Everyone says to smoke ribs bone-side down, but my last rack proved them wrong

I smoked a full rack of baby backs with the bones facing up like many experts recommend. The meat near the bone stayed tough and didn't render properly. I think the heat couldn't reach it well enough, even after six hours. Next time, I'm flipping them halfway through, no matter what the common method is.

2 comments

2 Comments

diana8710d ago

My friend had tough ribs too, what temp you running?

dakota86310d ago

Respectfully disagree that bone side up failed you. The bone acts as a natural heat shield, stopping the direct heat from drying out the meat on the bottom. When you put the bone side down, the fat cap and meat on top get the full smoke and heat, rendering down into the ribs. Your tough result sounds like your smoker was running too cool, not a flaw in the method. Plenty of champions only flip to sauce at the very end.