Failed Smoked Ribs, Need help

I did some ribs in the smoker yesterday. Followed the recipe to a T. It was a 3,2,1 recipe, 3 hrs on the smoke,2 hrs in foil with an apple juice spray and 1 hr with sauce. I maintained 225 degrees religiously.
Gotta tell ya, they looked amazing and I was quite proud of them until I ate one. They weren't fall off the bone at all. Very tough but had the flavor. They almost seemed like they needed more time ?
Any thoughts were I went wrong ?

Thanks, Kerry.

I forgot to add that it was my first time doing ribs and I used mesquite chips.

Were they side ribs or back ribs?

SDC

I don't think temperature was high enough to cook your ribs for such a short time period.I've done ribs in a regular oven many times at 325 and 4.5 hours would do it.My advice to you is increase your temp next time for the cooking process and reduce your heat for the last hour for the glazing.Imop good luck and dont trip over anything while your in the smoke house! Lol

I boil mine first. Then low and slow on smoker!

Dave

I have never heard of coffee tables being made of mesquite before

I have smoked ribs similar to this and they were literally fall off the bone, maybe just the ribs you started with. Did you take the membrane off the back of the ribs first?

I don't smoke ribs very often, but here is the recipe I follow from the Bradley Smoker recipes web-site.

I only smoke back ribs. I don't boil them as that ends to dry them out and make them tough I find side ribs tough in general, unless you "wet" cook them.

Most times when I do back ribs, I start them in the oven and then go to the BBQ to finish them. I follow what is in the Bradley recipe in terms of removing the parchment, putting on the dry rub and cutting into serving sized pieces.
I then take a large piece of heavy duty foil and put a bed of sliced onions on it. The ribs go on top. Put another layer of sliced onions on top of the ribs and then tightly seal the foil. Put the package on a pizza pan or cookie sheet and then put in the oven at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.

Remove from the oven and open the package--be careful of the steam!

In a sauce pan, I have created a mixture of ketchup, bbq sauce, yellow mustard, chili sauce, hot sauce and maple syrup. Don't ask me how much, I just eyeball it!

I then take the onions from the ribs and put them in the sauce. I drain the liquid off the foil into a measuring cup and then use a gravy baster to draw off the liquid and leave the fat behind. I put most of the liquid into the sauce mixture and then blend it all together with an immersion blender. This is your basting and serving sauce if you have rice with your ribs.

Heat the sauce on the stove while BBQ is warming up.

Take rib pieces to the hot BBQ and put them on the upper grill for about 5-7 minutes, turning once and then apply a generous basting of sauce to the top side, leave for a minute or 2 and then turnover and do the other side.


Serve immediately or do another layer of sauce if you like. You will have very tender, juicy and flavorful ribs.

If I am cooking side ribs, I do boil them first and then I put them in a large casserole dish and cover them with a ketchup/bbq sauce based sauce. Cover the casserole dish and put in the oven at 325 degrees for 2.5 hours. They should be falling off the bone by then. These are better if left until the next day as you can skim off the congealed fat and then just reheat in the microwave.

Enjoy!

Got questions, post here or send me a PM.

SDC

The PDF below is the Bradley Smoker recipe.

Ditto,boiling first makes them tender

Hello Chevy
What kind of ribs did you cook and what type of smoker were you using? I have a little experience smoking pork back ribs and using charcoal and propane smokers.

I have never heard of coffee tables being made of mesquite before

You'd be surprised the different wood coffee tables are made from.


How many sleeps till you go ?

I used pork side and back ribs and forgot to mention it was in a propane smoker.
Also SDC, I used your special pork rub also. AS I pointed out, the flavor was there.
I am leaning towards Dbfish's suggestion. They should of been cooked more.
I'm looking forward to mastering this style of cooking.
Thanks,
Kerry...

Kerry, sounds like other than them being tough and not falling off the bone, you nailed it. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt, burned it.

The answer is simple. You got yourself some shitty meat. Find a good butcher and don't cheap out. Spend the extra on the best meat.

If those little pick up trucks with the freezers on back are still running around the Shwa, they have phenominal ribs. Expensive as hell but OMG !!!! I've been to many of the best ribs joints going. Had some great ones in Alabama too but nothing compares to the little dry ice freezer trucks.

Thanks John, dare I say they weren't choice cuts. You've definitely given me food for thought. Hope you had a great holiday season.
Cheers

I have never heard of coffee tables being made of mesquite before

You'd be surprised the different wood coffee tables are made from.


How many sleeps till you go ?