All About Barbecued Ribs

The pinkness in "properly" barbecued ribs is called the smoke ring, and is caused by the formation of nitrous acid when Nitrogen Dioxide from the smoking wood interacts with the meat. This prevents the breakdown of myoglobin (muscle pigment). Thus the meat remains pink. Generally, smoke ring is an indication that the meat has been smoked low and slow, and will have decent smoky flavor.

However, it's possible to get smoke ring in a gas oven, as burning gas also creates nitrogen dioxide, albeit less. An electric oven will produce no smoke ring unless the meat has been brined first.

Properly cooked ribs are NOT pink because they are not cooked well done. Pinkness in rare meat is because they are not cooked hot enough to break doen myoglobin. In barbecue, its because of the nitrogen interactions.

Indeed, bbq ribs need to be cooked well past what we would consider well done for a cut like, say, a pork chop. Ribs contain lots of collagen and fat. The goal when barbecuing them is to render out the fat, and to convert the collagen into gelatin, which gives good ribs that juicy, unctuous mouthfeel.

Converting collagen takes three things: moisture, heat, and time. They need to cook long enough at a high enough temperature for it to happen, though not so long and slow that the ribs dehydrate in the process.

Most pros go at around 200 to 250 degrees (oven temperature) allowing the meat to cook for anywhere between 4 and 12 hours, depending on their own preference and the particular batch of ribs. They are done when the meat is tender and comes off the bones easily when you tug gently. Good ribs should not "fall off the bone" with no effort. That's overcooked ribs.

You can cook to temperature, and that'll get you reasonably consistent end results, but as slow cooking, the kind where you want to break down connective tissue, is a temperature and time dependent process. It's not 100% accurate to cook only based on final meat temperature. For instance, you can break down collagen and get ultra succulent ribs by holding them at 170 (rib temp, not smoker temp) for 12 hours, or you can get slightly dryer ribs that are still very tender by letting them continue to heat to past 190, in which case time jumps down rapidly. The hotter you cook, the less time it takes, but the dryer the end results will be. Using modern techniques like sous vide or Cvap ovens, you can go even lower and slower - 145 degrees or lower for a couple days, for instance, to give you extremely moist and tender results. These are good, but don't taste like barbecue.

If you have a grill you should rub your ribs, heat up only one side of the grill to a low temperature, add soaked wood chips, then place then ribs on the cooler side of the grill and cook them with the lid closed, adding fuel as necessary until the ribs are tender. Finish them off by increasing the heat or adding more coals, brushing them with sauce (you can do several layers if you want, or none at all. It's a regional thing), and finishing off over the hotter side to get some nice charring of the meat and caramelization of the sauce.

To do something similar in the oven, rub the ribs, put them on a rack in a rimmed baking sheet, and cook them low and slow until tender. Finish them off by brushing with sauce and putting the, under the broiler
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Several Sources:

• Good info on smoke rings: http://www.smokingpit.com/Info/SmokeRing.pdf
• article on competition style ribs with a recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/08/barbecue-competition-style-ribs.html
• Guide to ribs of the world (only partially relevant, but interesting to see how people do it different): Ribs if the world
• Regional American barbecue style guide (great for learning about different sauces, cooking styles, cuts of meat, etc.) Regional Barbeque Guide