Not that I can afford them very often, but I love some good moist, smoked BBQ ribs. Here's how I do mine.....I try to get Tyson baby backs, but spares are very good, also. Coat ribs all over with Corky's rub. Put them in oven bags, and tie the bag up. Cook in oven at 250º - 275º for 2 hrs. Carfully take the ribs out of the bag, and collect that good fat juice. Smoke them for 1 to 2 hours on a smoker or charcoal grill (indirect heat) with hickory in the fire. I baste them every 20 minutes or so with the fat juice just to help keep them from drying out. Mix the rest of the fat juice with BBQ sauce, and mop'em down good after they're away from the fire.
I used to boil the ribs first, but started using the oven bags a few years ago. The bags keeps the moisture and flavor in, and the meat will fall off the bone trying to move them around with tongs. Also, the juice doesn't get lost, and makes the sauce awesome. Here's some pics....
__________________ If I Ain't Crappie Fishin', I'm Thinkin' About It
I used to have a bbq restaurant and never liked it when I smoked too much, or not enough and would run out of meat, or have too much on hand. I came up with something that really made for a killer rib. When ribs are smoked properly, they do fall apart when you try to take them out of the smoker. Here's something that I do after they are smoked. To avoid problems, and to help keep/store the ribs, try cooling a slab sometime to the point you can slice them without the meat falling apart or the bone coming out. I'll have a pot of sauce warmed up one the charbroiler. Burners on high. Slice the cooled slab, drop em in the sauce, and charbroil them just long enough to sear in the sauce, and put a few marks on them. You don't want to cook them more, just searing the sauce in.
Talk about make you tounge slap your brains out!
To do this with leftover ribs, zap them just long enough to take the chill off, and repeat above. I promise you, marking the ribs like this is a complete new and wonderful taste experience.
Disclaimer- I realize that true BBQ is with sauce on the side, I always gave my customers the option. One out of 50 may have wanted their order no sauce. I also NEVER prewashed my ribs with dawn dishwashing liquid.
Anyone that reads this, I beg you to test it on a plates worth of ribs. You'll not be dissappointed.
Another thing, if you can keep the moisture content stable while smoking. And keep the temp at a consistant 230 degrees. Spare ribs will be perfect in 3.5 hours.
CR, sounds like you've got it figured out. I don't own a smoker, but gonna get one. When you say "keep the moisture content stable while smoking", how are you doing this? I've just always assumed that smoking them (slow cooking) would zap most of the moisture. I guess that's where I need guidance on smoker cooking. I guess I gotta venture from C.com long enough to do some surfing on the subject. Also, never heard of pre-washing the ribs with dish washing liquid.......actually, never heard of pre-washing any food with dish washing soap, until I saw the thread on here about doing that with crappie. I can't imagine doing that to any food!! Thanks for the tips.
__________________ If I Ain't Crappie Fishin', I'm Thinkin' About It
CR, sounds like you've got it figured out. I don't own a smoker, but gonna get one. When you say "keep the moisture content stable while smoking", how are you doing this? I've just always assumed that smoking them (slow cooking) would zap most of the moisture. I guess that's where I need guidance on smoker cooking. I guess I gotta venture from C.com long enough to do some surfing on the subject. Also, never heard of pre-washing the ribs with dish washing liquid.......actually, never heard of pre-washing any food with dish washing soap, until I saw the thread on here about doing that with crappie. I can't imagine doing that to any food!! Thanks for the tips.
once my ribs are done i have a hard time keeping them on the bone when i take them out of the smoker...i don't add any water to the smoker, foil the ribs, or inject them at all. most people pull their ribs off too early, i pull them off right when the fat renders and tenderized the ribs.
i think keeping the moisture content stable just comes from keeping the temperature constant. if your smoker spikes a bunch you'll get them dried out.
I cheat to a point anymore. I used to have a giant smoker on wheels that I could cater to 500 folks. I still have the commercial smoker that is basically a stainless steel, insulated, temperature controlled box with racks. That happens to have a firebox in the bottom that does nothing more than slowy burn the wood. It also has a timer. You can set the temperature for what you want it to smoke at. It also has a holding function, that starts upon the completion of the time set and holds it until you turn it off.
Using the commercial unit, I never had to worry about losing moisture. I would even cap off the draft vent to a point to help hold the smoke/moisture in. With this unit, the ribs were impossible to pick up from one end and remove from the smoker. I had to use a long set of tongs that would allow me to grip the rack as a whole. I would then transport them into the cooler, or let them cool on separate trays before I could slice them, otherwise, they fell apart.
They make some dandy home units. Their Spicy BBQ sauce mix is good (better than any commercial brand I've tried), and easy to make. Their rubs are good.
I don't believe in wrapping them in foil as it keeps the smoke from getting to them. It is possible to OVERSMOKE meat. Too much smoke flavor is bad, but, some folks will do it just to get the meat cooked. You can help the heat by using charcoal, but only charcoal that is not self starting. Some of the giant smokers that people use for competions have water pipes with atomizers for misting. They keep a tank for potable water next to the firebox, that way it gets heated. In a small home unit, a bowl of water under the meat helps and catches juices for adding to sauce, or making an auju with. I only use the commercial smoker when I am smoking for a Holiday for friends and family. I can smoke about 18 slabs of spare ribs, 3 briskets and a couple of pork butts all at once.
By themselves here are my temps and times.
Ribs- 3.5 hours @ 230 degrees
Briskets- 12 hours @ 180 degrees
Pork Butts- 12 hours @ 180 degrees
Whole Chickens- 3 hours @ 230 degrees
Let me know if you try the dipping/charbroiling trick and how you like it.
HND, do you get the results you mentioned by using a standard home smoker?
CR, the "over-smoked" problem is the challenge I have here.......I like a lot of hickory smoke flavor.......my wife doesn't. Can you get the same "moist / tender" results in a home smoker as you do your commercial one?
__________________ If I Ain't Crappie Fishin', I'm Thinkin' About It
HND, do you get the results you mentioned by using a standard home smoker?
CR, the "over-smoked" problem is the challenge I have here.......I like a lot of hickory smoke flavor.......my wife doesn't. Can you get the same "moist / tender" results in a home smoker as you do your commercial one?
Yes you can. You can wrap your wifes meat, in foil poking a couple of holes in it here and there. It will turn out very tender and moist, and receive minimal smoke. As for yours, maintain a bowl of water in the smoker and try your best not to let the heat get too hot. Keep the hickory going for the extra flavor. The key to good smoked meat is not to let the fire cook it. The slower, the better.
HND, do you get the results you mentioned by using a standard home smoker?
i have a smokenpit which is horizontal smoker with a side fire box. i also have a weber smoky mountain which is a bullet smoker.
as for oversmoking i used to oversmoke only because i just heaped on wood chunk after wood chunk after wood chunk.....
now when i'm smoking i use 2 big chunks of wood the first 3 hours, 2 more and then i'm done....the charcoal does the rest...you can really only smoke meat so much before its done absorbing it and now you are going to start making it tast like tree bark.... i can get each smoker to run for about 10-12 hours without me messing with them.... sometimes if the meat isn't done yet, i'll throw them in the oven and finish them wrapped in foil. its the same thing the smoker is doing at that point...
Rib Recipes....What's Yours?
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