I'm glad it was too cold to canvas...

[patrick corry]

Thanks for all your constructive comments.

I usually have no trouble with ribs. In this case, as I mentioned, I think haste was the problem. I had a limited time window to make these ribs. I did not pre-soak, rather I just liberally doused them with warm water a couple of times prior to putting them in the bag. I have pre-soaked ribs for days, or a single day, or not at all and have seen no difference in the behavior of the ribs assuming the grain was acceptable and the time steamed was sufficient. I've had great success with steaming just a couple of ribs using the bag/tube method. My logic is that the volume of the steam box is so much bigger than the four ribs I was steaming and the interior volume of the bag was much less. It's quick, and my automotive heater hose delivers lots of steam (and pressure) to firmly inflate the bag. I don't think there was a lack of steam- just haste and impatience for the limited time I had to work... and maybe the relatively cold air temperatures in the barn- mid-40's.

For clarity, the spring clamps on the side are to close the seam blowouts I mentioned earlier.

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

If I only need to bend a few normal shaped ribs, sometimes I don't bother with the steamer. I just boil a tea kettle of water, wrap a old bath towel around the rib and when the water boils, just slowly pour it over the rib. I let that soak in for a couple of minutes or so and then slowly bend the rib still wrapped in the towel over the appropriate place on the outside of the hull, pouring a bit more hot water over the bilge area if its bending hard. Let that set in place for 30 seconds, remove the towel and then clamp the rib to its proper place on the outside and let it cure overnight.
It puts a bit of hot water on the floor and you have to protect your hands from the hot water pouring down the rib on the first bend but it works well and doesn't take much set up. I use about 2 qts of boiling water per rib. I don't seem to break any more ribs than when I'm steaming larger groups of ribs.
An added benefit is that you can use the towel to mop up the floor so you end up with a new rib plus a clean floor!
It appears there are endless number of methods for skinning the rib bending cat!

 

[dtdcanoes]

Exactly what Rollin does except two things . I never learned how to avoid the boiling water with the rib going on the boat so I wear gloves never having been able to forget the experience. Before mopping up the floor I enjoyed the nice warm facial with the still very warm towel. Never minded having to do just a few ribs to get on with it. " Little things mean a lot ", remember ?
Dave

 

[patrick corry]

Oops, found one more broken rib! Can this please be the last one? It was in the same group as the previous 4. Cooked this last one by itself in the bag, using the electric steamer. All went well.