Ribs: My Protocol & Yall Share Yours

I think I cook good ribs so I wanted to show yall what they look like before hand.

http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...ps208380e0.jpg


It's not rocket science when you start with really good meat. Those are baby backs that are approx 2.25 lbs per rack. The meat on them is beautiful. My take on ribs is that for them to be great, they have to be quality baby backs. That's what really irks me about a bunch of BBQ joints. Claiming they have great ribs and then they are spare or st. louis style (el cheapo with tons of gristle and connective tissue). I've had good spare ribs, I just can't call them great. It's like sirloin to a ribeye/filet imo.

My rub I put on them only consist of 4 ingredients. If yall remember my prime rib thread, my philosophy should sound familiar. When you buy good meat, I let the flavor of the meat do its job and don't over-due it with a bunch of fancy ingredients.

When you start with good meat and a few core ingredients, imo cooking is easy. All i do is cover in rub, smoke, and then finish on the grill with either dry seasoning or sauce depending if I'm going wet or dry. Easy easy easy.

What are some of yalls rib protocols?

1. Pull of membrane on bottom
2. I rub mine with worcestershire, Chipolte Cinnamon, paprika, a little kosher salt, onion powder
3. Smoke for 2 hours at 300 degrees- spritzing with cranberry grape juice every 10-15 minutes after the they have been on for 30 mins straight
4. Pull off, top with brown sugar and squeeze butter, and wrap in tin foil
5. Smoke another 1 1/2- 2 hours

They are so good when they come out now- I dont even brush them with BBQ sauce anymore.
If I want BBQ ribs- I do the same thing but add BBQ sauce instead of brown sugar and butter before wrapping

I actually prefer the spares and St. Louis to baby backs.. I guess it shows with my taste of cheap wine too..lol

I make a special rub which is derived from copying a few commercial rub ingredients that I like...
Place on medium grill, bones down. with indirect heat and with flavored woods (talked about in earlier threads) approx 300 -350 deg.
cook for a little over an hour
place each slab in aluminum foil, and pour in 1 can of Dr. Pepper per slab
cook for another hour


I know it's not like slow smoking, but it works pretty good for me.. Meat is tender and will fall slap off the bone.

ETA: I usually don't put sauce on mine either, but I keep a bottle of Jim and Nick's original around in case I do...

Rub with mustard, I mix regular and spicy creole. The coat with dry rub on both sides.
Rebel Butcher, Pearl, MS, has some good stuff if you don't want to make your own. They make the rubs for Country Pleasin.
Wrap in plastic wrap, put in fridge overnight.
get your smoker up to 225 degrees, smoke with apple, pecan or hickory. I like to mix them.
I use rib racks when I first smoke them. Go for 2.5-3 hours spraying with an apple cider vinegar/ apple juice mixture.
Take off the racks and put on aluminum foil add brown sugar/honey and liquid margarine/butter, 1/4 cup apple juice, then wrap.
Put flat on smoker grill then cook for another 1.5-2 hours.
I then unwrap and place flat on grill and spray with same apple cider vinegar/ apple juice mixture for 30 min - 1 hour.
If you want them wet, this is the time to add your sauce with a mop.
Take off let sit for 5-10 minutes, then enjoy with your favorite sauce on the side...

Some call this the 3-2-1 cooking method..

I must be cooking a lot hotter than 300 because I tried the 3-2-1 the first ime and had jerky (temp gauge doesn't work, and I've never found one that didn't lie).... after about 15 cooks, I've got it down pretty good now .. and the best part is you only have to wait 2 hrs till you're pigging out..

I'm very tempted to buy an electric smoker. B-i-L got one and his does pretty good...

@Barking13

To each his own. My op was just personal opinion but you have to go with what you like!

I'm reading a bunch very cool preparations that I'm gonna mix it up with. Good stuff gents

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BeastMan

@Barking13

To each his own. My op was just personal opinion but you have to go with what you like!

I'm reading a bunch very cool preparations that I'm gonna mix it up with. Good stuff gents

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Try Dr Pepper or coke in the wrap up phase.. makes a big difference, I think..

traditional BBQ joints do a lot of spare ribs because that's traditionally what competition BBQ cooks use. if you use baby backs you'll be eliminated pretty much immediately.

I cheat with my baby backs. I use the oven and then throw them on the grill to finish. they're awesome with good meat, but I know it's cheating.

Man, you guys have got me hankerin' for for ribs! Talk about something that's great with a good full-bodied zin! Pity is, I haven't had any good ribs in a while.

Who do y'all think has the best "commercial" ribs? I've had them practically everywhere, but Jim & Nick's is probably my favorite. I'll drive right past Dooey, Dreamland, Full Moon, etc. to go to J & N...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barking 13

Who do y'all think has the best "commercial" ribs? I've had them practically everywhere, but Jim & Nick's is probably my favorite. I'll drive right past Dooey, Dreamland, Full Moon, etc. to go to J & N...

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I love the charcoals Ribs at the Vous. Rarely eat them like that and love the flavor.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BeastMan

I love the charcoals Ribs at the Vous. Rarely eat them like that and love the flavor.

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Was not impressed. Dreamland is better than rendezvous. I haven't tried the other places in Memphrica yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barking 13

Who do y'all think has the best "commercial" ribs? I've had them practically everywhere, but Jim & Nick's is probably my favorite. I'll drive right past Dooey, Dreamland, Full Moon, etc. to go to J & N...

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community Q and DBA's in Atlanta are my two favorite commercial BBQ joints. I've had dreamland in Atalanta and it's awful. the place burned down recently in norcross. nobody cried.

Ya, I think Dreamland is turrible. Good sauce, bad ribs. Cool atmosphere though

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barking 13

Was not impressed. Dreamland is better than rendezvous. I haven't tried the other places in Memphrica yet.

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I cant honestly believe anyone enjoys rendezvous' ribs. Hell, dreamlands for that matter. Ive had better ribs at a texaco gas station than those 2 places.
Dreamlands sauce is tits though.

When you walk out of the Pony late night, that guy smoking in the parking lot has some damn good ribs

Rendezvous is a cool atmosphere and somewhere everyone should go once IMO. I went once. That's probably it for me. I'll try the original dreamland in T-town if it's ever convenient, but other than that I won't go to one.

Ribs from a restaurant are never going to be that good, but Community Q in Atlanta does it right at least. They flat out tell you "we will run out of food" the slow cook it like you should and accept the fact that they may cook too much or not enough. they donate the rest to a food bank of they have too much.