What is the target internal temperature of pork back ribs for maxium tenderness?

Question

Although there are many variations for how to cook 'baby back' ribs, there seems to be scant information concerning the target internal temperature of the meat when finished.

The question may be slightly more complicated because it seems that simply getting the meat to a target temperature is not enough to get the meat to literally "fall off the bone" (meaning, many of the bones may actually be pulled out of the meat); there is probably a time element for how long the meat is held at the target.

Rather than quote a time and an oven temperature, as most recipes do, I would like to know what the meat temperature profile is for recipes that delivery super tender ribs.

In other words, if a recipe produces a super tender result, what is the meat temperature profile (i.e. meat temperature is held at between X and Y degrees for Z minutes).

Answer 1

Tough cuts become tender because collagen breaks down over time in the presence of heat and moisture, which usually takes several hours. When cooking that long the meat heats up to be the same as the oven temperature, so in this case internal meat temperature = oven temperature.