Worst. Ribs. Ever.

[McGurk]

Thought I'd post a differently today as I recently cooked and ate my worst ribs ever, and what led up to them turning out as poorly as the did. First, I like to use a charcoal smoker, allow an overnight sit with the rub on, 5-6 hours on the smoker, cook them slow and low, and allow a bit of time to rest. I did not do any of those things this time, as time and weather allowed for none of them, but I had a rack in the fridge that needed to get used.

I put the rub on, and immediately put them on a wire rack over a cookie sheet in a 300 deg oven. They sat in there for 2 hours, and I then foil wrapped them and put them back in for another hour. I then put them on my charcoal grill (I was grilling porkchops already) for a half hour to crust up. I them pulled them and sliced them to eat.

These were the blandest, stringiest, most non-pleasing ribs I've ever made. They looked fine, and had some pullback, but the flavor was blech. No smokiness, no flavor from the rub, no juiciness, no nothing! Somehow they even took on a flavor that almost had a subtle plastic-y chemical taste. The funny thing is: I have tasted ribs like this before. In fact, I have paid good money to eat ribs that tasted like this before. There is a "smoked BBQ" joint (and I use those quotes generously!) aroung Otter Tail lake that we went to last summer and I tried a number of their offerings. They too had the exact same bland, yet off-putting flavor that I found in my ribs last night. Not only did the meat taste poorly, but they charged for sauce. If I turned out meat like that there would be 6 different bottles of sauce on every table! "Sauce hides poor BBQ" was in full effect last night!

What I learned: DO IT THE WAY I ALWAYS DO IT!!! Shortcuts will not stand in my house anymore when it comes to BBQ.

[hockeybc69]

I heard that joint is now shut down by Ottertail Lake..... Probably for good reason I guess.

[SkunkedAgain]

Ha! Same here. I smoked my first ribs yesterday, which generally went fine but I was also working on finishing a wiring project in my house so all told the ribs cooked an extra hour and it showed. They tasted good but were well beyond the perfect point.

My lesson learned. Don't leave the smoker or your wingman.

[archerystud]

Personally for me I like smoking ribs for about the first 3-4 hours starting from the raw state. Once they are "cooked" I don't think they pull in much smoked flavor.

I sometimes finish them in the oven but I never start them there.

[reinhard1]

the doneness is one thing but i dont get the "plastic/chemical" taste you mention. here is some things going through my mind.

1. possible piece of boar meat [not likely though these days]

2. ribs may have been past their fresh time

3. ribs may have been frozen too long and wrapping damaged causing possible freezer burn.

now this may not be the case with you but if someone buys ribs that are cryovaced [sealed in plastic] make sure the wrap is tight and not loose when you buy pork like this or any item that is supposed to be vacume sealed tight but loose. the meat may look good, but because of the loose wrap air gets in and bacteria has started and the code date then becomes invalid. so that's some of the things i look for if a piece of pork tastes bad. good luck.

[McGurk]

Since it is being discussed elsewhere, I should say that the rack I used was a natural pork rib rack: no enhanced salt solution involved. Also, I have cooked racks from that purchase on my smoker that did not have the plastic taste. It looked good from the cryo bag and didn't have a smell like a couple of questionable racks did in the past.

Sad to hear that the bbq joint closed by Otter Tail, but i wouldn't recommend it over a McRib sandwich from Mcdonalds.

[KEN W]

That sounds like the ribs you get in a cafe type resturant or a baffet..Bake them in the oven with no seasoning until done ....then dump on BBQ sauce.Problem is,.....I am always dumb emough to try them.

[OnAFly]

Worse than a McRib? That's impressive. Even the gas station rib sandwich is better than those things.

The upside, I'm not the only one who can thoroughly ruin ribs

[Slabasaurus]

What I learned: DO IT THE WAY I ALWAYS DO IT!!! Shortcuts will not stand in my house anymore when it comes to BBQ.

Last time I whipped up my chicken and bbq sauce I relearned how important this is.

Sauce was killer as usual (hard to "rush" something that slow simmers for a few hours), but the chicken... oh man I felt awful how bad that turned out.

[fischer69]

If you enjoy smoking/BBQing take a look at BBQ Brethren. It is an awesome forum not too different than this one. You will get great advice & recipes.

[eyeguy 54]

Carefull, hockeybc69 loves those Mc Ribs!!

[hockeybc69]

I had the fist cocked and ready to fire EG... LOLL