BBQ Pride

[Julie]

Like I said OVER 40+years ago....

I DO !

Ok, grab JohnT and get over here, we are going to have a rib fest!

 

[chachi44089]

I am more of a BBQ purist..Live fire start to finish..No steam, pressure or pre-cooking of any kind..Patience is the key..I prepare my ribs by trimming them and removing the membrane from the back. Then they get a homemade rub and sit for a few hours in the fridge while the smoker gets going..Real lump charcoal and apple wood. 225 degrees. Slow and low. The ribs go on with plenty of soaked apple wood added now and then for smoke. I keep the smoke going good for at least 3 hours. Then they come off for a moment to be wrapped in foil and filled with apple cider, brown sugar and butter. Then back on the smoker at least another 2 hours, till they almost fall off the bone. there is no set time "kinda like wine". When done they have a sweet smokey flavor that only slow smoking can achieve. The texture is light crisp to the outside and moist and tender inside, with a red color from the smoke. Most people dont even want sauce on my ribs. But my daughter does make a homemede sauce that is quite good.
I am new to wine, but not to BBQ. But I do know that to do either, much preperation, practice and patience is the key. Great BBQ takes time, just like great wine..

 

[ibglowin]

Old thread that got resurrected I see.

Best Ribs I have ever made have been cooked using the 3-2-1 method. 3 hours on the smoker with dry rub of choice (@225) then wrap them in heavy foil and back on the grill for another 2 hours (@225) then finish them off for 1 hour on the grill and you can add your sauce at this time.

This is for Spare Ribs. Baby Backs get a shorter 2-2-1 method. Low and slow, the foil will steam them until the meat is so tender it falls off.

Makes me want to fire up the pit!

 

[Dirtydog420]

Tonight I am making some ribs for myself.. Since I dont have a smoker for dry rub ribs, I make wet ribs for myself..

I usually boil them for an hr or two at most in water that has been seasoned. Usually liquid smoke, some herbs and a bit of bbq sauce.

Them I put dry rub seasoning on the ribs, cover with bbq sauce, i also put a bit of the liquid I boiled them in the pouch I bake them in to keep the moisture up.

Bake them for two or more hrs and then I will add a final layer of bbq sauce and broil to char a bit...

And eat..

Thats just my method.. wish I had a smoker to make dry rub stuff and brisqet and pork butt but im too poor for that right now.. Plus all my play money goes to wine making equipment. Hahaha

 

[sixdoubleo]

I agree with Chachi.... Yes, you can make decent ribs in the oven and using other methods, but BBQ is a lot like wine in that there is a certain romance involved in how it's made...and really it needs to be done low and slow over a real fire.

Do a google search for BRITU (Best Ribs In The Universe). It's a really good starter recipe that I think produces excellent ribs and is very simple to duplicate on a smoker or charcoal BBQ. It gives you a good basic recipe that you can then deviate from.

I use a smoker (Weber Smokey Mountain) but have also done good ribs on a plain old Weber Kettle BBQ using a water pan and indirect heat. For instance, with a kettle BBQ you'd put all your coals on the left side, with your smoke wood laying directly on the coals. Put on the cooking grate, then fill an aluminum pan with water (or beer or apple juice, whatever) and also put it on the left side, right over the heat. This acts as a heat sink to help lower the temps. (Some think it also provides a "steaming" effect...hence the juice or beer) but I dont think it does much more than make the backyard smell good. ) Then put your meat on the right side, away from the heat.

Here's my basic technique...and it makes really good ribs.

FYI...I use baby back ribs. For other types of ribs, cooking times will vary.

Remove the membrane from the ribs. Apply a rub to the ribs (either the BRITU rub, which you can make yourself, or some other one...it isn't so much about the specific rub as it is the technique). One that I like a lot is Plowboy's Bovine Bold. You can get it online. But really any commercial paprika-based BBQ rub is fine. I'll sometimes add some cayene pepper to a rub to kick up the heat a bit.

Some people like to apply a layer of mustard to the ribs BEFORE the rub to help the rub adhere. Dont worry the mustard doesnt affect the taste. I usually dont apply mustard, but have in the past and can tell you it doesn't seem to matter one way or the other..

Anyway, this is key....let the ribs sit out at room temperature with the rub for about an hour. The rub will draw moisture from the ribs and create a bit of a red "gel" coating on the outside of the ribs.

While the ribs are sitting out at room temperature, go start your fire. I like plain old Kingsford briquettes (no lighter fluid...use a chimney to start). Put your smoke wood right on the coals...I use about 3-4 baseball sized chunks of a fruit wood. I like apple, cherry, or pecan, and sometimes maybe 1 chunk of oak. We have a company in town that sells firewood and I will buy about 5 logs from them for about $3. Then I just cut them into small chunks with my miter saw and keep them in buckets. There is no need to soak the wood in water. I'm not a big fan of mesquite or hickory.

The wood will begin to burn and produce a lot of white/grey smoke. You want all this smoke GONE before placing your meat on the grill as it will impart a really bad "house fire" type smokiness to your meat...not what you want. The smoke you want to see is a very faint blue smoke.

If your BBQ doesnt have a thermometer, just get a cheap grate thermometer. With the top vent wide open, start with the bottom vents all half-open and adjust them to control the heat. Get your grate temp to about 230-250 degrees. Once your temp is stable in that range put the ribs on, meat-side up/bone-side down (or use one of the rib racks to stand them up on edge).

Leave the ribs alone for 2 hours. Check temps and adjust bottom vents to keep it in the 230-250 range. With a kettle BBQ, you'll possibly need to add charcoal every hour or so to keep the fire going. This is where the hinged weber grate is nice. At about the 2.5 hour mark, lift the lid and spray the ribs with something...I'll use apple juice in a spray bottle, or apple juice/beer mixture...I've tried cranberry/EVOO with some rub mixed in as well.

At about 2.5 hours I change my process depending on the ribs I want to make...

If I'm looking for super tender ribs (and pretty sweet), I will wrap the ribs loosely in foil (seal the foil, but leave a tented air space). Each rack of ribs goes in its own foil pouch with a double layer of foil to prevent tears. Inside the foil I will pour a sauce made of butter, maple syrup, and brown sugar right on top of the ribs. Seal the foil and stick em right back on the smoker/grill for another hour or so at 225-250. After about 45 minutes to an hour, pull em out of the foil, then stick them back on the grill (with no foil) for about 15-20 minutes just to "firm" them up. You can even perform this firming step on a gas grill if you want rather than the smoker. At this point apply your sauce in a couple layers, allowing the heat to "set" the sauce. My sauce is usually just a doctored commercial sauce. I like Stubbs Spicy. I usually add a few things to it....Siracha sauce, honey, BBQ rub, depends on what Im going for. A real popular one is 4-5 parts KC Masterpiece and 1 part honey.

If I'm going for a firmer rib then I wont do the foil. Just keep the ribs on the grate in the smoke...spritzing with apple juice every 30 minutes or so. Since the foil speeds things up, these will need to cook longer...like 4-4.5 hours total (results may vary) and sauce them in the last 20-30 minutes.

You can sort of visually tell when ribs are done because the meat will pull back exposing about 1/2-3/4" of the bone. But sure fire way is simply by grabbing two adjacent ribs somewhere in the middle of the rack. Pull slightly...they should resist initially and then tear. Search Google for "ribs tear test" or something for specifics.

A really good resource with very detailed instructions is the virtual weber bullet site....virtualweberbullet.com I think. It's written by Weber smoker owners for Weber smoker owners but many of the techniques can be applied to other BBQ's and cookers. My procedure above was derived from their basic technique along with some other tips I've picked up.

I'm no expert myself, but just telling you what works for me and my friends/family love them. Hope some of this has helped, because nothing goes better with a good glass of wine than some really good ribs!

 

[chachi44089]

Hey dirtydog420.. No smoker needed if you have a propane grill. Use the same method as me or sixdoubleo.. Fire on one side, meat on the other. Temp of 225-250. For smokey flavor, pick up some apple chips at a local store. Soak them in water for a few hours or and wrap them in foil. Take a fork and punch some holes in the top of the pouch and place over the burner that is on. Instant smoker. Make your own simple rub with equal parts black pepper, sweet "Hungarian" paprika, salt, brown sugar. And a dash of anything else you might like "onion powder, ect". Mix with your fingers so you dont have lumps. Sprinkle on the ribs and rub. Be sure to peel the membrain off the back of the ribs. If you dont, that stuff is tuff and kinda nasty. Then just follow mine or dirtydog420's recipe. You will never go back to boiling or pre-cooking. When they are done the bones will be sticking out and they will have "relaxed". Then eat, or sauce, carmelize and repeat on direct heat.
I find pre-cooked ribs to be grey, mushy and lacking that smokey flavor. No need to pre-cook. It only takes a little longer with our method, but the end result is sublime. And is "true" BBQ. Any questins, just ask.