What would be an alternative cooking technique for the Orion Cooker to get more tender ribs?
After cooking my first batch of baby back ribs on the Orion Cooker, I found that they were more "Kansas City Style", as opposed to what I like (fall off the bone). So although the Orion Cooker is exceptionally fast (1:15 for six racks), and the smoke flavor is easy to control by adding just a few wood chips, the ribs are not as tender as I would like.
The standard Orion Cooker method is simple (fill it with seasoned meat, fill it with charcoal, light the charcoal, come back after the prescribed time). Has anyone found a "tried and true' method to alter the standard Orion Cooker method that will provide a more a more tender result? I was thinking that less charcoal could be used (lower temperature), and just allow the ribs to cook longer. But it would be hard to come-up with an alternative cooking methodology by trial and error since opening the cooker to check doneness would suspend cooking for a significant amount of time.
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If you want the ribs to be more tender, then cook them for a longer period of time. You said here:
come back after the prescribed time
This is your mistake. There is no such thing as a "prescribed time." The ribs are done when they are done. The time is merely a guideline. There are a several cues to doneness.
The rib meat will retreat from end of the bone during cooking. The bigger the retreat, the more "done" they are.
You should be able to slide a probe between the bones with little resistance. If you want really "fall off the bone ribs" then the probe should push right through without even the slightest of effort.
If you pick up the rack with a pair of tongs, it should bend easily. The closer to vertical, the more tender they will be.
If you take the ends of two of the bones in the rack, and gently pull them apart, you should see some tearing in the meat. Again, bigger tear equals more tender.
The moral of the story is: don't live and die by the clock, but use it as a guideline. Cook the ribs to how you like them.
I haven't used an Orion, but I watched their video and I feel like I've got a pretty good handle on the concept. I'm like you, I like ribs super-fall apart, and usually a bit saucy. I would try braising them in a big roasting pan in the oven a couple of inches deep in liquid for two hours or so (just at a simmer, don't let the liquid boil), before putting the racks in the smoker. For the liquid you can get as experimental as you care to.
Reducing the amount of charcoal used in the Orion Cooker and cooking longer can produce a more tender result.
Specifically, using 6 lb of a 12.5 lb bag of charcoal and cooking for 120 minutes for 3 racks produced ribs that were not quite as tender as desired, but much better than the normal Orion recipe (12.5 lb of charcoal for 70 minutes).
The temperature profile was as follows:
The above shows that the meat temperature was held between 195 and 205 for 60 minutes. This profile is not optimal for the most tender ribs, so additional changes toward lower/slower may improve the result.
Note that the charcoal reduction required a minor modification to the equipement since unless the charcoal is adjacent to the Cooker's wall, the wood chips will not smoke. The modification is shown in a you tube video entitled "Orion Cooker Charcoal Saving Mod And Improved Tender Rib Cooking" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otrplfPBvfk).
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