1250 baby backs

[tcwynn]

Just made baby backs on my new 1250 and they were a complete bust. I did 225 for 2.5 hrs wrapped 2.5 hrs and sauced 45 minutes and you couldn’t chew them off of the bone. I’ve been smoking ribs with fall off of the bone success for 12 yrs on a Smokin Tex 1400. I’m guessing the 225 is a big mistake. I’m thinking about going back to 250. They flavor was great but I had a house full of people expecting my usual and it was quite embarrassing.

 

[SmokeZilla]

Just made baby backs on my new 1250 and they were a complete bust. I did 225 for 2.5 hrs wrapped 2.5 hrs and sauced 45 minutes and you couldn’t chew them off of the bone. I’ve been smoking ribs with fall off of the bone success for 12 yrs on a Smokin Tex 1400. I’m guessing the 225 is a big mistake. I’m thinking about going back to 250. They flavor was great but I had a house full of people expecting my usual and it was quite embarrassing.

Sorry to hear you weren‘t successful. It seems you have a lot of experience so I wonder if you got the worst racks of ribs known to mankind. I have done ribs for over 40 years and have been fortunate to only have a couple of ”duds“ in that time. I also typically slow smoke at 225F and use the process you described more or less. Have you checked your probe to make sure the grill chamber temp is accurate. I don’t probe my ribs because I know the bark and flex tests. However, I can’t think of anything a seasoned rib vet like you could have done any differently. Let us know what you find out.

 

[padlin00]

I ignore clocks and don't take them off till they are done. Either probe tender. Or pass the bend test.

 

[tcwynn]

Sorry to hear you weren‘t successful. It seems you have a lot of experience so I wonder if you got the worst racks of ribs known to mankind. I have done ribs for over 40 years and have been fortunate to only have a couple of ”duds“ in that time. I also typically slow smoke at 225F and use the process you described more or less. Have you checked your probe to make sure the grill chamber temp is accurate. I don’t probe my ribs because I know the bark and flex tests. However, I can’t think of anything a seasoned rib vet like you could have done any differently. Let us know what you find out.

I just put this 1250 together the other night. It was my first smoke and I never thought of checking the calibration of the thermostat. I’ll do that next. I just assumed that it was accurate but there is always a potential of error.

 

[Chevys10zr2003]

I just put this 1250 together the other night. It was my first smoke and I never thought of checking the calibration of the thermostat. I’ll do that next. I just assumed that it was accurate but there is always a potential of error.

I was going to suggest that as well. My 1250 out of the box when set to 225 was actually about 180.

 

[SmokeZilla]

As your smoker is new I suggest you also do the biscuit/toast test to identify any hot/cold spots on your cooker. It is a quick test and depending on your results can make for a better cooking experience as you will know where and when to rotate your foods to optimize your success.

 

[Maule Guy]

+1 w/ Smoke-Zilla

I usually don't wrap ribs. I do 225F and test for tender.

One thing I noticed is there often is a large difference between the on grate temp and the temp sensed by the RecTeq probe. The radiant heat from below may be the issue. Anyway, I cook to the temp detected by probes about 1" off the grill grate which is about where the center of ribs are.

I did some Costco baby backs a couple weeks ago and they came out great using a RT 590 setting of 210F which was about 230F at the grate level. Took about 5hrs.

 

[SmokeZilla]

Maule Guy

You noticed something that should be a part of the manual. RT’s internal probe is not going to read as your external probe may in most cases, especially cooking chamber versus grate height/heights (for multiple racks). Further, RT told me many years ago that their internal/pit probe is calibrated to work with their controller. As such, it “anticipates” temperature variation in order to compensate the feed rates in a more timely fashion, resulting in a more stable cooking experience. This coming from a company that can’t even parse user data on their slow servers during busy times, but I believe them based on my tests. Also, their wired probes are not for use to monitor ambient pit temperatures. They are specifically designed for insertion into your item(s) being cooked. I actually have other probes for that purpose and interestingly enough they mostly stay in the same range until I use the RT’s to measure grate temperatures. I’ve been on this site many years and this is the first time I can remember using the same picture twice in one day, but here are my instruments of destruction for monitoring cooks. I also have them calibrated periodically by a NIST certified service provider. You can also do a self calibration for the non RT probes by placing them (when on) on a kitchen counter for approximately 30 minutes to stabilize. While waiting, take a glass and fill it with cold water and a lot of ice. Put your probes (keeping the connection between the wire and the metal probe’s shaft dry) in the chilled container. Leave them in the water for at least 20 minutes to stabilize and go to the calibration menu of your measuring device and adjust accordingly (around 34F should be your reading. Then, boil some water. As the water starts bubbling, insert the probes and it should read around 212-214F. (Don‘t let the probes touch the bottom of the pot or it will influence your readings.) I know you are probably thinking I need a life but as an Aerospace Engineer (say hello to our newest toy, the B21 Raider, see below), I’ve spent my life data farming. lol.