Babyback versus spare ribs

BigSmoker · March 16, 2005, 08:55:45 PM

I don't usually even check my St. Louis style until 8 hrs is up. At that point I try the twist method(it bone twists out easily there done enough for me)every 45 minutes or so after that. The last ones I did I let get a wee bit dry(10+ hrs)but still very good. I have noticed with the St. Louis style the meat dosen't really pull up onto the bone much where my BB's usually pull up on the bone 1/2" or so. I don't apply any sauce to mine. Just bacon on the top shelf[:p]. I don't think a spritz of apple juice and apple cider vinegar would hurt them at all though during the last few hours. Happy Smokin'.

Jeff

Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

str1der · March 16, 2005, 09:04:33 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by nsxbill
 The smoker tenderizes by cooking slowly. I like the Coke for the sugar content, the flavor and the way in carmelizes while cooking. Whether it tenderizes or not has yet to be proven to me.

Bill

There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I guess from the posts above it sounded like people were saying that they were making the spare ribs more tender by soaking them in Coke.

johnintx1 · March 17, 2005, 12:42:56 AM

You can use coke or dr pepper even pepsi as a marinade. put your meat in a bag,container,or something and soak it a few hours or overnight in the coke ,makes a great marinade really easy and cost effective as well. I then sprinkle with some spices or rub and let it come to room temp ,while your warming up the bradley. Great for spareribs or beef ribs.

Smoke on!!

nsxbill · March 17, 2005, 02:00:00 AM

I don't know if I posted this thought up or not, but since we are talking Coke, the next time I do ribs, I am going to do the marination under pressure, but not use bottled Coke. I have several gallons of Coke Syrup for my home soda fountain. I think I am going to put some of that in as my liquid along with my spice to see how it works. Since I am after the flavor, it certainly will add it, but in a concentrated form, and I don't have open bottle or can and wait for it to go flat before starting the marinade process.

Will let you know how it works.

Bill

There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.

ChefBill · March 17, 2005, 01:34:28 PM

I've tried this and come to the "falling off the bone" stage. I put water in the pan that the bowl sits on in the bottom of the BS and leave the vent wide open. With this high humidity environment inside you won't get dried out ribs AND can run them up to a higher internal temp.
This method is tricky because you have to make sure you're not getting condensation on the walls of the BS. Has worked for me the last 3 times I tried it. Got to keep the BS temp well above 225º once you add water to the pan. Bill

If you can eat it, you can smoke it.

psdubl07 · March 21, 2005, 04:16:10 PM

Here are the rib results from Friday:

To recap, 1 slab of BBs was soaked in Coke for a full day, then had the rub put on the night before the smoke. The other slab just had the rub.
Ribs were smoked for 4 hours then cooked to 190 (about 5 1/4 hours total)

Coke vs Non-Coke - There were 4 of us eating the ribs, and nobody could tell any difference in the 2 slabs in EITHER taste or tenderness.

Tenderness - Again, as is my experience w/ BBs, they were moist, tender, (and VERY tasty!), but not to the "falling-off-the-bone" stage.

**Forgot to add that I sauced the ribs once w/ about an hour to go in the smoker, and once again before FTC-ing for 2 hours.

MWS · April 01, 2005, 02:21:24 AM

Ive brined my spare ribs for 3 hours and then lightly rinsed them and applied a dry rub with mustard. I smoke them for 4 hours with hickory @205F for a total of 5-6 hours total cook time. I found that the ribs remain really moist and have a great flavor when compared to un-brined version. As a matter of fact, I hate to put sauce on them they are so good. Cheers

MWS - Mike

psdubl07 · April 01, 2005, 04:57:37 PM

Mike, can you tell me more specifically about the brine?

mamba · April 01, 2005, 10:06:05 PM

I have always smoked BBs, but tried some spares this last weekend. Simply put, I applied a rub the night before, cut them in half and hung them in the Bradley the next day about 9:00 a.m. at 215 F. The hooks I used to hang them were basically S shaped stainless steel I made from those little metal dillymabobbers you use to attach wire fencing to metal posts. Anyway, I never checked them until 3:00, then I took them out. The meat was pulled up on the bone about a quarter of an inch and they were "twist the bone out of the meat" perfect. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. I put bacon over the top and never changed the water bowl. It was dry when I took them out and this may have helped them get a little crunchy. Used 5 hours of mesquite. They were not overpowering in term of smoke flavor.

I think the additional fat content makes them a better rib overall for just fun in the sun Sunday pig-outs. I like babybacks for a more refined dinner, but these were just darn good with NO effort whatsover after they went in (other than to make sure the temp stayed somewhere close to 215 to 220). It actually bumped up to 235 toward the end and I just left it alone. Can't wait to try them again!

MWS · April 02, 2005, 02:58:32 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by psdubl07
 Mike, can you tell me more specifically about the brine?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brining.html#works
The above link describes the brining process and has some recipes for different meats. I generally brine chicken, turkey and pork loin roasts that are lean. This site suggests that a 'higher concentration of salt inside meat cells causes protein strands to denature. The tightly wound proteins unwind and get tangled together, and when heated, the proteins form a matrix that traps water molecules and holds onto them tightly during cooking'. I have certainly noticed a difference in moisture content (juiciness)[:p] within the meats I've brined, especially chicken and turkey. Cheers

MWS - Mike

JJC · April 03, 2005, 03:47:56 AM

Hi Mike,

I think that psdub107 was wondering about the brine recipe and time you used . . . and if he wasn't wondering, I am [:)]

BTW, there's a piece on Curing and Brining on the newbie forum you can access from the Sticky on For -Your Added Pleasure (susan.minor.org). Habanero and I put it together-we'd appreciate your comments and suggestions!

John
Newton MA

MWS · April 03, 2005, 04:08:44 AM

Of course....[:I] I just use a simple brine of 8 oz. of coarse salt and 1 cup of brown sugar in 1 gallon of water (of course this varies on amount of meats). After 3 hours I take the ribs, chicken etc. out of the brine, rinse lightly and apply a dry rub or EVOO based paste. I've decided to add more spices/herbs after the brine than in it. I think this way the flavors are more pronounced. I don't know if I should admit this but I tend to use Emerils Essense if I am too lazy or busy (4 and 6 year olds kids..) to make my own rub. Your site on curing and brining is a great resource. Cheers

MWS - Mike

psdubl07 · April 04, 2005, 05:22:05 PM

Yes, I was wondering about the recipe, thanks for posting it Mike.
Emeril's Essence is good on lots of things. I made a huge batch once and keep it around for various uses.
I'll have to try the brining next time I do ribs. They're always moist and tender, just haven't found that falling off the bone method yet, but I will! [:D]

nsxbill · April 04, 2005, 07:15:45 PM

On the occasion of my 30 y.o. son moving back-in this weekend, I did 5 racks of ribs...cut in half, it was quite a site hanging from Smokehouse Rob's Rack and completely filled the smoker.

Put them in about 6 p.m., and son yanked them from smoker at about 1:30 a.m., and dressed with some sauce, and wrapped each with foil after liberally saucing them. This morning, played hooky and baked the foil packages at 350° for about 50 min.

Guess what I had for breakfast...talk about falling off the bone.

Pre-smoking with the alder and pecan bisquettes half-and-half, I made a concoction of 1 cup of coca cola syrup, 1 cup of mildly spicy home brew BBQ sauce, 1 cup of honey, 1/2 cup of EEOO.

The ribs, having been dusted with dizzy pig Jamaican and in the refrigerator for 12 hours, were taken out and tumbled in sauce in the Reveo for 20 minutes.

Hung in the smoker, which was a PIA trying to fill the rack quickly without losing so much heat, it brought my 275° preheating temp down quickly. Took a heck of a long time to get back to 210°. Set ramp on with internal temp of 187°, I went to bed after showing son how to turn everything off.

They are killer! Falling off the bone. Nice crust, but not burned. Definitely recommend coca cola syrup. Nicely carmelized outer layer. Honey never hurts anything. The spice was just right.

Ouch! Wish the smoker held more!

Bill

There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.

psdubl07 · April 04, 2005, 09:45:37 PM

Mmmmmm, those sound good Bill! Now ya got me all hungry [:p]

So if I have this right, they were rubbed, refrigerated, marinated, 7 1/2 hours to get to 187, then foil-wrapped (into the refrigerator?) until the next morning? Then 350 for 50 mins.

Were these Babybacks? Also, where do you buy the soda syrup?