Ribs?

[Nator]

so...how do you guys cook ribs?

[Porkchop]

generally, i do spares.

i buy them packer trimmed/cryovac'd from sams (generally) and trim down to st louis cut.

nice dry rub with extra brown sugar

on to the cooker 225-250-275 for about 6 hrs. check for doneness. no foil, no basting.

bottom line, allow 6 hrs, start checking at 5 or 5.5. twist bone. if it twists easily, they're done. if not tender yet, let them go for another half-hour to hour. LET THE RIBS TELL YOU WHEN THEY"RE DONE, not the clock, and not the hungry family.

wes should be by in awhile to give you his approach on his PRIZE WINNING baby backs!

[Rojack]

Direct or Indirect?

[DennisLinkletter]

What temp?

on to the cooker 225-250-275 for about 6 hrs.

Which is it? 225, 250 or 275º

And to clarify for the masses this is indirect yes?

[Porkchop]

whoops! i do indirect.

but thanks for the reminder. i've been thinking about doing a direct cook, high in the dome. that darn "pizza stone" is my security blanket. plus, i'm lazy; i'd have to flip the ribs a few times on direct.

hmmm, maybe this weekend. thanks for the inspiration/reminder dude!

[DavidS]

I do spares cut down to St. Louis. Most of the time indirect at 250. If I do direct I cook on the upper grill at about 195.

[Majestik]

Regarding the no-basting... When I did some baby-backs recently on the scrap-pile SS gas grill rotisserie... I used a nice dry brown sugary rub and would spritz them with a little apple-cider vinegar and oil mixture every 20-30 minutes. I did this so they wouldn't dry out on the gas grill (but they did anyway).

However, one added benefit, which I also put to use on some VERY good pork loin roasts... was that the vinegar "basting" blended with the rub to make an exquisite tangy sweet bbquey coating. It was definitely an enhancement. On a kamado, however, I wouldn't want to be opening it up that frequently. But it might not be a bad thing to give the ribs 2 or 3 bastings over the course of a long cook. Eh, just something to try. Maybe I'll do ribs this weekend.

---Mike

[Porkchop]

thing with ceramics like the KK is there's very little air flow. the airflow is what dries out your ribs. gas pits suck for this (or "blow" i guess). since the fuel/air flow is always "on", you have a constant flow of intake air running all over your ribs. good for jerky; bad for ribs.

with a really restricted airflow, like in your KK or other ceramics, the air doesn't cause the moisture rendered up by the cooking process to evaporate as quickly from the surface of your ribs. what you have is a fairly humid cooking environment, without the use of a water pan (like in an ECB or WSM).

bottom line, i don't think ribs need mopping on a ceramic. NOW, with my steelies, i was an avid mopper/sprayer. my favorite with ribs sounds more like a tropical drink; pineapple juice, dark rum, and coconut milk (NOT coconut cream). spray that on the ol' ribs every hour or so, and you get some gooey, but very nice ribs. if you skip the last baste, it turns into a really nice shellac. when you pull 'em, hit em with a little more dry rub.

i suppose you could do this on the ceramic too, but, again, i'm lazy.

[tcoliver]

Warning for newbies

Just a warning to non professionals. I have tried doing ribs for 6 hours and I know many people do it on a regular basis with great results, however I can't seem to keep them going that long. 2 - 3 hours is the max I can cook ribs before they get overcooked so any non-professionals should check them after a few hours to be sure.

[Saunka]

I got lucky on some ribs a few weeks ago at the competition, but basically I had 3 racks of spares rubbed overnight and left in the fridge. Didn't bother to pull the membrane as it was taking too much meat off with it. Cooked indirect for 4.5 hours at 250-300, no spraying or mopping. The last 30 minutes or so I basted with Chef Juke's Raspberry Chipotle sauce. This sauce has been known to convert non-believers (ask Porkchop).

(copied from Mexi-K Forum)

6 Tbls. packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup molasses

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbls dark rum

2 Tbls yellow mustard

1 Tbls pure chili powder

2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 cup Chipotles en Adobo, finely chopped

2 cups ketchup

2 cups Raspberry Preserves (I use Wall's Berry Farm Raspberry preserves from Costco)

Kosher or sea salt

Pepper

In large saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire, rum, mustard, chili powder, pepper, garlic powder, allspice and cloves. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, until all ingredients are dissolved, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Reduce heat slightly, add raspberry jam and 1/4 cup chipotles** and gently simmer sauce, uncovered, until dark & thick, about 30 minutes, stirring often. Use right away or transfer to jars, cover, cool to room temperature and refrigerate. Sauce will keep several months. Makes 5 cups or 20 servings.

NOTES:

**Add the chipotle peppers to taste. Since simmering will bring out the heat in the peppers start by adding ¼ cup of chipotles and cook for the 30 minutes THEN taste again and add additional peppers if you like it REALLY HOT.

[Saunka]

Re: Warning for newbies

Just a warning to non professionals. I have tried doing ribs for 6 hours and I know many people do it on a regular basis with great results' date=' however I can't seem to keep them going that long. 2 - 3 hours is the max I can cook ribs before they get overcooked so any non-professionals should check them after a few hours to be sure.[/quote']

Two questions.

1.) What temp did you cook at?

2.) What type of ribs did you cook (spare or babyback)?

My observations:

Ribs can appear to be overcooked after 3 hours, but in fact be nowhere near done. If you're not using foil to steam them or anything, let them keep rolling at 225-275 until the meat has pulled back from the bone quite a bit. Eventually the bones will darn near fall out of them. They'll be fully "cooked" after 3 hours, but they won't be tender yet.

[leejp]

Find a large Chinese Market near you...

Find a large Chinese Market near you... (shouldn't be a problem if you live near a major city).

I'm about 70miles north of NYC and we're in the big city ~1x/month. I usually bring a cooler filled with ice and hit the asian markets.

For ribs, the Dynasty Market on Elizabeth has trimmed spares for less than $2/lb, regular price and the quality is much better than what I can get at the local butcher.

Call me a snob but I don't like buying my meats at the grocery store/wholesale club. I don't find their prices that much better than at the Butcher/Farm Market and I'm almost always disappointed at the quality.

Now if I can just find a Kosher market that sells brisket with similar quality/price...

[tcoliver]

I cook at around 250 and usually it is babybacks. How do you tell the difference between done and tender.

[ThreeDJ16]

generally, i do spares.

i buy them packer trimmed/cryovac'd from sams (generally) and trim down to st louis cut.

nice dry rub with extra brown sugar

on to the cooker 225-250-275 for about 6 hrs. check for doneness. no foil, no basting.

bottom line, allow 6 hrs, start checking at 5 or 5.5. twist bone. if it twists easily, they're done. if not tender yet, let them go for another half-hour to hour. LET THE RIBS TELL YOU WHEN THEY"RE DONE, not the clock, and not the hungry family.

wes should be by in awhile to give you his approach on his PRIZE WINNING baby backs!

Spot on! Only differences for me is direct and 235 with 275 finish! I will have sauce on the table, but rarely on my grill. I believe the meat should stand on it's on and sauce is just a nice change occassionaly.

[Saunka]

I cook at around 250 and usually it is babybacks. How do you tell the difference between done and tender.

Lift the full rack from the grill with a pair of tongs. Both ends should be limp and the meat should be "cracking and spitting" from the weight of the ribs. They will look done and maybe even dry on the outside after 3 hours, but they'll be pretty tough. Once that connective tissue breaks down in the last 2 hours, they should be very tender. The bones will almost fall out.

[Porkchop]

as we speak of ribs, i am (guiltily) devouring rib tips in rasp/chip sauce. sorry wes.

how's the ramen?

[Saunka]

as we speak of ribs, i am (guiltily) devouring rib tips in rasp/chip sauce. sorry wes.

how's the ramen?

No ramen today, mon frere. Baloney sandwich and soup.

[Curly]

Oh man, I can taste fried baloney right now I may have one for supper

[tcoliver]

Maybe that has been my problem I have actually taken them off too early and not let the connective tissue break down and that is why they were tough. I will try this again and see what happens. It may be my first cook on my new OTB. Thanks for the insight.

Tony

[Curly]

I've always done my babybacks for about 6 hrs too. And in the 225 range. They've never been over done.