side rib question?

[rocam69]

Hi Guys,
Cooking my first side ribs today and I was wondering if I should cook them diffrently than the bb ribs I usually cook.I dont foil my bb ribs but im not sure if the meat on side ribs is tougher and would benifit from foiling.

[1Cavman]

I'm not the expert here but if you're talking about St Louis Ribs.
You're looking at approx 6 hrs. at 225. 3hrs then about 2 hrs in the foil and another 1 hr to finish.

[rbranstner]

You will definitely need to boil them first. (JK)
How big are they? I have had side ribs that were about the same size as my BB's usually are and I cooked them the same way but I also had a buddy bring over a batch and they were tiny so they cooked really fast for me. I'd say stick with what you are use to and like.

[Richtee]

Side ribs... are spares.

You will need a bit longer time. I sometimes foil, sometimes not. I can usually tell if I have a tougher rack and will foil those. If I don't see some pullback or a bit of flex in a rack after 3-ish hours I'll foil them for a while 45-hour and check them. They should be loose by then, then some time out of foil to re-develop bark and a bit of firmness.

[L20A]

I like to do the St. Louis or spares at 230* for 3 hours, foil 'em for 2 hours & unwrap 'em & finish for one hour, commonly known as the "3,2,1" method. If I am going to sauce them I do it in the last hour.

[mulepackin]

I too do a modified 3-2-1 method. Usually works out to about 2.5 in the smoker, 1.5 in a foil covered pain in the oven, then a half hour or so to firm up the bark on the propane grill indirectly. Could do it all in the smoker if the fire is still burning, mine usually dies down at about 3 hr. mark, so the oven and grill fill the void.

[rocam69]

Thanks for all your help guys.

[ALX]

Like everyone is saying........Spares fattier and larger then BB.......If you have a technique you like for the BB then just add more time to the cook......at least an hour overall....

Like Rich mentioned.....after some experience you can tell how these spares will cook from just looking at the structure of the rib etc.and seeing how it is cooking thru the whole process.....