Last time I did some St. Louis-trimmed spares, about 5 hours at about
250f in WSM, by the time I got the pocket of fat at the thick end
tolerably rendered out, the meat on the last few ribs at the thin end
had become near on to pork jerky or cracklins...maybe because they were
unusually large spares, or because I was experimenting by not using any
mop at all, or because I just plain overcooked them, not sure. Anyhow
next time I'm thinking about wrapping the small end in foil after about
2 hours...anyone ever tried this?

Douglas Barber wrote:
> Last time I did some St. Louis-trimmed spares, about 5 hours at about
> 250f in WSM, by the time I got the pocket of fat at the thick end
> tolerably rendered out, the meat on the last few ribs at the thin end
> had become near on to pork jerky or cracklins...maybe because they
> were unusually large spares, or because I was experimenting by not
> using any mop at all, or because I just plain overcooked them, not
> sure. Anyhow next time I'm thinking about wrapping the small end in
> foil after about 2 hours...anyone ever tried this?

It should work fine, Doug. But don't be afraid to trim up excess fat prior
to slapping 'em in da pit, either. Also, if there is a large discrepency
between the two end sides, I'll trim off the few largest and smallest and
cook 'em seperate.
Dave

"Dave Bugg" <deebuggatcharterdotnet> wrote in message
...
> Douglas Barber wrote:
> > Last time I did some St. Louis-trimmed spares, about 5 hours at about
> > 250f in WSM, by the time I got the pocket of fat at the thick end
> > tolerably rendered out, the meat on the last few ribs at the thin end
> > had become near on to pork jerky or cracklins...maybe because they
> > were unusually large spares, or because I was experimenting by not
> > using any mop at all, or because I just plain overcooked them, not
> > sure. Anyhow next time I'm thinking about wrapping the small end in
> > foil after about 2 hours...anyone ever tried this?
>
> It should work fine, Doug. But don't be afraid to trim up excess fat prior
> to slapping 'em in da pit, either. Also, if there is a large discrepency
> between the two end sides, I'll trim off the few largest and smallest and
> cook 'em seperate.
> Dave

Sage advice. Trim the excess fat. But... forget the foil. It's an unecessary
crutch. Lower your temp to 225. Don't open the cooker until you are ready to
sauce the ribs.
Ricky

Douglas Barber wrote:
> Last time I did some St. Louis-trimmed spares, about 5 hours at
about
> 250f in WSM, by the time I got the pocket of fat at the thick end
> tolerably rendered out, the meat on the last few ribs at the thin
end
> had become near on to pork jerky or cracklins...maybe because they
> were unusually large spares, or because I was experimenting by not
> using any mop at all, or because I just plain overcooked them, not
> sure. Anyhow next time I'm thinking about wrapping the small end in
> foil after about 2 hours...anyone ever tried this?

Trim away but foil? No, no! A definite waste of good ribs unless ya
like em steamed.

Just curious, how far back had the ribs pulled on the bones?
--
-frohe
Life is too short to be in a hurry

frohe wrote:
> Trim away but foil? No, no! A definite waste of good ribs unless ya
> like em steamed.
>
> Just curious, how far back had the ribs pulled on the bones?

About a third to a half an inch for the most part...I'll put a pic of
them in abf right after I send this

Douglas Barber wrote:
> frohe wrote:
>> Trim away but foil? No, no! A definite waste of good ribs unless ya
>> like em steamed.
>>
>> Just curious, how far back had the ribs pulled on the bones?
>
> About a third to a half an inch for the most part...I'll put a pic of
> them in abf right after I send this

Too much direct heat maybe? Radiant heat can really throw you off.

I've been having tough meat problems with my spares, last time moving them
further from the firebox helped, but still some toughness, so this time I
reduced the salt. We'll see.

--

Douglas Barber > wrote in news:BikBc.6831$a61.2911
@nwrddc01.gnilink.net:

> Last time I did some St. Louis-trimmed spares, about 5 hours at about
> 250f in WSM, by the time I got the pocket of fat at the thick end
> tolerably rendered out, the meat on the last few ribs at the thin end
> had become near on to pork jerky or cracklins...maybe because they were
> unusually large spares, or because I was experimenting by not using any
> mop at all, or because I just plain overcooked them, not sure. Anyhow
> next time I'm thinking about wrapping the small end in foil after about
> 2 hours...anyone ever tried this?
>

I'm not sure what else you would expect from a slab with that much
difference at each end. It would probably have been better to seriously
trim the fa end or just lop off the few thin ribs at the other end prior to
putting in the Q.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.