Pork Baby back ribs not coming to temperature

[dmjudge]

Hello,

Tried smoking two racks of ribs today on my new Traeger 575 pro. My first attempt. I had read a lot about the
2-2-1 method and decided to give it a try. Did everything as instructed. The traeger temperature was close to 225 degrees the entire time. At the end of 5 hours the temperature of the meat was only 140. I checked with two thermometers. The ribs also failed the tooth pick and bend tests. Anyone else run into this. I know that you should cook ribs until they’re ready eat and that you can’t always rely on a set time frame but that seems like a huge disconnect. Anyone else run into this problem?

 

[AvonSmoke]

Hello,

Tried smoking two racks of ribs today on my new Traeger 575 pro. My first attempt. I had read a lot about the
2-2-1 method and decided to give it a try. Did everything as instructed. The traeger temperature was close to 225 degrees the entire time. At the end of 5 hours the temperature of the meat was only 140. I checked with two thermometers. The ribs also failed the tooth pick and bend tests. Anyone else run into this. I know that you should cook ribs until they’re ready eat and that you can’t always rely on a set time frame but that seems like a huge disconnect. Anyone else run into this problem?

did you confirm the grill temp was in fact 225? i had a faulty thermocouple in the grill and had to set the temp 30 degrees higher from what i wanted.

 

[dmjudge]

did you confirm the grill temp was in fact 225? i had a faulty thermocouple in the grill and had to set the temp 30 degrees higher from what i wanted.

I didn’t but I’ve cooked a variety of other meats and haven’t had this problem.

 

[RealMenDIY]

Spare or baby back? Were they both the same temp? If so they prob just needed more time. I did spare ribs two weeks ago and they needed almost 7 hours to get to temp. If they were full racks is there a chance the way you had them laid out was affecting the airflow in the chamber? I’m just spitballing here.

 

[dmjudge]

Spare or baby back? Were they both the same temp? If so they prob just needed more time. I did spare ribs two weeks ago and they needed almost 7 hours to get to temp. If they were full racks is there a chance the way you had them laid out was affecting the airflow in the chamber? I’m just spitballing here.

They were baby back. Ultimately cooked for 8 hours. Granted, they were a little dry so I must have overcompensated somewhat. Probably could have taken them off after 7.5 hours. Still seems too long.

 

[RealMenDIY]

Heat is heat, wouldn’t have cooked differently on another grill at 225°. Prob has more to do with the cut of meat than the grill.

 

[El Guido]

Hello,

Tried smoking two racks of ribs today on my new Traeger 575 pro. My first attempt. I had read a lot about the
2-2-1 method and decided to give it a try. Did everything as instructed. The traeger temperature was close to 225 degrees the entire time. At the end of 5 hours the temperature of the meat was only 140. I checked with two thermometers. The ribs also failed the tooth pick and bend tests. Anyone else run into this. I know that you should cook ribs until they’re ready eat and that you can’t always rely on a set time frame but that seems like a huge disconnect. Anyone else run into this problem?

I'm having the exact same problem right now. Same grill model also baby back ribs although I'm only doing one rack. I just got this thing a week ago and have cooked steaks on it twice and a dozen chicken thighs once. Everything was perfect. But my ribs have been on for 10 hours now and are only at 165°. The grill is set to 225°. I'll figure out how to finish and eat these things tonight and will be calling Traeger on tuesday.

 

[JamesB]

Have you checked your pit temp with an accurate probe? Your actual temp may be well below your set temp.
At 225, baby backs will be nearing the 165 mark in 4 hours or so. Total cook time will be around 6 hours + or -.
At this point, I would bump the temp to 250-275. Hard to know without knowing your real pit temp

 

[El Guido]

Have you checked your pit temp with an accurate probe? Your actual temp may be well below your set temp.
At 225, baby backs will be nearing the 165 mark in 4 hours or so. Total cook time will be around 6 hours + or -.

Thanks for the reply. I have not done so yet.

 

[Timmy]

I'm having the exact same problem right now. Same grill model also baby back ribs although I'm only doing one rack. I just got this thing a week ago and have cooked steaks on it twice and a dozen chicken thighs once. Everything was perfect. But my ribs have been on for 10 hours now and are only at 165°. The grill is set to 225°. I'll figure out how to finish and eat these things tonight and will be calling Traeger on tuesday.

I would bet your grill is running about 190 to 200 degrees.

 

[JamesB]

Thanks for the reply. I have not done so yet.

All smokers/grills have cheap inaccurate probes. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and buy a quality leave in probe set, such as Thermoworks or FireBoard 2.

 

[Timmy]

Bump the temp on the Traeger to 250f and see what happens.

 

[JamesB]

I would bet your grill is running about 190 to 200 degrees.

Yep, that’s what I think too.
10 hours at 225, he ought to have rib jerky

 

[Timmy]

Yep, that’s what I think too.
10 hours at 225, he ought to have rib jerky

That’s kinda what I’m thinkin, unless they were wrapped for a long time.

 

[CMTiger]

So.....it’s 3-2-1 ribs and not 2-2-1. Did you skip an hour in the initial step. Anyway you cook temp is likely off a good bit