Mr Skidog,
You have some great tips above your rib problems and I will try to give you a couple more. I will follow along with your post and make some comments that I hope will help as you got to be on top of your game by Easter.
Trimming down those big spares to the St. Louis cut is a great way to do ribs. I usually save the trimmings until I have a big bagful and then have a nice “Rib Tip” party with all the scraps. By the way, the Smithfield Extra Tender is the Hot Tip in rib competition cooking as they are the best thing going at this time.
The Sweet Money rub has quite a bit of salt as it is listed as the second ingredient and in my opinion should not be left on the ribs very long before they go into the fire. I would suggest to just put it on and let them sit on the counter top until they sweat and then they need to go on the grill for best results. Probably take about 30-35 minutes to get to the sweat stage.
I would suggest that you lower the temperature on the DC to about 160-170 degrees for the first hour of the cook to be sure to get a little extra smoke into the ribs. About all pellet cooker are not very efficient at this lower temp and will smoke a lot more during this low temperature timeframe which will be good for your ribs. Your 250 degree after the first hour is fine for the balance of the cook. The DC runs a little hotter on the left side so it might be better to have the thicker or larger side of the ribs on this side of the cooker again for best results when you load it.
Bend test..he he, not a very good way to test for doneness in ribs!! Use your Thermopen if you have one or if not, get one. Ribs are done at 204-208 degrees measured between two of the middle bones in the center of the slab right in the middle of the meat. Practice with a slab of ribs and you can learn this in about two minutes.
I think the problem with your ribs was the harder bark associated with not foiling your ribs and you will have to live with this if you are stuck on this practice. The larger or heavier the slab, the more crunchy the outside layer will be. Your rub was on the meat too long and probably pulled some of the moisture out of the outside layer of the meat as well. I really doubt if your ribs were done enough for the best results.
Ok, if you are not locked in to not using foil, here is how I would handle your cook.
Cook your ribs using the above tips until you get to an internal of about 155-165 degrees or when they have that great dark red color and pull them off of the DC. Using heavy duty foil, make a boat and pour 1-1/2 to 2.0 oz of apple juice on the foil, then sprinkle about 2-3 TBL brown sugar on the foil, and then add 3-4 lines of either honey or one of the Agave syrups to the foil, then place the ribs meat side down on top of this, run a few more lines of the syrup or honey to the backside of the ribs and then add a couple more TBLs of brown sugar to the backside, (no more apple juice here) and then wrap your ribs and place them back on the cooker meat side down. Start checking them in about 45 minutes and again using the Thermopen stuck right thru the foil being careful to not got too far and poke a hole in the bottom and let all the goodies out. This process is called braising and will make your ribs much better in my opinion. When you get them done (204-208 degrees), take them out of the foil, and let them cool for about 10 minutes and place them back on the cooker for the glaze. Apply your favorite glaze to the meat side of the ribs and cook them for about 20 more minutes until the glaze sets up to a kinda sticky stage and pull them off and enjoy.
You can probably find some more information on my site in these two articles.
http://olddavespo-farm.blogspot.com/2014/10/bronto-spare-ribs-and-rib-tips.htmlhttp://olddavespo-farm.blogspot.com/2014/05/spare-ribs-in-davy-crockett.htmlHope this helps...