Was going to smoke them, but opened my new smoker only to find out if was broken in the box and I have to return it, so ending up cooking them on the grill. Got a 2 pound rack of baby backs from Critchfield meats in Lex on Thursday. Got home, found out that wasn't going to be enough and went to Kroger and got a 2 pound rack from there Friday. Laid everything out...prepped them the same, spiced them the same...got them on the grill...cooked them the same, same amount of time, sauced them at the same time. Went to eat them...the Critchfield ribs were freaking delicious and were the best ribs I had had in a long time, restaurant or otherwise. Got done, wanted a little more, got a couple of ribs off the Kroger slab...well you would have thought tow completely cooks cooked these ribs on a different grill somewhere. Not anywhere near the same. Tough, not near as flavorful...didn't even compare to the first rack. Really shocked me how different they were from the first rack. Don't think I will be getting ribs again from Kroger...at least not the kind I got this time.

Have made ribs several times from Kroger. Delicious every time. :idunno:

I've never been to Critchfield, but I often go to a local meat place and the difference between it and the groceries is like night and day.

Love the Country Style Ribs for Kroger when I can get them on sale.

 

Best ribs that I've cooked at home though are from the Commissary at Wright Patterson Air Force base. Great price. Future father in law is a veteran and will pick me up some from time to time.

I've never been to Critchfield, but I often go to a local meat place and the difference between it and the groceries is like night and day.

 

haven't been to Critchfield in a while, but they have good meat what I have gotten there in the past. My go to butcher shop is Boones in Bardstown...reasonably priced and never have been disappointed, but have never tried their ribs. Will get some next time I am there.

Have made ribs several times from Kroger. Delicious every time. :idunno:

 

Rib quality was much tougher on the Kroger ribs...they needed to be cooked much slower/longer at a lower temp to get them more tender, much more so than the Critchfield ribs. Had I smoked them they may have been fine or at least closer to the Critchfield rack. If I get them in the future they will definitely be smoked and not grilled.

Were the baby backs from Kroger precooked?

 

I love baby backs, they are my favorite ribs, but in my experience most times when bought from a typical store as opposed to a meat market, you are getting precooked baby backs. For whatever reason, spare or country ribs from the same stores are not precooked.

 

There are a lot of things that could have caused one rack to be tougher than the other. But when I read that you cooked baby backs the first thing that popped into my mind was that the Kroger brand was likely precooked. Which in my experience almost always results in a tougher rib, unless you just warm them on an indirect smoker.

 

How did you grill them if you don't mind me asking? Charcoal, gas, indirect heat or direct? Did you foil them after a couple of hours? Just curious lol.

 

Also, what kind of smoker did you get?

Can't stand the Kroger brand, but if everybody was the same, it would be a dull place.

Were the baby backs from Kroger precooked?

 

I love baby backs, they are my favorite ribs, but in my experience most times when bought from a typical store as opposed to a meat market, you are getting precooked baby backs. For whatever reason, spare or country ribs from the same stores are not precooked.

 

There are a lot of things that could have caused one rack to be tougher than the other. But when I read that you cooked baby backs the first thing that popped into my mind was that the Kroger brand was likely precooked. Which in my experience almost always results in a tougher rib, unless you just warm them on an indirect smoker.

 

How did you grill them if you don't mind me asking? Charcoal, gas, indirect heat or direct? Did you foil them after a couple of hours? Just curious lol.

 

Also, what kind of smoker did you get?

 

Not sure if they were pre-cooked or not. They didn't look it and I didn't really pay attention to the package to see if it said. I might stop by today and check the packaging out to see what it say.

 

I cooked them on a gas grill, 3 burner Weber Genesis (heck of a grill by the way that I bought from a buddy used). Kept all 3 burners on the lowest setting, grill kept a temp of between 370-375 and cooked them between 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 hours. Didn't have time to cook them low/slow which I know would have made them more tender (the Critchfield rack was fine though). Didn't wrap them...cooking them that fast you don't need to.

 

The Kroger rack was just a tougher quality of meat that needed to be cooked longer and slower to get to the same tenderness of the Critchfield rack is the conclusion I have come to. I'm sure both would have probably been better cooking them about 3-3 1/2 hours at about 250 degrees, but again just didn't have the time.

 

Smoker is a Char Grill propane gas smoker Vertical Propane Gas Smoker 595 | Char-Broil® Unfortunately I have to return it, door is broken.

I get the 3 rack packs from Sam's Club, thick meaty ribs, Costco's are good too, just don't get out there often, will join again when the one on Bardstown Rd in the old cinemas lot opens

Not trying to be a jerk, but if you only had 2hrs of cook time available, you shouldn't be cooking ribs to begin with, let alone expect them to come out edible.

Not trying to be a jerk, but if you only had 2hrs of cook time available, you shouldn't be cooking ribs to begin with, let alone expect them to come out edible.

 

While grilling ribs "hot and fast" isn't the preferred method for that meat, it IS a technique that is used and perfectly acceptable that, with good meat can result in a good rib. That was proven with the slab I got from the butcher shop. As I said in my original post, that rack was the best tasting ribs I have had in a LONG time, and that includes restaurants/bbq places that smoke their ribs, and had about the right amount of "chew", though they could have been just a tad more tender and have been perfect.

 

I failed to mention in my first post that the Kroger ribs had been previously frozen and were mostly thawed when I bought them and completely thawed by the time I prepped them and got them on the grill. The butcher shop ribs had not been frozen to my knowledge.

@JDEaston asked above if they had been pre-cooked. I went back and looked at the brand and could not find anywhere on the package that indicated they had been pre-cooked.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to cook the ribs in the same way I did with the butcher shop ribs. The Kroger brand ribs...after this experience if I used them again I would definitely not use this method and either smoke them or cook them low and slow on the grill. And who knows, it's possible I just got a bad, extra tough pack of ribs from Kroger, maybe most of the time they are just fine, but comparatively this pack sure was tough.

I have good results with Kroger ribs when I get them. But I'm cooking them for a looooong time. If I have my preference, though, I'll get them from Boone's.

I have good results with Kroger ribs when I get them. But I'm cooking them for a looooong time. If I have my preference, though, I'll get them from Boone's.

 

As you have probably seen me mention Boones is now my go to "meat market", but I have not gotten any ribs from them yet. That's next on my list. Got a couple of their bacon wrapped filets for the first time last time I was up there a couple of weeks ago. They were very tasty.

MAN! Seeing this thread just after I watched a few episodes of BBQ pit wars, Now I'm hungry.