bit. Cook for about 10 mins to glaze.

This method yields an ultra-tender, fall off the bone rib. It's less chewy and more melting/soft than some folks like (due to the foiling, which steams the meat). But I never have any leftovers, and the ribs reheat better than a lower/slower cooked rib.

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I do a 2.5 (unfoil) - 2.5 (foil)- 1 (unfoil) cooking method to make them really tender and fall off the bone.

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Not trying to be a dick but that sounds like a bunch of mushy shite to me. Is this with spareribs, babybacks or St. Louis cut??

This is practically what I am doing, but need to bump the temp. If I can push the cooking time longer it may get them where I want which is closer to competition than a pile of meat and no bones. Thanks for the help everyone. Please keep the suggestions coming.

I will post results this weekend. Probably smoke a rack or two Friday or Saturday. Do multiple racks require more cooking time?

I heard from a guy on egg head that he parboils for 10 minutes with crab boil then cooks the ribs.