Does anyone have a great recipe for baby back ribs and advice for smoking them on the BS smoker. I just got it and did cheese and salmon (which were great)and am now ready to try some ribs! What's best?? Steaming 1st? dry rub, brine, etc???
Markt
If you have not yet had a chance, folow the link to Olds Recipe site. There are a lot of good ideas and such in general. In the rubs area there are a few that will work for Ribs.
What I personally have started with baby backs is find a simple rub with paprika. I got a BBQ and Grilling book that has a nice simple pork rub that is great on ribs. Rubs it and let is set at least overnight. Then put them inthe smoker. For baby backs run them at 200 degrees to 210 for 4 fours. Then FTC for at least 1 hour.
If you have a chance look for the Smoke and Spice book. there are a few good Baby back recipes in there. I tried a Burbon Glaze one that was great. However I think I smoked for 5 hours and FTC for 1 hour. They were great.
The basic idea is to Rub them at least overnight if not 24 hours. Cut off the rib membrane in the back for a better eat feel. Smoke & cook for I think 5 hours. FTC. You can mop for some of the time but it affects getting the right temp. In the last 30 minutes, make sure to glaze the ribs with the sauce. Serve with or without sauce.
To put it simple, the key is a good rub. Then keep it in for i think 5 hours at temp. The rest is for what you like. Dry, Wet, different Flavor than the rub (which will be tangy and wild). Be careful on a rub with to much sugar or Honey or Molasses, it will make the ribs very sweek and might take to much away from the rib flavor.
Welcome, Mark IKW's advice is excellent. You might also want to do a search for rib recipes on this Forum if you want to do a lot of reading [;)]
John
Newton MA
A couple of other thoughts:
1) Don't get too fixated on the amount of time it takes to smoke/cook something in the Bradley. IKW's temperature is right on, and I go with 4 hours of smoke time, but 4-5 hours of total cooking time will probably only work for a small portion of ribs, perhaps 1-2 racks. If you are doing 8-10 racks, for example, you might be looking at 10-14 hours. The key is to slow cook until done, which can be determined either by the tempterature of the meat(187-189 seems to work well for ribs) or if you don't have a thermometer, you can do it by looking (which will require opening the door more often then you would like) and making sure that the meat has contracted away exposing the ends of the bones and/or you can twist a bone out of the meat easily.
2) I agree that it seems worthwhile to remove the membrane, FTC is a "mandatory" option, and a good rub is key. Up until recently, I would have agreed with IKW about letting the ribs "marinate" in their rub overnight or up to 24 hours. However, having done that in the past, I noticed that what goes into the fridge as ribs with a dry rub on them comes out later looking like they have had BBQ sauce applied. Since the ribs are wrapped in saran, the question is, "Where does the moisture come from that creates the 'sauce'?" The answer is that the spices, and especially any salt or sugar in the rub draw moisture from the meat. For some large items (brisket, pork butt)this is not a big problem, but many people have difficulty not drying out their ribs while cooking. My opinion is that leaving the rub on for too long helps contribute to dry ribs. So lately, I have been applying the rub as I pull them from the fridge to warm up, and letting them sit in the rub for about 1 hour as the smoker warms up. I haven't noticed any loss of flavor, but they do seem to be consistenly juicy and tender.
3) Regardless of whether you choose to subscribe to the opinion above, another way to ensure a juicy product is the use of a bacon baste, whereby you load 1/2 to 1 lb of cheap, fatty bacon into the uppermost rack and just let the fat render out and drip down on the ribs while cooking.
Barry has come up with a new "phrase" <b> <font color="blue">"mandatory" option</font id="blue"></b> LOL~~! You got to love a person with an imagination!
Olds
(http://www.susanminor.org/Rayeimages/gif/Launch47.gif)
Still haven't used my reveo for ribs but was thinking of doing some this weekend as well[:D]. Good advice all round but I don't FTC my ribs I normally smoke them for 3 hrs then wrap them in foil and back in the smoker heat only for another hour then unwrap and on the grill for 30 minutes to an hour if I plan on saucing them(250f for this). If no sauce is going to be used just unwrap and back in the bradley for another hour or so. I check them after I take them out of the foil cause sometimes they willl be done after this step. Enjoy and Happy Smokin'.
Jeff
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Jeff100/shopping.gif)
(//www.bbqshopping.com)
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Thank's everyone! Great advice! I'm going to get a few racks now and smoke tommorrow (weather permitting). Will let ya'll (Southern Term) know how "coachable" I am later... Thanks again.
Kind of like the "<font color="blue">DEFINATE MABY</font id="blue">" thing I guess.[:o)]<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Oldman</i>
<br />Barry has come up with a new "phrase" <b> <font color="blue">"mandatory" option</font id="blue"></b> LOL~~! You got to love a person with an imagination!
Olds
(http://www.susanminor.org/Rayeimages/gif/Launch47.gif)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Big or small you can smoke'm all!!!
I like the "mandatory option". That is a good phrase.
Brad
Here are some ribs I did last weekend. They have been rubbed on the left Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust and on the right Dizzy Pig Swamp Venom. All I had done was cut them in 1/2 racks peel the membrane and applyed the rub.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Jeff100/100_0046.jpg)
Smoked them for 3 hrs with hickory at 225f. Removed from Smoker and into this pan covered with foil and in the oven preheated to 225f. 2 hrs later they were done. Not quite falll off the bone cause I like just a little tug on mine but they were very good.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Jeff100/100_0048.jpg)
No sauce needed[:D][:D][:p][:p][8D][8D]
Jeff
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Jeff100/shopping.gif)
(//www.bbqshopping.com)
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Jeff,
They look great! Good job! [:p][:p]
<i><font color="blue"><b>Jack</i></font id="blue"></b>
ok now I hate you....I am sooooooo hungry (http://www.wotmania.com/images/shakefist.gif)
Gordo
Unskyled layber
(http://www.wotmania.com/images/crazy.gif)
OK, this is from a rookie at smoking.....what is "FTC"?
Thanks, Gary
Foil, Towel, Cooler. Wrap in foil, then wrap in a towel, then put it in a cooler. A trademark post-smoking treatment on the forum here.
Arc_n_Sparks
Can it be your refrigerator, or does it have to be a cooler? (with or without ice?) <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by arcs_n_sparks</i>
<br />Foil, Towel, Cooler. Wrap in foil, then wrap in a towel, then put it in a cooler. A trademark post-smoking treatment on the forum here.
Arc_n_Sparks
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
the Cooler side of the FTC is meant to "maintain" temps as best as possible. One of the wild and strange magic of FTC is the process, if done correctly and quickly is that is holds the external temperature of the meat, allowing more internal heating to continue the thermal infusion and rendering in a long and slow manner. And the subtle cooling allows the surface to seal and hold the moisture and rendered material better.
So the cooler is best not cold as it will short-circuit the continued hot surface infusion. Also, after a few FTCs, that cooler will begin to take on a nasty odor. Best to dedicate a cooler to FTC only. The smell gets strong with frequent usage.
I put about 3" of hot water in mine 30min before FTC to warm it up, drain and put in the meat.
Glenn
(http://usera.imagecave.com/boxertrio/iaff-copy.jpg)
White smoke good...Black smoke bad!!
Welcome to the Forum, Gary . . . having a cooler take on a smoky smell is a small price to pay for the result! [8D][:D]
John
Newton MA
Mark, one of my favorite rib recipes of all time came straight out of BBQ USA by Steven Raichlen (Wal-Mart $14.84)
It is called Apply City Championship Ribs and it involves soaking the ribs overnight in apple cider. While of course it is not the exact "secret recipe" the team used to win all 3 Grand World Championships it was a good start and I made a few modifications to the "Magic dust" etc.
I certainly don't want to break any copyright laws by posting the exact recipe here but the book is easy to find and well worth the price. I have made a lot of ribs over the years but the request I continue to hear the most is "when are you gonna make some more of those apple ribs?" LOL
Just ordered my BS from Chez yesterday so I'll get mine next week and that recipe will be on the top of my list after I get the thing broken in. Chez's package even came with some of the "Apple Wood" Bisquettes which is what the original recipe calls for and I have not tried yet..... my mouth is already watering just thinking about it.
Ya Gotta love good BBQ
Barry-
Your comments about the rub are so true. I've done hundreds, some with rub in fridge and others (started cause I forgot to do them the night before)as they warmed. By far better and jucier when the rub doesn't sit too long. I always apply the mustard, then rub just prior to smoking.
PS I ran out of hickory and only had mesquite. Smoked for 3 hrs with mesquite (5 total) - way too strong for me, it was over powering.
gotbbq (http://www.susanminor.org/Rayeimages/Launch63.gif)