Slow cooked, fall-off-the-bone back ribs

Cafe Society
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Made 'em yesterday. See this thread for the details, but in a nutshell, I got a temperature sensor/blower control for my Big Green Egg, one that not only allows fine-control temp settings based on internal and food temperature, but is accessible via a web page.

So as I said in my update to the GQ that started this all:

This Sunday I put three racks of ribs on the Big Green Egg, and set the Stoker to keep the temp at 190[sup]o[/sup]F. Then we went off to church, and a trip downtown, and some shopping afterwards. Gone about seven hours. I kept checking in on the ribs via my phone’s browser.

After a day’s low, slow cooking, they were fall-off-the-bone delicious. Absolutely awesome… and when I got home, the Egg was still at a rock-solid 190. I didn’t have to touch it once.

Next up: brisket.

2

I’d wondered what all the fuss and expense were about with the Big Green Egg. It’s just a grill, right? Then last week while in an upscale hardware store I saw one in person. Ah… porcelain.

3

That sounds awesome. I greatly envy your combining of stone age and 2010 technology.

BTW, would you really have run out of church if the temp started to climb?

4

Never mind.

5

Regardless of one’s religious beliefs, few would argue that there is proof God exists. Ribs, however, are demonstrably real - and delicious!

Can’t speak for the OP, but I’d run and not look back.

6

This is pretty much the understatement of the year. We absolutely adore our Big Green Egg… well, except when we move. That sumbitch is heavy.

I’ve been wanting to give my wife one of those stoker fans (the Egg is her baby, not that I’m complaining).

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I’m (obviously) very happy with it. This was only a warm-up test, though; ribs are easy. An 18 hour brisket will be more of a challenge; I’m going to have to hand-sort the charcoal to get large pieces for slow burning…

8

I made the mistake of mentioning to my wife your positive experience with the Stoker, and now she’s started trying to convince me it’s a good idea to get one. It’s a good bit of money to get one… but on the other hand, brisket. Hmm…

9

The one bad thing about the Stoker is that the company is inefficiently run and does not respond to e-mails. We have tried to order a new high-temp probe for ages, with no success.

But damn, it turns the Egg into a Ron-Popeil device…set it and forget it.

I still can’t make good ribs, though. I wish I could figure out the secret. Our pulled pork is to die for–I do a loose version of the Elder Ward recipe, and it’s incredible–people routinely say it’s the best they’ve ever had. But our ribs are always tougher than I’d like. I wish I knew the secret. I follow the directions exactly–I pull off the membrane like a champ…but they still don’t really fall off the bone.

10

My favorite ribs place in Chicago is Twin Anchors. They slow cook their ribs at 200 degrees for 12 hours. And yes, the ribs just fall off the bone. Damn, this is making me hungry!

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I don’t have a Stoker, so I have to do my temp control by hand. Here is what gives me a very repeatable flat out awesome ribs
First trim the excess fat off of the ribs.
next brine the ribs for 12-24 hours
1 cup salt,
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 gallon water
1 quart apple cider vinegar
1/2 gallon apple cider.
remove the ribs from the brine and discard the brine.
season the ribs with your favorite rub. Season them heavy.
put them the egg indirect with heavy smoke at between 200-250F for 3 hours.
If you are using a rib rack, turn them every 45 minutes or so.
Wrap ribs tightly in foil and return to the grill at the same temp for 45-60 minutes
Unwrap the ribs, kick the fire direct and grill to finish for 15 minutes or so. You may add more rub when unwrapping the ribs, or BBQ sauce for the last 15 minutes if you wish.

The ribs are basically done to falling off the bone when they come out of the foil, you put them on direct to get a nice bark on them, and turn them nice and dark.
Enjoy.

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Bricker I’m starting to think about getting a Stoker. Which system did you get? What size blower did you get? Which egg do you have?

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Foil? :eek: Brine? :eek: Fall-off-the-bone? :eek: Say it ain’t so!

14

What?

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All three are BBQ no-nos in my book. No foil (aka “Texas Crutch”). Those effectively braise or steam the ribs. Certainly no brining for ribs (affects the texture in a negative way for me.) And “fall off the bone” is a sign of overcooked barbecue. Tender but toothsome is the texture I’m looking for. Here’s others that agree.

ANYHOW, this being barbecue, it’s subject to personal interpretation. Make what you enjoy.

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I should add: brining is okay for a turkey or maybe smoked pork loin, meats that tend to try out quickly and aren’t quite as ideal choices for low & slow. For ribs, pork shoulder, and brisket, it’s completely unnecessary. Once again, this is in my opinion. BBQ is well known for its debate and strong opinions.

17

I got the the single cooker, basic plus one food probe. I have the Large Egg. The fan is a 5 CFM unit that had no problem keeping the egg at temp.

18

Word.

It’s a wonderful invention, but holy crap the company is run terribly. It took them over 7 months to get me my stoker–and they charged (and immediately credited, to be fair) my card twice in that period. And when they finally got around to telling me “Hey, it’s in stock, you want it after all this time?”, it took about 2 weeks of phone-tag as the woman wouldn’t leave an e-mail address, kept calling me on my home-phone when I was at work, despite me giving her my cell and work numbers.

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Redundant link removed

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I get the sense this is a mom-and-pop type operation, with the Stoker assembled in the garage and orders not sent out one week because Billy’s Little League team was in the playoffs.

But I ordered it and got it within two weeks, so I guess I was luckier than I knew…