Rib Wrap Test | Should you wrap Ribs in Foil or Butcher Paper or Unwrapped | Smoked Baby Back Ribs

BABY BACKS

Foil Wrapped, Butcher Paper Wrapped, Unwrapped

• 3 Racks of Baby Backs Ribs
• 3 TBSP of Yellow Mustard
• Killer Hogs AP
• 2 TBSP of Squeeze Butter
• 4 TBSP of Brown Sugar
• 2 TBSP of Rib Glaze
• Sweet Rapture BBQ Rub
• Butcher BBQ Honey Rub

We used our RT 700 for this cook, set at 275 degrees.
We prepped each rack by removing the membrane and trimming away any large fat.
Use about a tablespoon of mustard on each rack as a binder.
Coat each rack liberally with the AP and BBQ seasoning.
Add a light coat of the honey rub.
Place on the smoker for 2.5 hours or until your rub has set.
Spritz each rack about every 45 mins with apple juice.
We wrapped one rack in butcher paper and one in foil.
We used about 2 tbsp. of Brown sugar, 1 tbsp. of squeeze butter and 1 tbsp. of rib glaze in each wrap.
One rack we cooked uncovered and continued to spritz for the duration of the cook.
At about the 3.5 hour mark we unwrapped and glazed the ribs with our favorite BBQ sauce.
Once the sauce was set we removed and enjoyed.

Overall we thought each rack was exceptional. Our two favorites were the two that were wrapped and we lean more toward the foil wrapped rib!

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[pomaikai]

Smoked 20 St. Louis rib racks and 130 drumsticks on memorial wknd for 70ppl. I used apple and cherry splits. 250 degrees for 3 hrs then wrapped in BP with 1/3c rendered pork lard per rack, after an hr. I had good pull back on bone. Proceeded to dust rub, sauce and put back unwrapped in the smoker for an hr to let sauce set with residual heat!
Not a fan of aluminum foil because ribs come out wet, in my opinion!
Smoked drumsticks at 225 for 2 hrs then charred them on the Weber kettle.
To the men and women who serve in the military, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

[ThunderFalls]

Excellent test Sir, I was reluctant to use aluminum foil and you have convinced me that unwrapped is just fine. Thank you for making this video.

[fmadden]

I like fall-off-the-bone ribs. But what I don't like is the ribs tasting like they were cooked in a pressure cooker. The answer to this is butcher paper. Juiciness doesn't come from water, it is from fats and oils. Butcher paper lets the water out while keeping everything else in. Works great for almost everything that needs wrapped.

[Buford_T_Justice]

This is the kind of hard hitting scientific research I can totally get behind!

Great video!
Subbed

[redveiner]

So, no matter what you do: ribs are amazing

[johnvrabec]

Someone probably already posted this, but, the wrapped ribs were braised somewhat, so that's probably why they bit through more. The meat got tenderized more because the moisture was trapped. That's why Mom kept the lid on the dutch oven when making that tender pot roast Sunday dinner. To me, you have better control of your product when you wrap, no matter which type. To each his own. All your ribs turned out magnificently. None will go to waste lol

[michaeld]

Those trimmed ends make a great add to big pot of beans. Mind the bone chips though.

[ricksimpson]

Foil is steaming them… I like no wrap but have eaten good ribs all 3 ways… I like more bark which why no wrap is my favorite

[ptech]

Just made ribs tonight crispy them up on the flat top, then wrapped them in banana leaves and finished them on the grill. Came out fantastic.

[J-Hajj]

I usually pick St Louis over baby backs. Although baby backs are meatier, I love the flavor of the St Louis fat. I've tried both foil and paper, but prefer unwrapped. Just cook a bit longer for tenderness, a bit firmer than falling off the bone. I also have a red Rec-Tec RT680 for the last 11-12 years and love it.

[danielmarquez]

Butcher paper is my go-to. Foil always made the ribs more like an "oven-cooked" rib texture

[sudzbuddy]

Been Q’n and Smokin’ for 45 years
I’ve never wrapped
Never been convinced of a really good reason for it
Great video!!!

[DAJANEM]

Man, this man is a professional! Great work!

[Charlie-sc]

OH YEAH!!! I finally found MY sweet spot for ribs that's SO much easier! But good.... GREAT taste works! Thanks! Great video!!

[jjpop]

I prefer the no wrap because that was how I learned to do them cooking at a BBQ restaurant and you can really get the smoky flavor of the wood especially if you use apple or cherry. They seemed to all cook the same so I don't think you can go wrong with any of these options!

[chrislrocks]

First time watcher, long time meat smoker. Great video, I enjoy watching the technique. Seems a lot of the comments try to critique your technique or worry about you eating foil toxins 😂. I wish all the experts would post links to their videos showing us the correct way to do it... I dont recall anyone asking. I appreciate the time and effort that went into your video. Truth being there are only so many ways to cook ribs on a smoker. Taste / flavor is a personal thing, and I'd eat those ribs. They all looked great.

[ACGator]

Good video. Reminds me of when Malcolm Reed first started.

[paulritter]

Good video.
My personal favorite method is butcher paper wrapped. Having said that, if I came to your house I’d Mack down any one of these & be bummed if you ran out.
Thank you for your comment about not liking them to be “fall off the bone tender” that’s just over cooked in my opinion.

[donaldmontgomery]

I cook my ribs around the same temp. I wrap in butcher paper and do a 50/50 pineapple/apple juice spritz every hour. However, I could almost taste yours as you were biting them. Looking good.

[DGCON]

Great video . i always go no wrap and always dry rub no sauce . ive had wrapped in foil and butcher paper . And i prefer no wrap at all