3-2-1 Ribs taking 8 hours

[Timmy]

I do 195 for 3 hrs, wrap bump temp to 210 for 2 hrs. When pulled they are at this fine fall off the bone. I sauce’m and put back on grill for up to 1 hr. This is actual temp not Traeger set temp.

 

[radbrad11]

Agree - I'd always done 3-2-1 ribs in my weber smokey mountain at 225-250. Did it on my new TL850 following the suggestion at 180 for the smoke part... one rack came out great, the other was a bit tough. I think 225 is the right temp, especially for St Louis cut. Sometimes baby backs can get over cooked if they're a smaller rack with the full 3-2-1 timing, so I used to cut down by ~30 min per step but still do at 225-250. Anyway, next time will be doing it at 225 hoping for better outcome.

 

[BigDaddyRC]

Hey there, I’ve been struggling to get 3-2-1 ribs done in under 8 hours. I’ve done it several times and the result is always the same. I’m going for fall off the bone and can’t seem to get there. Last night I did 3 racks. I finally pulled them at 7.5 hours. Some of the end pieces were competition style. I trimmed off what I could for dinner and returned the remaining to the grill. I’m wondering if my ambient grill temp probe is off and my actual cooking temp is lower than what it needs to be. Friend of mine follows same recipe on his traeger without fail.

I find the key to texture is how long they are wrapped. I go low on the smoke phase, turn the heat up on the wrap phase. If they are dry when you wrap make sure you get some hydration in the foil with them.

 

[TBob]

Do not trust the temps provided by the Traeger cook chamber probe until you can verify with your own calibrated probe. Also, in my case, the Traeger probe is at the top of the cook chamber and of course I cook at grate level. There is usually a 15% difference between the grate level probe and the Traeger one. A 20/25 degree difference is sufficient to ruin any cook.

 

[REDOC]

Same here.

Dbl Ditto. Also been replaced once.

 

[Gary]

275 and let her go!!!

 

[Don Padgett]

Hey there, I’ve been struggling to get 3-2-1 ribs done in under 8 hours. I’ve done it several times and the result is always the same. I’m going for fall off the bone and can’t seem to get there. Last night I did 3 racks. I finally pulled them at 7.5 hours. Some of the end pieces were competition style. I trimmed off what I could for dinner and returned the remaining to the grill. I’m wondering if my ambient grill temp probe is off and my actual cooking temp is lower than what it needs to be. Friend of mine follows same recipe on his traeger without fail.

Hey there, I’ve been struggling to get 3-2-1 ribs done in under 8 hours. I’ve done it several times and the result is always the same. I’m going for fall off the bone and can’t seem to get there. Last night I did 3 racks. I finally pulled them at 7.5 hours. Some of the end pieces were competition style. I trimmed off what I could for dinner and returned the remaining to the grill. I’m wondering if my ambient grill temp probe is off and my actual cooking temp is lower than what it needs to be. Friend of mine follows same recipe on his traeger without fail.

 

[Don Padgett]

Competition Rib Recipe from Pitmaster Heath Riles: Easy best ribs i have every cooked he has a video simple takes about three hours. You will become the go to Rib - Guy.​

 

[BobbyQ]

I've done the Matt Pittman method several times for baby back and St. Louis. Generous rub. 275 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours bone side down. Wrap in foil with butter brown sugar honey and more rub. Back on at 275 for another 1 1/2 -2 hours meat side down. Fall off the bone every time

 

[Rickyroques]

Hey there, I’ve been struggling to get 3-2-1 ribs done in under 8 hours. I’ve done it several times and the result is always the same. I’m going for fall off the bone and can’t seem to get there. Last night I did 3 racks. I finally pulled them at 7.5 hours. Some of the end pieces were competition style. I trimmed off what I could for dinner and returned the remaining to the grill. I’m wondering if my ambient grill temp probe is off and my actual cooking temp is lower than what it needs to be. Friend of mine follows same recipe on his traeger without fail.

Hi Anthony,
I love the 3-2-1 recipe because it's easy and I always get great results. The tricks I will recommend are what has worked for me in the past. #1 use a heavy-duty foil with the shinny part in and ensuring it is tightly sealed. Each rack on its own separate foil wrap. Do not skimp on foil. #2 use plenty of apple juice when you are sealing the ribs in the foil. At a minimum 8 ounces per rack to ensure fall of the bone quality. the meat needs to reach 203F for it to be as soft as you want them. 195F will be plenty soft as well. Make sure your probe is properly calibrated.

Best,

 

[Tcat177]

Hey there, I’ve been struggling to get 3-2-1 ribs done in under 8 hours. I’ve done it several times and the result is always the same. I’m going for fall off the bone and can’t seem to get there. Last night I did 3 racks. I finally pulled them at 7.5 hours. Some of the end pieces were competition style. I trimmed off what I could for dinner and returned the remaining to the grill. I’m wondering if my ambient grill temp probe is off and my actual cooking temp is lower than what it needs to be. Friend of mine follows same recipe on his traeger without fail.

I have made them now 3 times and they have been great each time. I am brand new to Traeger and I know my external probe needed to be calibrated, so maybe your internal probe is off? I would think you would see that in other things you have cooked that you do probe for the meat temp, and it is lower than it should be based on the prescribed time? I have a gone to using the Traeger meat probe as a reference and relying on my instant probe to give me the spot on accuracy of the meat temp. Maybe you could use a probe external and put it in the hole where the external probe goes through and see what it is reading for the grill temp?

 

[trevpipes]

I dont care for that fall off the bone, sometimes that just means overcooked & you can grab the whole rack and shake all the damn ribs out of it & I dont care for that fat separating either. Where I live
3 or 4 hr smoke, hour&fifteen minutes foil steam, 45 minutes finish, seems the best for slight chew off the bone baby backs

 

[splinervision]

The OP's temps almost have to be off for ribs to take that long. I have used 3-2-1 for baby backs and spare ribs for years and never had any of them turn out tough using that method. Matter of fact, I have to do 3-1.5-.5 to do baby backs or they'll be too tender (as in can't pick them up by the bone). Even Spare ribs can get too tender if you're not careful. I'd put a secondary temp monitor in the Traeger and keep it as close to 225 as you can. 3 hours smoke, 2 hours (or less) in foil with a little bit of added liquid), and up to an hour out of foil with sauce.

I do mine with 3 hours of my preferred smoke (ribs have been rubbed with my favorite rub the night before, wrapped in plastic or covered in a plastic container overnight in the fridge), then wrapped in foil with 1/4 cup of my favorite beer or apple juice poured over them for up to 2 hours. Then I pour off the liquid (save it - add some to your sauce - you're welcome) flatten out the foil and use it to transport the ribs back to the Traeger (so the racks don't fall apart). Flip them, cover the back side in sauce, flip them again, cover top side with sauce and let them tighten up in the Traeger for about 30 minutes at the most. Use good heavy duty foil, ribs on the not-so shiny side so they don't stick. For that last half hour I also retain some extra sauce that has been mixed with some of the drippings, heat it slowly in a pan on the stove and have it for people who want more sauce with their ribs.

 

[Anthony M.]

Thanks. That was my experience before Traeger. I could never get to 6 hours. I also mix the drippings equal parts to bbq sauce for a little heavenly drizzle!

 

[Slimpicker]

Even Spare ribs can get too tender if you're not careful.

Well, there is no such thing as 'too tender' pork ribs... not under my roof. (no one's here to judge, just eat)

Pulled Pork Ribs