Ribs Question

Tenderness is in the mouth of the person eating, and we all have personal preferences along those lines. However, in competitions the Judges Manual gives a description of a properly cooked rib. Here is an excerpt:

...When eating a properly cooked rib, the meat should come off the bone with very little effort and only where you bit into it should the meat be removed. If the meat falls off the entire bone while biting, it is a good indication it is overcooked. When overcooked, the meat has a tendency to be mushy with little or no texture. Usually when you take a bite out of a well-smoked rib that is properly cooked, the exposed bone will have a tendency to dry almost at once...

So in essence this guideline explains that when the meat is fall-off-the-bone it's overcooked and would be reason for scoring down. So, cooks and judges are following the description of a properly cooked rib.

Ribs are pretty thin. If you don't see the narrow smoke ring band like on thicker pieces of barbecued meat it's possible that the entire cross section of the rib has changed color. The same thing can happen to chicken.

Don't worry about the presence or lack of a smoke ring. Only concern yourself with what you and your family/friends like. Sounds like you got a method that works so I would stick with it.

Make it how you like it and how people it. Some people like them really tender...

I prefer a little chew, but I've had tender fall of ribs I've enjoyed, even though not my preferred texture. Some find a little chew as being tough, especially if they grew up eating par boiled or baked ribs

Growing up that's what I had, mom would boil them, than bake them. She'd use the water she boiled the ribs in to make bisquick dumplings and gravy....I do miss the dumplings and gravy, the ribs, not so much (loved them growing up)

There's that tiny window of bite-through tender and falling off the bone....unfortunately, "fall off the bone" has a default, positive connotation but in competition it means over done. I find that bite-though tender with a little tug on the bone the sweet spot and what I aim for every time. As a judge, you can imagine biting into a rib and having the whole chunk come off at once, not a good thing but to an uninitiated guest it may seem amazing. Plus when handling the finished product, if they're falling apart and bones are coming out...You pretty much blew your turn in.
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BillN nailed it though, if family and friends liked it, you're already ahead of the game. If you're planning on entering competition, you know what to shoot for.
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Got a good smoke ring this weekend...Put the ribs on fairly cold and I changed how I introduced smoke. Basically I loaded the charcoal and left a hole in the center for the hot, lit coals. Around the hole I arranged fist sized chunks of cherry and mesquite, 3 cherry, 1 mesquite with the cross sections facing the hole. Then outside of that first inner ring I put a secondary ring of smaller piece and at the very edges a sprinkling of chips from the bottom of the bag. The idea was a slow but steady smoke as the ring burned outwards. Let the smoker sit for around 30 minutes for things to settle down (avoid temp spikes) That along with the cold meat seems to have done the trick this time. I'm no pro but am happy with the results. I read somewhere that when the surface temperature of the meat reaches a certain point, the ring process shuts down...If your surface gets hot fast, then your ring is done. True or not, I don't know, maybe an OG can chime in on this? Would love to know if this is true or not.

As was noted in another thread this ole dog had his butt handed to him this weekend by some ribs.......thought I could do them with my eyes shut but a lil humble pie once in awhile never hurts!!!!!! Tough as nails although I cooked the $$$$ out of them!!!.....As was stated earlier.....whatever works for you......!!!....Happy WIB eating!!!!!!!

I go Nekid whole cook. St Louis 4-4.5 hrs at 275*-300*, Baby Backs 3-3.5 hrs at 275-300*

Yeah, me and that damn, elusive ring are not really good friends. I get a light one sometimes, and none at all the next, even though I have a system I usually follow.

I used to do SLC's at 275*, and timed about 2 hours - 45 mins - 30 mins to 1 hour. That's all fine if you are making a rack or two. But there are times where I have made 6 or more racks at a time. Pain to pull all of those and foil them. One time I was just doing two racks and I decided to test it. One rack like normal with foil, the other nekkid the whole way. Both pulled when they passed the bend test. Foiled finished a little sooner than the nekkid, but not that much ahead. Both were bite through, tender, and juicy. Those that were wrapped were slightly juicier than the nekkid, but they were no where near dry. So, now if I do one or two, I'll wrap. If more than that, nekkid.

And, read the quote in my signature. One of the biggest things I have learned in this thing called BBQ.

It's a fine line between perfectly (competition) done and fall off the bone... When it is hit just right they are perfect. It is better to error on the side of overdone. A little underdone and they are chewy. Also if there is too much fat left on the rack, it won't be rendered and most don't appreciate a mouthful of fat. I see why most prefer their ribs overdone.

Dont hold yourself to comp standards.....they sauce brisket for crying out loud

No one ive ever cooked for has said i wish this was tougher