Ribs experiment - test 2

[john pen]

So Ive been experimenting with my rib cooks. My original ritual was pull the membrane and baste and flip every 30 min. They came ok, but never real consistent. The last two times, I left the membrane on, did not flip and basted every 30 min. They were the best and most consistent Ive ever done, and they were very juicy ! Today Ive taken the membrane off, but am not going to flip.. And Ill baste the top every 30 min.

Photo for proof attached.

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Atta boy John! Love the testing you're doing! Keep us informed, I may want to change mine up a bit. Have you ever tried scoring the membrane?

 

[john pen]

I havent.. But depending on how these come, my next experiment may be to leave the membrane on and then take it off for the last hour of the cook... Im thinking it really helped keep the moisture in..

 

[Vermin999]

What are you cooking on? Why baste so often, isn't opening and closing your smoker every 30 minutes letting all of the heat out, basically looking and not cooking so to speak?

 

[john pen]

Cooking on a WSM.. I still do ribs in about 5 hours... So the report. The best ribs so far were the ones cooked with the membrane on...

 

[bbquzz]

I only wish I lived next door so I could eat the failures

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Buzz, if you lived next door he would drink all your beer!

 

[bigwheel]

The non flipping could be helping as much as skipping the debraning step. I do brane removed..meat down...no flipping..and no foil until they are done...then at least an hours rest in the hot box. Best strategy I have found for home eating. Gives a little teeth resistance but not much. Not quite mushy enough for comp. Keep up the good science.

 

[Cliff H.]

What is the science behind the ring of foil in your cooker ?

 

[john pen]

It keeps the ends of the ribs from being burned by the direct heat coming up from around the water pan...

 

[bigwheel]

It is hard to cook decent ribs in one of those narrow diamter pits. Now a bunch of folks at the Widder Basso's place claimed to let them dangle down from the lid some way or another. It sounded plausible. I have been threatening to try that angle. Also..knock off with the basting. That will wash all the goods off. Do not listen to yankees about how to cook ribs. They do all kinds of nutty stuff. Thanks.