How do you make your ribs?

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by T.G

BRTU

Make sure you remember to remove the membrane from the inside (stomach side) of the ribs prior to cooking. A dull/rounded tip knife and a paper towel to grip the membrane when peeling it are extremely helpful.

I also remove the false rib meat (flap) on the back and square the whole ribs a little. If that means cutting off a couple of short ribs, so be it. The WSM is only so wide.

In addition to the rub, which I am not that picky and do not follow a recipe, I'll use a little Worcestershire sauce before the rub and/or little maple syrup or molasses.

I season to how I feel at that moment and how much time I have. Basically all the rubs are 50% salt, the rest spices and some herbs.

I like Crazy Dave's BBQ sauce as it is a deal at Costco and does not compete with ribs. Cattleman's is decent too.

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

I also remove the false rib meat (flap) on the back and square the whole ribs a little. If that means cutting off a couple of short ribs, so be it. The WSM is only so wide.

In addition to the rub, which I am not that picky and do not follow a recipe, I'll use a little Worcestershire sauce before the rub and/or little maple syrup or molasses.

I season to how I feel at that moment and how much time I have. Basically all the rubs are 50% salt, the rest spices and some herbs.

I like Crazy Dave's BBQ sauce as it is a deal at Costco and does not compete with ribs. Cattleman's is decent too.

Is that a true statement? I am not that familiar with commercial rubs.

Personally I use very little if any salt in my home made rubs. I feel it will pull moisture out of the meat. I do salt once the meat comes off though.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by wayner123

Is that a true statement? I am not that familiar with commercial rubs.

Well, it's the first ingredient on the list of commercial rubs. Take a look at the next rub you buy and judge for yourself. I eyeball my rubs. I figure how much salt is needed for the amount of meat I have and then add the spices to it. 40% salt is fine too. This is not an exact science for. Whim plays a role. Basically they'll all have (for my rubs).

Salt
Garlic Powder
Hot Spanish Paprika
Oregano
Tumeric
Black Pepper
Corriander
Yellow Mustard Seed
Sugar
Thyme

I'll crush everthing in mortar except for the black pepper which I add after and stir in.

I do not leave the rub on very long, basically season and throw on the smoker. Since ribs can take 6 hours, why bother letting them set up so long? You still want to taste the pork too, right?

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Well, it's the first ingredient on the list of commercial rubs. Take a look at the next rub you buy and judge for yourself. I eyeball my rubs. I figure how much salt is needed for the amount of meat I have and then add the spices to it. 40% salt is fine too. This is not an exact science for. Whim plays a role. Basically they'll all have (for my rubs).

Salt
Garlic Powder
Hot Spanish Paprika
Oregano
Tumeric
Black Pepper
Corriander
Yellow Mustard Seed
Sugar
Thyme

I'll crush everthing in mortar except for the black pepper which I add after and stir in.

I do not leave the rub on very long, basically season and throw on the smoker. Since ribs can take 6 hours, why bother letting them set up so long? You still want to taste the pork too, right?

What type of sugar? Turbinado?

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by wayner123

What type of sugar? Turbinado?

Cane. Not much though, perhaps equal to what you would use of mustard seed or corriander. Sometimes I won't use it if I basted the ribs with maple syrup or thinned molasses before putting the rub on.

That's it. I'm making ribs this weekend. You guys are making me hungry. When I smoke ribs I go 180 degrees 45 to 55 minutes per pound. For the first 2 hours they go right on the rack in the smoker. The next 1-1/2 hour they go in foil with apple juice and apple vinegar. Then they are put back on the rack for the duration. If I am using a sauce I slather it on for the last 1/2 hour. My sauce of choice is Grandma Coyote's spicy sauce. It's made right here in Tucson and has won many competitions. My 2nd choice is Sweet baby Rays. That's good stuff as well. Slow and low that is the tempo Now if we all could just get together in one place and drop a pig in a pit.

Hello everybody,
Yesterday I used this recipe, its really very very delicious.

I suggest you all to try it at least once.

3lb London Broil (feeds ~9 biker types, more if not)

This is done in parts which makes it easy for increasing as needed.

8 pts dark brown sugar
1 pt coarse salt
1 pt fresh ground black pepper
1 pt onion powder
1 pt garlic powder
1 pt thyme
1 pt Old Bay seasoning (dry)

the heavy spices (add to taste)
Cayanne pepper (I actually do a 1/2 here to accomadate the weak)
Chili seasoning powder (again a 1/2 part, ensure fresh and not sitting in the big plastic jug for months).

Mix, rub the meat, wrap in Saran wrap at least 4 hours (I go over night).

Heat the BBQ to 225* to 235* !!!! We are BBQing here not grilling. Turn/flip once an hour. NO peeking. If your looking it aint cooking, it will do fine with out you opening the BBQ up. I prefer and use mesquite wood. Any of the softer flavors (apple, peach, hickory) seem to get lost with this seasoning mix. Cook with indirect heat, no flames under the meat (in fact as far from the flame as possible). Cook time is 2:15 to 3 hours depending on how you like your meat or use a meat thermometer. Let the meat rest at least 10 - 15 min prior to cutting. Outstanding with some roasted corn from the top grill and tater salad.

Wet....

This rub really doesn't need a sauce, but.... I guess you can put the commercial cheap BBQ sauce on the table if you have to have it wet. On the other hand this sauce is outstanding with this dry rub as a dipping sauce.

1 cup Bourbon whiskey (no cheap stuff here)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup brewed strong black coffee
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons cane syrup or dark molasses
1 tablespoon hot red pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place the bourbon in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer until reduced to 1/3 cup. Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, Essence, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, pepper, and lemon and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Add the ketchup, coffee, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire, cane syrup, and hot sauce, and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the bourbon and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat. With a hand-held immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor, puree on high speed until smooth. Adjust the seasoning, to taste. As a curtesy, inform your guests that might have a issue with drinking that bourbon was used. The oak, charred flavors the bourbon add are excellant and the alchocol burns off, but letting them know is the right thing to do.

When your done with all this you'll never do the dishes, usually I get told to have a bourbon and a smoke. Easy stuff that will make you look like a Chef.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

I also remove the false rib meat (flap) on the back and square the whole ribs a little. If that means cutting off a couple of short ribs, so be it. The WSM is only so wide.

Roll 'em up dude.



(not my photographs)

[OLS]

REALY?? No comment on my NOT removing the membrane, lol. I will go ahead and place
my snappy comeback here early, then. "You eat smoked sausage, don't you? When you do,
you are either eating a synthetic paper or skin, or the actual tissue of a meat bearing animal as the
casing. My guess is it never crosses your mind."
When I cook ribs, the membrane cooks away to a crispy flaky nothing that tastes like nothing. Ribs are also
thin enough to get total smoke ring penetration without removing the membrane. I DO imagine that
smoke penetration is one of the two reasons folks remove the membrane?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by OLS

REALY?? No comment on my NOT removing the membrane, lol. I will go ahead and place
my snappy comeback here early, then. "You eat smoked sausage, don't you? When you do,
you are either eating a synthetic paper or skin, or the actual tissue of a meat bearing animal as the
casing. My guess is it never crosses your mind."
When I cook ribs, the membrane cooks away to a crispy flaky nothing that tastes like nothing. Ribs are also
thin enough to get total smoke ring penetration without removing the membrane. I DO imagine that
smoke penetration is one of the two reasons folks remove the membrane?

There are many different ways to cook the same thing and achieve equally good, abet different, results.

[TheRiddick]

Originally Posted by OLS

REALY?? No comment on my NOT removing the membrane, lol. I will go ahead and place
my snappy comeback here early, then. "You eat smoked sausage, don't you? When you do,
you are either eating a synthetic paper or skin, or the actual tissue of a meat bearing animal as the
casing. My guess is it never crosses your mind."
When I cook ribs, the membrane cooks away to a crispy flaky nothing that tastes like nothing. Ribs are also
thin enough to get total smoke ring penetration without removing the membrane. I DO imagine that
smoke penetration is one of the two reasons folks remove the membrane?

I do not remove the membrane, either. Works fine and so far I have not noticed any difference, as you said, it cooks to a perfect "nothing".

[OLS]

Thank goodness I am not alone on that island. I totally understand why an abdominal lining would
creep people out. And honestly, if you had to pin em down on WHY they remove it, they
would say for better smoke penetration, I'd bet.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by OLS

Thank goodness I am not alone on that island. I totally understand why an abdominal lining would
creep people out. And honestly, if you had to pin em down on WHY they remove it, they
would say for better smoke penetration, I'd bet.

Some people also say that by leaving it on helps hold in moisture. Usually it depends on how I feel and who I'm cooking for.

[OLS]

Steve, I LOVE your 'by the pit' shots. You have enthusiasm that shows through in photos really well.
I have to admit I used to boil my ribs to "remove most of the fat" and get em cooked enough to where I could
oven roast them to perfection. But the next day they always got that stored taste to em, the flavor
that pork sometimes gets, kind of rancid oil flavor. But one trip to Memphis in May BBQ fest fixed my brain.
With smoking, the meat stays good for a LOOOoong time in the fridge, although sadly, it is never ever
as good as hot, even if you heat it back up. I guess it's cause I never had a big grill, and I would cook ribs in winter
as opposed to summer, when I rarely feel like eating much anyway. Curse of the hot south.
But that's what got the indoor oven method thing started. Plus I used to work in restaurants, and that's how
my old boss did it, boiled em in huge deep chafing dishes in the oven with crab boil, celery and stuff.
They were tender, but oh man how glad I am that I became a meat smoker.

Do you always cook your racks whole? I used to all the time, but now I like to St. Louis cut my ribs
and save the spare meat for use in Red beans instead of sausage. It is awesome. It also kicks a$$
in pintos. When you cook the rack whole, they always seem to break off at the cartilage point anyway.

http://www.bbq-book.com/news2006/html/october_2006.html for anyone who does not know what I mean.

[OLS]

OK, so I get a big box of spices in from Firehouse Pantry dot com. Bout 120 bucks worth. Everything
I need to make a giant bulk batch of rub. So I get a big bag done and think, hell, why not do another bag.
So I am mixing and shaking and sqeezing and WHAMMIE! Whoosh, 45 bucks worth of rub flies into the air,
coating my shirt, pants, in my shoes, on my chair, in my keyboard, in my nose. So naturally, I just BUST
out laughing and everybody around me busts out too. We are all sneezing and wiping our runny noses
and laughing and our sides begin to hurt. So I clean my chair with some upholstery cleaner, have
the guys out in the kart shop blow me off with compressed air, sweep and mop the area and it is done
for now. Everybody says it smells great.
TODAY.
In the weeks to come, I have a feeling that I am going to be pubic enemy number one.

Anyway, here's a picture.