Recipe: Ribs
Now, everyone's got their different ways to do ribs, and lots and lots of them are excellent. This is my style, which you may try and like, or not; but if you do, then I thank you and wish you good luck.
I buy my ribs from the local bulk meat market by the case. He sells 'em for around $60, which usually gets you nine slabs (sometimes ten if several are kinda small.) I cut open the cryo-pak and throw them on the grill. After two hours, I start mopping them with:
The rule being "when you think of it, mop 'em" aiming for every 20-30 minutes. Every other mopping, flip 'em and mop again. If you mop the ribs regularly, they won't get a deep black crust on them, but they'll get a very deep shade of red. The smoke ring will be truly striking and the smoky flavor will be divine.
I use an offset firebox smoker, where the fire goes into a little pit off to the side, and the enlarged meat box is essentially in the chimney. This lets you run low heat for a long time -- truly low smoking. I start a chimney full of charcoal with a wax firestarter (no chemical flavors) and dump that amongst four logs, usually an equal mix of oak and hickory (though occasionally I'll throw in alder, or a fruitwood or something.)
The target temperature in the box is 250°. If it gets too warm, don't be afraid to throw water on the fire. You should have a little too much fuel, and need to be watering it a bit, to generate a bunch of smoke. You should always leave the exhaust wide open, and restrict the intake; this keeps your food from being sooty.
Do this for about 5 hours or so, until the ribs start to crack when you turn 'em, and they pull back from the bones a bit (like 1/8"-1/4".) That's when they're done. Bring 'em in and cut 'em. You cut the knobby bits (the "rib tips") off first, and then slice from the shiny side where you can make out the ribs.
There are lots of schools of thought on sauce. I don't normally think sauce is necessary, but I do enjoy dipping my rib bits into the sauce. I particularly like Dreamland's sauce for ribs, but everyone has a favorite and I'm not here to ignite any holy wars! Eat 'em like you like 'em.
I hope your Fourth of July is filled with smoke and light and smiles!
I buy my ribs from the local bulk meat market by the case. He sells 'em for around $60, which usually gets you nine slabs (sometimes ten if several are kinda small.) I cut open the cryo-pak and throw them on the grill. After two hours, I start mopping them with:
- 10 parts apple juice
- 2 parts Captain Morgan® or other spiced rum
- 1 part Frank's hot sauce (the official taste of Buffalo wings!)
The rule being "when you think of it, mop 'em" aiming for every 20-30 minutes. Every other mopping, flip 'em and mop again. If you mop the ribs regularly, they won't get a deep black crust on them, but they'll get a very deep shade of red. The smoke ring will be truly striking and the smoky flavor will be divine.
I use an offset firebox smoker, where the fire goes into a little pit off to the side, and the enlarged meat box is essentially in the chimney. This lets you run low heat for a long time -- truly low smoking. I start a chimney full of charcoal with a wax firestarter (no chemical flavors) and dump that amongst four logs, usually an equal mix of oak and hickory (though occasionally I'll throw in alder, or a fruitwood or something.)
The target temperature in the box is 250°. If it gets too warm, don't be afraid to throw water on the fire. You should have a little too much fuel, and need to be watering it a bit, to generate a bunch of smoke. You should always leave the exhaust wide open, and restrict the intake; this keeps your food from being sooty.
Do this for about 5 hours or so, until the ribs start to crack when you turn 'em, and they pull back from the bones a bit (like 1/8"-1/4".) That's when they're done. Bring 'em in and cut 'em. You cut the knobby bits (the "rib tips") off first, and then slice from the shiny side where you can make out the ribs.
There are lots of schools of thought on sauce. I don't normally think sauce is necessary, but I do enjoy dipping my rib bits into the sauce. I particularly like Dreamland's sauce for ribs, but everyone has a favorite and I'm not here to ignite any holy wars! Eat 'em like you like 'em.
I hope your Fourth of July is filled with smoke and light and smiles!
posted by Steve at 6:52 PM
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