Pro tip: Stop spraying ribs every 15 minutes

I used to spritz my ribs every 15 minutes like all those competition guys on YouTube. Then a buddy who judges at Memphis in May told me I was washing all the bark off and making my ribs mushy. He said just spray once at the 2 hour mark and again at 3 hours if they look dry. Tried it last weekend on a rack of St. Louis cut and the crust came out way better. Anyone else find less spritzing gives you a better bite?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael_williams7d ago

Fair point @ben_fisher but my bark improved a ton after I cut way back on spritzing.

ben_fisher14d agoMost Upvoted

Hold up, is the bark really getting washed off from a light spritz? I mean I get not drenching them every 15 minutes like a car wash, but a quick mist from two feet away barely lands on the meat. I did a side by side last month with a cheap rack and honestly couldn't tell the difference in bark or bite between spraying every 20 minutes versus every hour and a half. Maybe it matters more if you're running a really wet smoker or something.

ben_fisher14d agoMost Upvoted

That 20 minute versus 90 minute test is interesting because I think the real factor is how much liquid actually stays on the surface. A cheap spray bottle that puts out big droplets will obviously do more damage than a fine mister, but even then the evaporation happens so fast in a 225 degree cooker that I doubt the bark is really getting soggy. The whole "washing off bark" thing feels more like an old pitmaster myth that got repeated until people believed it, especially since my own side by sides showed the same crust development regardless of spray frequency.