Finally getting to use Iceman's sauce

[Carter]

I posted in another post about using Cherry bisquettes to do whole chickens.  Worked out great and used Ice's sauce on the side, but what I really wanted to do was make Ribs.

So on Saturday night, I put Ice's Butt Rub onto 2 racks of baby backs.  Wrapped them in plastic wrap overnight.  Heated up the smoker to 250 the next morning and had the ribs in the smoker at 11:30 for their 6 hour slow cookfest.

I made a couple of key mistakes.

Mistake number 1.  Did not remove the membrane.

Mistake number 2.    Cooked at about 2:25 the whole time.

After 3 hours of smoking with hickory, I brought the Ribs inside, boated them in a roasting pan with a combo of apple juice, peach juice & beer in the bottom, covered them up and let them go for another 3 hours.

What happened was really interesting.  When I pulled the ribs out at 5:30, they looked weird.  There seemed to be a thin brown membrane on top of the ribs as well as underneath.  When I picked one of the rack up, they just started falling apart.  They were tricky to get onto the cutting board because of it.

There was no fat or connective tissue in any way.  I'd rendered it completely away.  Fortunately the meat was still very tender because of the boating/steaming process, but we had to eat our ribs with a knife and fork because it was useless to eat them with our fingers.  The membranes were also unedible.  This hasn't bothered me in the past (even though people on this site have commented on removing it), but last night I really noticed it and I was surprised at how little smokiness there was in the meat given I'd done 3 hours of hickory.

It wasn't a total failure.  Like I said, the Meat was really tender and juicy and topped off with the Iceman's sauce, the meal still met with rave reviews, but I've learned a valuable lesson.

1.  Remove the membrane.

2.  Lower cooking temperature to 200 from 225

3.  Don't cook my ribs to oblivion.  I like a little fat and I like to rip and tear at my ribs a little bit like a barbarian.  Grrrrr.

As for Iceman's Sauce.  It was used 3 times this weekend on 3 different meals.  I did the ribs dry so that people could apply their own sauce.  I also put out some Diana's Garlic & Honey BBQ sauce and Kraft Chicken an Rib BBQ sauce.

There was no comparison.  Even my mother in law who has a hard time with hot food didn't find Ice's sauce to hot.  It has just the right amount of heat and boy is it ever addictive.

Good stuff Pat and Ann.  Thanks for the great sauce.

Carter

[Ontrack]

You ain't kidding about the sauce, Carter. I just finished my first mug on some brisket leftovers from Saturday, and opened another. I did two 7 pounders and sliced about 2/3, pulled about 1/3, and had the sauce on every bite so far. Got a couple of slices left and enough pulled for one more sandwich tomorrow, and you can bet the sauce will be on them as well. Sounds to me like you figured out your problem with the ribs. They surely aren't the easiest smoke, so just be patient and learn from any mistakes, and PULL THAT MEMBRANE! ;)

[Gizmo]

Hi Carter,
One thing about the foil boat technique is you need to be carefull not to put too much liquid in the bottom of the pan.  You don't want to cover your ribs with liquid and "boil" your ribs which can account for loosing the smoke flavor.

[Carter]

Good point Giz,

I tried not to OD on the liquid, but I'll try a little less next time.

Ribs are a great project.  Hard to perfect, but always tasty regardless.

Carter

[acords]

I've got a mob coming to the house for dinner on Saturday night.  I picked up 6 racks of BB ribs at Costco Yesterday.  Icemans sauce is perfect for ribs in my opinion. 

[Carter]

This may be meaningless to our American friends, but I'm going to the CFL's Grey Cup on Sunday with a group of buddies.

I've volunteered to do lunch before heading down to the tailgate parties on Toronto's Front Street.

My buddies expect Pulled Pork Sandwiches.

They're going to get Pulled Pork Sandwiches, but I think I'm going to throw in a half rack of ribs each as well.

Iceman - many are called.  Few are chosen.

Actually, the first football game ever went to was the Argos vs. the Saskatchewan Rough Riders.  I was about 10 and I will never forget the Saskatchewan fan that set his head on fire.  I'm happy to see "The Flame" is still around and I'm looking forward to seeing him do it again on Sunday.

Go Riders!!

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving neighbours.  Hope you all have a great weekend with your families.

Carter