Share your rib skills

[tabs]

Mesquite is no good for a smoker, too hot. I like pecan myself, had good success with almond and apple though.

Tried them all including Olive wood.

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Moses

Never, ever boil or steam ribs. Makes them tender but flavorless.

Buy good meat. I prefer Niman ranch stuff but you can find quality meat anywhere. First I remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. If you want "Floppin' offa da bone" ribs, the membrane has to go.

Use a dry rub that is salt free. Salt will dry out the meat. For best results, let the ribs soak up the dry rub overnight in the fridge.

The key to cooking ribs properly is simple: Low temperature-Indirect heat. If you can keep your smoker aroung 250 degrees, that is perfect. Different hardwoods add different flavors, but they are all good; green oak, hickory, cherry, even alder. Green woods will give a much "sweeter" smoke than dried, cured woods. Cut some small local cherry or oak branches if you can.

When ribs are done, the meat will retract from the bones showing an inch or more of white rib bone. NOW the ribs are sealed, smoked and flavorful. If you want them even more tender, wrap each rack tightly in foil and let them sit in the smoker for another half hour.

You can serve these ribs dry with a sauce on the side or coat with a finishing sauce just before serving. Either way they will taste great.

Fully agree with your method/ suggestions. I do my ribs low and slow on a Big Green Egg Smoker. Recently I've been experimenting with Asian 5-Spice rib recipes and ran across this one that I have made twice now and is my current favorite. The ribs are brined in a very mild chinese five spice brine (not too salty) which imparts a very slight five spice flavor (more aroma). The sauce is the real key with a craisin vs tomato base (fruit goes with pork!) make it as spicy as you want with chipotle peppers. Rather than in the oven as the recipe is written, I smoke the ribs for 3 hours on indirect heat at 250 degrees then covered in foil for 1 more hour with sauce duluted with vinegar and then finish them off on direct heat with sauce to carmelize. These ribs are really amazing!



Tom Berry, Executive Chef of Bambara Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, uses cranberries to create rather untraditional holiday dishes that still work in the flavors of the season. According to Chef Berry, “Cranberries are an essential part of the holiday meal, and it’s more than just the sauce. I’ve added the popular fruit to stuffing, marinades and appetizers.” Try this signature dish yourself and see just how easy it is to cook with cranberries.


Chef Berry's 5-Spice Ribs with Smothered Onions and Spicy Craisin BBQ Sauce

2 quarts water
2 tablespoons Chinese 5-spice powder
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 1/2 pounds baby back pork ribs (about 2 whole racks)
2 medium onions, cut in half and then sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Whisk together the water, 5-spice, sugar and salt in large bowl until dissolved. Cut the racks in half and submerge fully in the liquid. Refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with enough foil to completely cover and seal the pork ribs. Evenly spread the sliced onions on the foil and place the butter on top. Remove the ribs from the liquid and season both sides with salt and pepper. Place the ribs in one layer on top of the onions, and fold the foil over making sure to tightly seal the package. Roast undisturbed for 2 hours.
Remove from oven, unwrap and baste the ribs with Spicy Craisin BBQ Sauce. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake the ribs uncovered for 10 minutes until the sauce is lightly browned.
Divide the smothered onions onto four plates and serve with one half rack per person.
Makes 4 servings.

Spicy Craisin BBQ Sauce:

1 tablespoon canola oil for cooking
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup Ocean Spray® Craisins Sweetened Dried Cranberries
2 cups Ocean Spray® Cranberry Juice Cocktail
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped chipotle chili pepper (Canned peppers in adobe sauce works best)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Coat a small saucepan with the canola oil. Over medium heat, sweat the onions and garlic until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the sugar, craisins, cranberry juice, vinegar and chipotle peppers. Simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Puree the sauce in a blender until very smooth, season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Yield: 3 cups of BBQ Sauce.

Recipe created by Chef Tom Berry, recipe and photograph provided courtesy of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

[billybek]

Just bumping an old thread that I remember from last year when I was doing up some ribs.
Looking to refine the technique a little I guess...
Some great ideas here, any more contributions?

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by dtw

Yes, I got a barrel-shaped smoker that has a pan of water between the coals and the rack. And they did turn out great - they just didn't fall off the bone like they do when I steam.

There is actually plenty of rub there, though maybe not visible in the pic. I sauced those two racks, but most of them I left dry so people could sauce their own if they wanted. The rub is so good, the ribs really don't need sauce. A lot of people ate the ribs dry.

7 racks (I had two more but saved them for Sunday) disappeared in about 15 minutes amongst about 12-14 people. Good times

I have a smoker too. I put a dry rub on the ribs and wrap them with foil and throw them on the regular grill under medium heat. Turn after 15 minutes, remove after another 15 and take the foil off and put em on the smoker for an hour or two.

They'll have the smoke flavor but will still be tender and the bones will twist inside the meat. i can cut them apart with a fork.

[dtw]

Since this posted last fall, I have gone on a bit of a barbecue tear.

The ribs are now what we (me, family, friends) consider perfect. They are tender, lightly smoky, and flavorful. The technique is a hybrid using both unwrapped smoker cooking, and foiled high-temp cooking. This gives the best of both worlds - high-temp sealed cooking breaks down the connective tissue in the meat while preserving moisture. The low-and-slow smoking gives the meat beautiful color and 'bark', as well as bringing out the flavor of the pork. In competition circles, this technique is called "The Texas Crutch", but is considered a viable/acceptable technique versus 100% smoking.

As my technique has gotten better, I've backed WAY off the smoke wood - use good pork (around here, Smithfield) and proper cooking techniques and you can let the pig do the talking. Very little wood needed to get excellent flavor. Also - for those who are bothering to smoke their chunks of wood - don't bother. There's a great video on this at the Virtual Weber Bullet I believe - it doesn't do squat. Chips, yes, if you must.

This is not just redneck cuisine, either. Since perfecting the ribs, I've started spreading around the joy. I did Thanksgiving dinner - a magnificent brined turkey that was the most spectacular bird we'd ever had. A few weeks before turkey day, some friends supplied us with an enormous venison ham, so I smoked that up and served it with braised shallots, balsamic reduction, and a ragout of fall vegetables in a delicious cabernet reduction. Christmas dinner - standing rib roast with one small chunk of pecan wood, to 135' - breathtaking.

Tomorrow I'm doing birthday dinner for mom - a whole beef tenderloin. Will probably use a little apple and a little pecan for that, then just some kosher salt, black pepper, perhaps some rosemary. Going to do that up with a mushroom ragout finished with truffle oil, asparagus and morels with fresh tarragon, and some Yukon Gold spuds with lots of butter, cream, and parmesan cheese.

Dad's going deep in the wine cellar for this one, I'm hoping he comes up with a nice Bordeaux of some sort. He's got a few Grand Crus stashed away.

[tabascobobcat]

Keep trying stuff on your own recipe until you strike something that you like.
Modify as needed, then you have what is perfect for you.

Myself:

1. Pull membrane (MUST)
2. Brine overnight: small sugar amount, some sea salt, a little of the dry rub, water of course.
3. Remove from brine 1 hour before putting on smoker. Dry the meat. Rub the meat, start the charcoal. Let the meat warm at room temp.
4. When the coals are good to go, add wood and start indirect smoking the ribs. I like to enhance and not overpower the meat so I use a fruity wood, apple, cherry, etc for pork. Flavor of the month here is Pecan. Nutty and fruity.
5. Smoke 3 hours or until the meat is at 145. Wrap in foil with a splash of apple juice.
6. Either put the wrapped ribs back on smoker until meat pulls back or onto direct heat for a faster finish.
7. 2 minutes each side on a hot grill/fire to crisp up the ends.
8. Let the guests decide sauce or not sauce.

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[willtel]

It sounds like you are just about set. One other thing you could try for special occasions is swapping out the Smithfield meats with some proper pasture raised Berkshire pork. It won't be quite as clean as what your used to and the cooking times will be a little different but the flavor really is better.

My wife an I started get almost all out meats from a local farm CSA, Naturally Raised Pastured Pork - Georgia Sustainable Pasture Based Farm. It took a while to learn how to cook the pasture raised stuff properly but the taste and knowing where it comes from is worthwhile. We got a 5lb boston butt in our last basket that will be introduced to my Weber smoker very soon. I'll try to get some pics.

The way I do is take out membrane from back. I use a dry rub of cumin, coriander, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, kosher salt, thyme, oregano, pinch of ceyenne, and rub gererously. Put ribs in a tall sided oven pan. Cover tightly with aluminium foil and bake in a 250• oven for 2.5 hrs. At that point they should be done. Add you favorite BBQ sauce and baste. Increase oven temp to 350 and rebake until sauce has begun to carmilize.
Make sure to drain liquid after ribs come out the first time.
I play around with different sauce. My favorite at the moment is a spicy mango sauce.
Sauces is another thread.

[s_morrison57]

We do a bit of Garlic seasoning then wrap in foil, on the gas BBQ bone down for abot 20 min then bone up for 40 to 50 min at 275 , off with the foil then bone down for 10 min @ 350, bone up 10 - 15 minutes. Done like dinner!

[Tobra]

I cook a long time on low heat wrapped up. My buddy cut down apricot and pecan trees, wood almost seasoned. I will be interested to see how apricot wood is in the smoker. I did a pork loin last time with the pecan that turned out good, excellent really. Weather is just about right for the commencement of outdoor grilling activities.

[billybek]

Another bump for an old rib thread...
Not having a smoker, I have had some great success using the 3-1-1 method and using a pizza stone on the grill to provide indirect heat for the ribs.
Very simple rub with kosher salt, fresh rough ground pepper, paprika and a little chipotle seasoning. Secured the rub with mustard brushed over the rub.
I use a makeshift smoker box with some apple wood chips in it throughout the cooking process.
First 3 hours low indirect heat, ribs overlapped on the grill surface mounted above the pizza stone. Turn every 45 minutes. For ease of handling cut the rack in half.
Second hour, remove the ribs and seal in foil with a splash of apple juice. 1 hour indirect low heat. The bonnet temperature on my BBQ at 300-325 gives me about 225 above the pizza stone according to my fluke digital thermometer.
For the last hour, direct heat and sauce in the last 20 to 30 minutes.
I know that it isn't as good as smoker, but for a gas grill the ribs are pretty darn good!
I have 3 racks on right now and have just made the first turn.

[mthomas58]

I've got three racks of ribs smoking right now. Trying a basket weave of bacon on top for the first time. They've been on the big green egg for 3 hours now. I want to get a little deeper bark color on the bacon then I'll wrap in foil and let them go another hour. Will sauce and finish on direct heat as last step.

[E38Driver]

Here are my ribs that are on the smoker right now. Couple of more hours and it will be time to eat. I will post another of the ribs when I pull them off the smoker.

Dave

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by mthomas58

Trying a basket weave of bacon on top for the first time.

Gives us a report on how it turns out. I have started oil basting mine every 1/2 hr since I have been finding that they tend to be dry since I don't sauce them.

Ian

[E38Driver]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

Gives us a report on how it turns out. I have started oil basting mine every 1/2 hr since I have been finding that they tend to be dry since I don't sauce them.

Ian

Try spraying them with apple juice every 45 min- to 1 hour. That really helps keep the meat moist and sweetens them just a little.

Dave

[imcarthur]

Thanks. I will give it a try. My last attempt I used 50/50 oil & cider vinegar. I use indirect heat (back burner only with smoker chip box) on a Weber gas grill @ 250 for 4 hours or so & then an hour in foil. With a Memphis rub:

Memphis Rub

1. 2 tablespoons garlic powder
2. 2 tablespoons onion powder
3. 2 tablespoons black pepper
4. 1 tablespoons salt
5. 2 tablespoons chili powder
6. 2 tablespoons cumin powder
7. 2 tablespoons brown sugar (I cut this to 1 tbsp)
8. 3 to 4 tablespoons paprika
9. 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Ian

[E38Driver]

Done!



Outstanding taste.

Dave

[imcarthur]

Looks great.

But I bet you that the wine was pretty tannic . . . 2005 Bordeaux will need another 3 - 5 years minimum - even the lesser ones. I do admit to being a wine snob btw.

Ian

[E38Driver]

Yes it needs more time but, the bottle is empty. ;-D

[imcarthur]

Ha ha. That happens.

Next time, open & decant the bottle first thing in the morning & just let it sit at 'cool' room temperature all day.

Ian