aqcuiring competition ready ribs

[cadmaster]

i was talking with a friend earlier and he mentioned my ribs tasted great and were fall off bone ready.. and it got me thinking, if i ever want to try some amateur competition "fall off the bone" is not what judges look for.. after doing some research i found "half moon bite and then the rest of the meat comes off easily" is a good direction to go in.

i typically always do 3-2-1 method, throw in apple juice and butter in the 2 hour part..

Question is, can comp ready ribs be achieved with 3-2-1 method? or is it too long, or is there a different method in competition?.. what is a good indicator that ribs are just before fall off bone.. comp ready

thanks for advice!
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All things end in judgment...

[k.a.m.]

cadmaster, you will find it hard to get bite through ribs with a 3-2-1 method they soften up to much. A shorter cook time is going to be needed.
To say you do not want fall off the bone ribs in competition is not entirely true. In IBCA competition the judges cannot handle the rib with their hands they use a cheap fork so your ribs had better be near fall off the bone. Even in IBCA my ribs rarely cook longer than five hours. Finding the right temp and time is part of perfecting your ribs. Practice, practice, practice.
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Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[Chef]

[cadmaster]

Interesting.. guess i watched to much bbq pitmasters on tv (not recently though).. i thought fall off the bone was wrong for competition.. but i guess each comp has differ rules.

i figured 3-2-1 was too long.. i realize everyone has different methods, but is it still commong to foil ribs at comps? reason i ask is if i do decide to do amateur comps next year, i dont want to look ridiculous if im the only one with wrapped foiled ribs!

ive tried em without foiling, i like em better foiled

thanks!
_________________
All things end in judgment...

[k.a.m.]

cadmaster, it is common to foil. I do know a few teams experimenting with no foiled ribs some like it some are going back to foil. I foil my ribs at comps I also trim to St. Louis the presentation looks better in my opinion. At home I like dry rub full spares no foil and no sauce but that usually wont fly at a competition.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[Copronymous]

k.a.m. is spot-on, especially about IBCA comps. When I cook IBCA, they're boxed WAY more done than I would do for myself or for a MBN comp.

[ckone]

[js-tx]

Unless you are Johnny Trigg, don't worry about people eyeballing your rib cook. I think people keep to themselves in that regard. For comps, you gotta know how they judge and cook accordingly. Like k.a.m says, practice, practice, practice.

[toymaster]

Semper Fi brother. I have found in my vastly limited experience that 3-1-1 works better for spares and 2½-1-45 minutes works better for baby backs. Of course, that is adjusted for type of smoker, outside temp and humidity, color on the ribs after step 1, and ultimately the meat itself. I feel that the 3-2-1 method is better suited for backyard BBQ and fall off the bone ribs.
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[davejschultz]

My first comp experience was a bit different...local green egg fest rib cook off last year. We finished 29/30 for "tenderness" in judging (still took 14/30 overall ). Our turn in ribs were perfect half moon with tug. I tried a rib from the guy 2 stalls down that won the comp...fall off the bone mush.
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