Ribs Cooked at home

[Corky]

Oh boy those ribs look good. Sure wish I had a BGE. Maybe I can talk my better half into letting me get rid of the gas grill, but I'll never get rid of my Weber. There's just something about a Weber! I cooked a brisket on the Weber last week and just couldn't quite hold the temp I wanted. Too much open vent, too little vent, oh well, guess I'll have to just keep practicing.

[el_ted]

Sometimes, I just smoke them all the way to the end.  Most of the time, I do a modified 3-2-1.  Here's the question- what's the consistency like when you do 3-2-1?  Two hours in foil has always seemed like way too long for me, so I go for a lot less.  What I end up with is something that pulls away from the bone easy but isn't falling off (just held together by the glaze).

Tomorrow I'm doing baby backs and St. Louis spares for my FIL's b-day.  I did baby backs over Memorial Day weekend and liked that I just had to pull the membrane off for prep.  I also bought the spares pre-cut at Restaurant Depot. They're closer to baby back prices, but at least I don't have to spend 10-15 min per slab on prep. I don't cut nearly as much off as the ones I bought- I don't get good use out of just the tips, so I'd rather leave most of that meat on.

My method also has been to rub and wrap in plastic overnight before cooking. The baby backs I made the other day came out fine without, so I may drop that part of the prep as well.

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

4th of July ribs experiment...

6 racks of sprareribs cut down to St. Louis style are waiting until late this evening to be rubbed with my combo-rub of off-the-shelf rubs.  I am possibly going to do 3 racks on the Weber Smokey Mountain and 3 on the BGE, I'll have to see later today if I can fit 6 racks (fairly long racks) on the Big Green Egg..   Glaze is planned, BBQ sauce is done.  Now to plan the sides..

.

[Northside Food]

I've got a rack braising in the oven right now. I rubbed them with paprika, salt, pepper and cumin. Then I covered them in sliced onions, cider vinegar and sriracha sauce. They'll braise until tender and then hopefully onto the grill. Last time I tried this, they were too soft to go on the grill without falling apart. Tasted just fine though.

[Larkemon]

Do you oven braise covered or wrapped in foil or just sitting on a roasting rack?  I made some yesterday that I wrapped in foil.  Probably could have used about 30 more min in the oven, but texture was still better than I've been able to achieve on my grill lately.  I've shelved my on the grill attempts for now as I have a hard time getting consistent results from it. 

Northside, I like the sound of your recipe.  I have another rack in the freezer from Target (1.49/lb for St. Louis Cut is hard to beat).  Thinking of making a Vietnamese style one with fish sauce, garlic, lemongrass, pepper, oyster sauce and sugar for the wet marinade.

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

Today is the first day I wished I had an Extra Large Big Green Egg...

.

[Melomom]

Article about ribs by Harold McGee in the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/dining/30curious.html?_r=1

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

Article about ribs by Harold McGee in the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/dining/30curious.html?_r=1  

Good article..    But not what I am either aiming for nor want, though I am sure they would be good on a cold winter evening, snowbound somewhere.  

Apples and Oranges is the cliche'd way to talk about cooking them in the oven and doing them correctly on a smoker or grill.  

I have an offset 48" wood smoker that has sat unused because the other grills/smokers sitting here have been able to handle the load.   I would fire it up if I needed to do 12 racks of ribs or 8 pork butts, but that is not the case.

So the article is in fact telling the truth, if you are doing ribs/BBQ for your family, and you want to learn enough about it, a good smoker/grill will get the job done..  If you want oven cooked ribs, well that's another category all together IMHO..

And this is NOT coming from an exclusive haughty position, I just think it is DIFFERENT..   Heck, my brother and his wife LOVE ribs cooked in a crock pot, I'm okay with that, but it ends up being a different product than what I intend to produce tomorrow.

.

[AndyBoy]

I have 3 baby back racks all rubbed down with John Willingham's rub recipe and will start them about 2 o'clock tomorrow. We have 2 "for sures" coming and 3 "maybes" so I am making sure there is plenty of ribs along with a whole chicken. I also made this killer barbeque sauce from the same cookbook that was finished with 2/3 cup of cognac, it is really complex and delicious.

[Northside Food]

Oh, I totally agree. There's a HUGE difference between braised ribs and smoked ribs. I prefer smoked ribs, myself, but I don't have the correct set up at home. When I make ribs at home, they are braised in the oven.

Ribs yesterday turned out pretty good. I think I probably could have gotten them on the grill for a glaze, but my husband insisted on eating them immediately. Apparently the smell from the oven had been driving him crazy all day. We'll try this recipe again sometime.

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

Sneeeeek Preeeeeview...   the ribs just went on the Big Green Egg...   not much room left.. ..  LOL








.

[Barnum]

Mike,

Now that's a bunch of ribs!

2 questions:

You worried at all about smoke circulation given how close some of those racks are?

Do you plan to finish them off over some higher direct heat?  If so, guess you'll have to do them in batches?

I know that when I do 3-4 racks in a stand like that on my large BGE, I tend to cut them down to half racks to make it easier to get them finished of on the grill top after I've removed the plate setter for a little direct caramelizing action.

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

Mike,

Now that's a bunch of ribs!

2 questions:

You worried at all about smoke circulation given how close some of those racks are?

Do you plan to finish them off over some higher direct heat?  If so, guess you'll have to do them in batches?

I know that when I do 3-4 racks in a stand like that on my large BGE, I tend to cut them down to half racks to make it easier to get them finished of on the grill top after I've removed the plate setter for a little direct caramelizing action.

#1  They will get plenty-O-smoke, and I'll move them around in the rack as I cook them.

#2  I have3 a regular 22 1/2" Weber set up next to the BGE for some moving around and some horizontal glazing on toward 6pm..  I don't care too much if they have any outside char, I am going for done, juicy, flavor rather than a caramelized surface.  They are all experiments.   

.

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

[AndyBoy]

I only took this photo of my ribs and chicken when I first started them. They were very good and a little spicy but not too much. The chicken came off about 45 minutes before the ribs and was moist, tender and really good. Chicken was just basted a few times in a herbed butter paste. I cooked everything slowly at about 210 to 235 with hickory for the first couple of hours. We had a great little gathering last night and the wine was flowing. It was a memorable fourth of July.