Greasy ribs

[blksabbath]

My ribs are hit or miss.  St. Louis style, remove as much fat as possible, remove the membrane, dry rub overnight, 225-275 for 4+ hours.....blah blah blah.  They look and smell wonderful, but are sometimes so greasy that i have to trash most of the rack.  Maybe its a quality issue?  I've made them in bulk for parties and had "best ribs ive ever had" comments.  My little girl was eating Pappy's and said "daddy's are better".   Now im in a rut.   The past 3-4 cooks end up as a gooey mess.  Actually the ends are tasty, bit the rest is crap.

How do you guys pick you meats?  How much trimming?  Its frustrating to say the least.

[mrbill]

only thing I can think of is you're not letting them go long enough for the fat to render out for the temperature you're cooking at. i've cooked ribs low and slow, hot and fast and at temps/times in between. i've never had a problem with them being too greasy to eat.

[austin87]

Are they bite through or fall off the bone? Do you wrap them in foil or keep them naked the entire time? Do you use a water pan? How are the ends different from the middle? Where are you measuring temp on your grill? What's the bend like when you pick up a finished rack in the middle?

Like mrbill I'm wondering if you haven't cooked them long enough at the right temp so the "greasy" that you are mouth feel/taste is actually chunks of intramuscular fat that hasn't completely rendered. This would leave you with little fat chunks inside the meat that might have an unpleasant texture vs fully fat rendered ribs that are smooth and delicious.

[pbe gummi bear]

What temp are you cooking at? I've had better success with ribs cooked closer to 275 than 225. The higher temp might render the fat and connective tissue better for you.

[SmokenJoe]

Cooked a lot of Ribs at 225, cooked a lot of Ribs at 275.  I've never had a rack that only took 4 hrs to complete.   But I cook my ribs naked (no sauce, never foiled) with just rub.  Doneness test I use is standard bend test (grab the end of the rack w/ tongs, the opposite end should be drooping  toward 70-90 degrees and the meat should just be starting  to pull away from the bones).  When you cook half-a-rack, then test with the toothpick between bones for meat firmness.

Not all ribs are created equally, some Baby Backs take as long as the St Louie cut, some an hour less.  Mine usually take 4.5 to 5.5 hrs for BB, and an hour more for St Lou. at 225.  I use Maverick 733 to measure cooking grate temp, not the lid dome thermo.

Ribs, they're what's for dinner  ...  ummmm.                            SJ

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Interesting.  I usually do mine for 2 hours in wrapped, then 2 hours wrapped with a splash of beer or apaple juice.  After the 2 hours wrapped, I pull off, get the grill cranking again, then sauce over high heat.  I've never had them turn out bad that way.  They are usually a little to fall of the bone if I were to enter them into a competition.  I've only done unwrapped once and they took a good 6 hours if not longer.  When I did unwrapped I just kept checking them during the last hour to see when they were starting to pull apart.

Like @austin87 mentioned, maybe you aren't measuring your temp at the cooking grate (as close to the meat without touching it) so your temps are really what you think they are.

[CharliefromLI]

What temp are you cooking at? I've had better success with ribs cooked closer to 275 than 225. The higher temp might render the fat and connective tissue better for you.

When i first started doing ribs my wife felt they were too fatty. started doing at 275 and no complaints since.

[blksabbath]

Thanks for help guys.  Yeah, i think im rushing them and need to add another hour or two.

Im measuring the temp with a remote thermometer on the grate, also occasionally with thermapen thru the vent.