All about the ancient tribes
The accepted finished temperature of pork is 145°F, however, this has not given the collagen inside your ribs time to become gelatin for that perfect bite. That begins to happen when temperatures inside the meat reach 165°F. Continue cooking ribs until they reach around 195°F to 203°F for maximum render.
Bake the ribs at a low temperature (275F) for 3 to 4 hours or until they are tender. Slather the baked ribs with barbecue sauce then broil (or grill) the ribs for a few minutes until the sauce is caramelized.
The safe doneness temperature for pork is 145°F (63°C), but the connective tissue in ribs doesn’t begin to dissolve until the meat is in the range of 160- 170 °F (71-77°C).
Toughness is the hallmark of undercooked ribs. Because ribs contain a great deal of fat and connective tissue, the meat is naturally tough before it’s cooked. Only the long, slow cooking process can break down the tissues and render the fat to give you the tender, succulent texture you crave.
While not all pitmasters wrap their meat in the final stages of a cook—in barbecue circles, wrapping in foil is known as the “Texas crutch”— wrapping is an effective way of finishing a long cook without drying out the meat and works for everything from pork shoulder to smoked ribs and beef brisket.
According to USDA, ribs are “done” when they are 145°F internal temp, but they may still be tough. If you take them up to 190 to 203 °F, the collagens and fats melt at this temp and make the meat more tender and juicy. Then they’re ready!
There are three basic ways to cook a rack of pork ribs in the oven, and they are as follows: 4 hours at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. 3 hours at 300 degrees F. 2 hours at 350 degrees F.
Season liberally with the “secret” sweet rub and prepare your grill for indirect grilling. The target temperature on your grill is 300 degrees F. Use fruit woods like apple, peach, cherry, or hardwoods like hickory or oak. Place the ribs on the grill, close the lid and cook for 2 1/2 hours at 300 degrees.
Ribs should be cooked slowly to obtain the optimum tenderness. Often ribs are boiled or oven-steamed before grilling to help tenderize the meat. To oven- steam ribs, place ribs in a large baking pan, fill with about 1 inch of water, cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 50 minutes in a 350-degree oven.
If the slow cooker is on low and the ribs are covered in liquid you should be good for 24 hours or more. I’ve always done ribs that hadn’t been frozen, and I’ve found that 6 hours is a bit too long. They were literally falling off the bone at that point, you couldn’t handle them.
Bend Test: When ribs are done cooking, they’re flexible but don’t fall apart. To check, hold the rack from the end with a pair of tongs. The other end should bend towards the ground and cracks may form in the crust.
Ribs benefit greatly from a low-and-slow cooking method. For cook times longer than two hours, most meat will benefit from being wrapped in foil. For example, baby back ribs will take roughly four hours to cook while spare ribs will take closer to five but both should be wrapped after two and a half hours.
Eating raw or undercooked pork can make you very sick and put you at risk for parasites like roundworm or tapeworms. These are typically killed in the cooking process — which is why it’s crucial to cook your pork thoroughly.
The USDA said its Food Safety and Inspection Service found that cooking pork to a temperature of 145 degrees and letting it rest for three minutes is just as safe as cooking it to a higher temperature. The change means that a cut of pork may still look pink when it reaches 145 degrees and that, says the USDA, is OK.