For ribs, question regarding temperature

[TeddyC]

Gang, 

On the Weber website, there are alot of videos by Jamie Purviance, who is an expert chef at cooking/grilling/smoking.
The other day, I noticed that on some of videos, he suggest smoking ribs at the range of 250* - 300* (the Basic Baby back rib on the Weber site); however, on the same site, he recommended cooking spare ribs at the range of 350* - 450*  over direct heat (spareribs with maple mustard glaze) and I've seen a recommendation of his to cook spareribs at the 225* - 250* range. 

I understand that at a higher temperature, food will cook quicker; however, what is the difference in the final out come of a higher temperature vs. lower temperature?  I've always cooked ribs at 250*.  I've never tried any in the 300+ range... I always thought that was taboo and as a result, my smoker would be taken away from me.

Thanks much!

[smokestackbbq]

Whole bunch of reasons to go with 250° and not 350°-450°. Here are a couple:
1. The hotter the oven, the more shrinkage you'll get of the meat, which equals more juice squeezing out.
2. Spareribs have a lot of connective tissue that needs to break down, and you need to take it to a high temperature (as you probably already know - e.g. 190°). It's much easier to get an even temperature across your meat at a lower temperature, especially when you have spareribs which usually has a thicker half, and thinner half.
3. Overcooking spareribs will cause them to dry out quickly. Once you past the stall (and you won't have much of a stall at high temps), the temp can rise quickly at those temps - your margin of error to those awesome, juicy ribs becomes much smaller.

Stick with 250°

Rich
www.smokestackbbq.co
Twitter: smokestack_bbq

[austin87]

I am pretty much on the same page as smokestack - your window to have ribs cooked well is much larger at a lower temp. That said, some BBQ champs cook everything at about 325*. I would stick with low and slow. If you have a really good feel for temps and use a cooking log then I would say feel free to experiment at different temp ranges.

[Jammato]

In my experience.......I get a lot better result with ribs doing low and slow, I like 225 to 250 degrees F.

That said I have had some good ribs done at 325 to 350. I think it is the cook and his technique and equipment and environment he cooks in, and how he deals with all of those together. My brother does not have the patience for a 5 1/2 hour rib cook plus set up time. He cooks his at 350. My personal opinion between the 2 ways is I use a pick after eating his, I do not after eating mine.

Best advice I can give is to try them both and see what you like. After all you are cooking for your target, ask those whom you are cooking for to judge the difference.

P S I use a modified 3 2 1 method at 225

[TeddyC]

Thanks guys. Ive done  countless racks at the 250* - 275* range and never had a problem. I was just wondering why a spokesman for Weber would recommend the higher temperature on some and lower on others. Thought I was maybe missing out on something,