Probe temp reached early in cooking.

[nuclearscott]

Hello. I am kinda new to the pellet grill and I may be having an issue. I am cooking St Louis style ribs on my Pro 780 for the first time. I am following the recipe on Traeger for them. It says to smoke at 180 for 3 hours, which I did. And then turn up to 225 for another 2 hours. Problem is, When I went to cook at 225, I inserted the probe and it already was at 180 in the meat. It still has another 2 hours to cook, but seems to be done already. I was careful not to touch the bone with the probe. Any thoughts? Should I continue cooking or am I at risk of over cooking them?

 

[Timmy]

I don’t ever temp ribs. I cookem 3,2,1 method BUT actually cook them 3, 1.5, 1 to 1/2 hrs. If you wrap them during the 2 hr phase the will get tender. Then unfoil them put back on sauce them till the sauce tightens. They should be fall off the bone.

 

[nuclearscott]

I don’t ever temp ribs. I cookem 3,2,1 method BUT actually cook them 3, 1.5, 1 to 1/2 hrs. If you wrap them during the 2 hr phase the will get tender. Then unfoil them put back on sauce them till the sauce tightens. They should be fall off the bone.

Thanks for the reply. I suspected that the temp was throwing me off. I am doing the 3-2-1 method and they are currently wrapped with 30 minutes to go. Then I will sauce and cook another hour. I think they will be alright and not burnt to a crisp! I will post an update with my results.

 

[Timmy]

I would wrap for an hour and sauce for 30 mins. A 1 hour sauce phase might dry them out.

 

[nuclearscott]

Ok. Getting ready to do that now. I will try 30 minutes.

 

[Timmy]

Normally after the wrap they are hard to get back on the grill to sauce because they want to fall apart. That’s how I gauge them for doneness.

 

[cooklet]

For ribs I do not use a probe. I just adapted a process I had used in the oven for a few years. Simply:

1. Remove the membrane.
2. Cut each rack into roughly equal parts. I usually cut it into four pieces. This is a convenient size for the wrapping in foil later.
3. Rinse the sections and pat dry.
4. Liberally brush some olive oil onto the meat side if desired.
5. Apply Seasoning Rub. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
6. Smoke meat side up at 225 F for about 1 H
7. Remove ribs from smoker. Increase temperature to 300 F
8. Spread some BBQ sauce if desired on the meat side of each part and wrap tightly in foil.
9. Return to smoker for 1 1/2 H.
10. Grease will accumulate in the foil packs so open them carefully. If possible, puncture each at the bottom and let the grease drain out.
11. Cut ribs apart with a sharp knife.

This has never failed to create ribs with the meat practically falling off the bone.