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[Kristin Meredith]

To me, a dry brine implies a lot of salt.  I think on a thin piece of meat, like ribs, a dry brine is going to pull moisture from the meat.  Maybe a wet brine might somehow add moisture, but not a dry brine.

A rub, in my mind, does not have a high salt component -- probably more sugar, spices herbs.  If you want a rub overnight fine.  I still don't think overnight helps much because there is not a lot of penetration.  But it is like many things bbq, folks have their own methods.

[Canadian John]

I used to put rub on the day before and put in a container in the fridge.  Didn't really find a difference between that and putting on right before putting on the smoker.  Now, I usually rub and put right on the smoker to save time.

+1.. I found absolutely no difference at all.

[glitchy]

I've tried the 275 approach a couple times since seeing Bar-B-Lew talk about it and been pleasantly surprised. If your not having luck, it might be a good place to start and then work in subtle changes. Maybe even without the smoke tube first round.

[Deebo1133]

I am also coming  to the conclusion that the amount of air flow may be the issue especially when cooking a thin cut of meat like ribs. I have tried unwrapped, wrapped, 2-2-1, 2-1-1, and many other combinations. The best result I have gotten was ok and I only see a small difference in moisture between wrapped and unwrapped doing them at the same time with everything else being equal. I recently bought a Kamado Joe....did some babybacks,  put some rub on them and threw them in the cooker and left them alone and pulled them at 4.5 hours.  I glazed them and let them go 30 more minutes....temp was about 235 the entire time....They were the best ribs I have ever tasted. I can definitely see how a faster cook could be the ticket on a pellet cooker.


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[grilltreats]

I am also coming  to the conclusion that the amount of air flow may be the issue especially when cooking a thin cut of meat like ribs. I have tried unwrapped, wrapped, 2-2-1, 2-1-1, and many other combinations. The best result I have gotten was ok and I only see a small difference in moisture between wrapped and unwrapped doing them at the same time with everything else being equal. I recently bought a Kamado Joe....did some babybacks,  put some rub on them and threw them in the cooker and left them alone and pulled them at 4.5 hours.  I glazed them and let them go 30 more minutes....temp was about 235 the entire time....They were the best ribs I have ever tasted. I can definitely see how a faster cook could be the ticket on a pellet cooker.


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Did you use the deflector plate on the KJ for indirect cooking, otherwise likely a disaster at 4.5 hours.

[bregent]

To me, a dry brine implies a lot of salt.  I think on a thin piece of meat, like ribs, a dry brine is going to pull moisture from the meat.  Maybe a wet brine might somehow add moisture, but not a dry brine.

A rub, in my mind, does not have a high salt component -- probably more sugar, spices herbs.  If you want a rub overnight fine.  I still don't think overnight helps much because there is not a lot of penetration.  But it is like many things bbq, folks have their own methods.

I dry brine almost everything if I have the time. The salt will initially pull moisture out - the moisture gets mixed with the salt and get reabsorbed, pulling the salt into the meat. If you use a rub, any other spices/flavors won't penetrate very far, but salt will.

[Deebo1133]

I am also coming  to the conclusion that the amount of air flow may be the issue especially when cooking a thin cut of meat like ribs. I have tried unwrapped, wrapped, 2-2-1, 2-1-1, and many other combinations. The best result I have gotten was ok and I only see a small difference in moisture between wrapped and unwrapped doing them at the same time with everything else being equal. I recently bought a Kamado Joe....did some babybacks,  put some rub on them and threw them in the cooker and left them alone and pulled them at 4.5 hours.  I glazed them and let them go 30 more minutes....temp was about 235 the entire time....They were the best ribs I have ever tasted. I can definitely see how a faster cook could be the ticket on a pellet cooker.


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Did you use the deflector plate on the KJ for indirect cooking, otherwise likely a disaster at 4.5 hours.

Absolutely. This is also part of my point....It could very well be absolute luck they turned out great but I don’t know the pit yet, did nothing fancy, and somehow great ribs.


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[Bar-B-Lew]

Start smoker, Pull ribs out of fridge, take membrane off, add rub. Your pit is likely ready to cook in 10 minutes??  Once the ribs are tacky from the rub, put em on and let em go at 250-275 and start checking at 3 hours for bb’s and 3.5-4 hours for spares.

doesn't have to be any harder than this to make good backyard ribs

[silverbullet]

Cook a rack of baby backs at 275° and don't open the grill until it hits the 3 hour mark.  Test for your desired tenderness and cook no more than 45 minutes more.  Report back on your results.  That should solve your tenderness issue.

If it is not smokey enough for you, a pellet grill may not be for you.  I would try putting a finished rack in the fridge in ziplock bags.  Eat it the next day and see if you feel any different about the flavor.

Bingo!!! I've been a pellet fan for 10 years & have tried every way, foil, no foil 321 blah blah blah. This is the simplest way to get consistency to your ribs every time.

Remove membrane, add your favorite rub, toss them on the grill as mentioned above.

[NewToQ]

I will try the low smoke for about an hour and then kick it up 275 to finish it off using hickory pellets. Seems like the low heat on the pellet grill could be drying it out. I’ve never been a fan of wrapping as, at least with my ribs, it seems to wash off a lot of the flavor from the smoke and rub




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[elenis]

I typically salt and brown sugar the night before to make it have a nice sticky surface to apply rub to right before the cook. I don't use any salt in my rub to make sure I can lay it on heavy and not have it be salty.

[ZCZ]

I used to put rub on the day before and put in a container in the fridge.  Didn't really find a difference between that and putting on right before putting on the smoker.  Now, I usually rub and put right on the smoker to save time.

Ditto.  Let me meat warm to room temp before applying the rub.  I put the rub on about an hour before putting on the pit.
Z

[Clonesmoker]

Don't dry brine.  Just use rub before putting on the pit.

The rub I use doesn't have salt in it, hence I dry brine with kosher salt the night before. Do all store bought rubs have salt in them?

[jacksdad]

Pork ribs do not need brining.  Birds brine very well but pork ribs have all that fat so no need.  They will start sweating within 20 minutes of getting rub. 

My homemade rub has very little salt in it. 


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[bregent]

Pork ribs do not need brining.  Birds brine very well but pork ribs have all that fat so no need. 

Fat has nothing to do with it. The only brining mentioned in this thread is dry brininig, which is done mostly to add flavor, and helps retain natural moisture.