Ribs are my nemesis on the keg. Maybe it's just me but I always think they're good but just not great. Picked up a 3 pack of back ribs from Costco. These things were huge, I cut a slab in half and did one dry rub all the way and the other wrapped and sauced. I'm not sure what back ribs are, I thought they were baby backs but these were bigger than any baby backs I've had. Couldn't believe the amount of meat on them bones.
Anyhow, used the Rendezvous Famous Seasoning to rub both slabs down, and on the keg they went with some Hickory for smoke. The rub doesn't have a lot of salt, just a lot of flavor so after a couple of hours when the ribs were glistening I sprinkled some Bad Byron's Butt Rub on, it's mostly salt. I thought this would be a good cook to compare wrapped vs. unwrapped so I wrapped that front slab after 3 hours with some honey, maple syrup and some of that Commissary Sauce. Put it back on for about an hour and a half before unwrapping. After another hour I sauced the one I wrapped and cranked the heat up from the cooking temp of 250* to around 400*.
These came out really good, I did do something a little different. I kept the top vent wide open starting out, used the bottom vent to control the temp. Once the bottom vent was almost shut all the way I started using the top vent. After around 3 hours the top vent ended up at 3. My theory is that leaving the top vent open allows the steam to escape, instead of circulating back down on the ribs. Also keeps the smoke flowing freely. It worked, these had the texture I was looking for, I've had ribs come out sort of mealy before, these were firm but tender. They were great!
