Baby Back 3-2-1 vs 2-2-1

[petersenca45]

Not sure what to call my method, but it might be a derivative of the 2-2-1. I’ll call it the 1-145-203 bend-15 finish (doesn’t really roll of the tongue).

Memphis Dust dry rub (hat tip to Meathead) cook 1 hr at 180 max smoke, raise temp to 225 until the ribs hit 145ish (anywhere from 140-150 seems to be fine), wrap in foil until both remote probes go over 203 or one gets to 210), then open foil and bend test. Im not so much cooking to a specific temp, but use that as a guide as to when to get off the couch open the foil and start checking the bend. When done according to the bend test, move ribs to open grill medium heat, quick heavy layer of sauce, flip sauce side down to give the sauce a chance to caramelize 5-7 min watch for burns, sauce other side, flip to caramelize that side 5-7 min, pull off the grill and serve. The direct heat of the grill does a great job caramelizing the sugar in the sauce, and the char marks on the bone ends make for a great presentation.

One thing my wife likes about this method, when the ribs get moved to the grill, my message goes from “the ribs will be done when they are done” to“the ribs will be on the table in 15 minutes!”

 

[cookingjnj]

Grate avitar peter!

 

[Beavercreek_smoker]

Anybody have strong feelings about doing one or the other technique on baby backs?

I’ve done lots of 2-2-1 but that was on a smoker that ran hotter than what we can control on our Recs.

Smoking up some ribs today and was going to do 2-2-1 with the wrap in butcher paper (first time trying not wrapping with foil). Was gonna do the whole thing at 225 but am open to changing temps at the different phases is others have found success increasing at the end.

My best advice is to try it all. Some folks like fall off the bone, some like a good bite off the bone. I’m in between guy. I’ve found the last hour is important to firm up the meat after removing it from the foil. So I let it go naked the last 30 or more minutes of that last hour before I start saucing.

There some that don’t foil, some that don’t sauce. Whatever works for you is the best way.

mill share my way, I’m newer to the pellet scene. I have a couple big green eggs. When cooking on my large egg I’ve always had success with 250 3-2-1. It’s hard to hold 225 for my egg so 250 worked fine for me. The first rib cook on my 700 was disappointing. Did it the exact way except at 225. It was dry and a little tougher than I like. Almost like I over cooked it. I checked the pit “actual” temp with the OEM probes after doing an ice water calibration check. The pit temp was true to the external probes.

talking with a friend with a different brand pellet grill, he uses apple juice when he wraps and does a 2.5-2.5-1

I didn’t want to change 2 different things At once so I stayed with 3-2-1 and put ribs meat side down in the foil with about 1/2 cup of apple juice and wrapped tightly. They came out so perfectly that I don’t need any more testing. The pellet smoker is a completely different animal compared to my eggs but that’s ok as long as I understand how each reacts.

happy smoking

 

[Brett]

I have a very specific method I use on my recteq versus when I am using my UDS or offset. I do 1 hour at 180 on the extreme smoke setting then 2 hours at 250 ( The 2 hours at 250 is a rough estimate, I wrap when I get the color I like and my rub is set well and they have a good bend ) then wrap for 1 hour (use whatever method you like for your wrap ingredients) After the wrap I reapply a little bit of my rub then finish for 15 to 30 minutes To bring back some color and get that bark set again. No sauce or glaze I like to taste my rub and the smoke... This method always gives me a good clean bite through a great bark and a great smoke flavor and I get consistent results every time.