St. Louis ribs

[meatwad26]

I have managed to make some fall off the bone bb backs. What is the trick to fall off the bone St. Louis. Ribs?

[ncsmoker]

The main difference is time. BBR may take 3 hrs, St. Louis ribs will take about 6 hrs. You want a good rub. Take off the membrane on the under side of the ribs, then rub them and let them set while you are lighting the fire. Give them a good smoke for the 1st four hours. Then there is some dispute in what happens now. Some people wrap the ribs in foil for an hour and then unwrap for the final hour, others continue cooking unwrapped. Cook to your desired tenderness, Championship ribs are done just before they fall of the bone. Don't forget to add some flavor, applejuice in the pan, applewood for smoking. If you have smoked them right you will have a smoke ring of about 1/16" or a little more. I use a combination of Hickory, Oak and Applewood for smoking.

Hope this helps

[flbuckeye]

You don't want the meat to "fall off of the bone". The meat should pull off easily. Meat that falls off of the bone comes from ribs that have been boiled, which is a crime against nature.

[noboundaries]

Just tried St Louis Cut (SLC) ribs for the first time on the SN. Three racks, 4 lbs each, membrane removed, cut in half, rubbed, and put on the food grill in a Sears rib rack that was on sale for $9. The rib rack is easily wide enough for the SLC ribs but only holds four half racks. I leaned one of the remaining half racks against the end and just laid the other half rack flat on the grill.

I used a wireless Maverick et732 without the food probe, setting it on the grill opposite the SN, treading it through the upper vent (what a friggin' convenience! Once the temperature was stabilized I actually fell asleep on the couch watching TV and woke up 40 minutes later to see 228 F on the receiver). Only used about 4-6 oz of mesquite and plenty of Kingsford Competition bricks. Temp was pretty constant at 225 to 235 for 5.5. hours except for the brief periods of the SN brick reloads and rewaters. Sprayed them three times with apple cider while they were cooking. That definitely added to the crust.

My only cheat was I threw them on the gas grill at the very end for 10 minutes to carmelize our favorite sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's doctored with Kentucky bourbon and apricot-pineapple preserves). I thought about crutching them in foil after three hours but decided I wanted to see how they'd turn out without the crutch.

I made the ribs for my wife's birthday. O M G! They had such a beautiful smoke ring and crust, plus they were so tender and juicy! I've been cooking ribs for years but she looked at me and said "These are the best you've ever made. Best I've ever eaten! There's no reason to ever buy ribs again at a restaurant!" That was all the endorsement I needed. I LOVE the SN!