St. Louis Ribs - 3-2-1 vs. Naked?

[Smokin Jon]

I'm going to cook 5-6 racks of St. Louis Ribs for a work Pot-Luck lunch and I don't want it to be a FAIL.
I've yet to cook ribs in my 3D smoker yet and would like some advice from the experts. 
The Lazy-Q booklet suggests 235F temp with 2.5-3 oz. wood for 5-7 hours for St. Louis spare ribs.

My questions are as follows:
1.  Do you experienced smokers use the 3-2-1 method or cook unwrapped the entire cook?
2.  Is 3 oz. a reasonable amount of wood (Will use Pecan) or too much.
3.  Do you use the meat temp probe for the cook or simply use an instant read thermopen starting around 5 hours?
4.  Any other tips?

Thank you in advance!
Smokin Jon

 

[barelfly]

Hey Jon!

Here’s my experience -

1. My first rib cook was 3-2-1...I haven’t gone back to this method since. I feel the smoker does a great job with keeping cooks where they need to be without wrapping. But, I did cook baby backs with the 3-2-1 method, not SLR.
2. Wood amount is a guide, you may find you want more as you start to learn how the cooker works and provides the different flavor profiles from the smoke. But that’s a good start - with 5-6 racks though, you could add a more.
3. No temp probe on ribs for me. To hard. I go by time as a standard then start to check for bone pull back and bend test. Also a toothpick test - does the probe go in like warm butter? It’s done if it does.
4. For tips - Have fun and perhaps dry brine the racks the night before with kosher salt - depending on if your rub has salt or not. If the rub does have salt, you could rub the night before you cook.

And take pics of the smiles when your colleagues are eating great bbq you brought them!

Others may have some differing ideas, and that’s what’s so great about the board.

 

[Pork Belly]

Unwrapped at 250 for 4 hours.
No temp probe, it doesn't matter you are cooking for texture not temp.
I never used less than 4oz that I can remember.
If the are not St. Lois Cut Spares, get your knife out and make them so. St Louis Spare cook more evenly and will take up less room in the smoker. Save the tip section and smoke them up for yourself. When doing those tips, add extra sugar to your rub. Chop them into small sections when done.

 

[Smokin Jon]

Thank you both for the advice! I'm looking forward to this cook.

 

[es1025]

Different rib, but for babies 240, 4.5 hours, 2.5 ounces. No peeking. Wrap after cooking for as long as you need.