Quote:
|
Originally Posted by unlurking
Care to detail the recipe a little more? Never done ribs yet.
|
I still developing my rib technique, so you might want to get advice for those who are a little further down the path to nrivana, like Phobia of htis. But here goes:
Buy baby backs or pork spare ribs. AVOID ENHANCED MEAT. Remove the memebrane and trim them according to this link:
http://virtualweberbullet.com/ribselect1.html
The night before, I put a thin coat of plain yellow mustard on the ribs, then my rub. My rub varies every time, but I try to limit the salt to no more than 1/4 of the total volume of rub. I typically use more paprika than anything else For ribs, I'll leave the sugar out of the rub.
The day of the smoke, pull the ribs out of the fridge and let them come to room temp while you are building the fire. Build the fire to 225 to 250 at the grill level. Use your favorite wood for smoke flavor. Smoke for about 2 hours for baby backs, about 3 for spare ribs. Modulate the amount of smoke to match your preferences. Hickory or misquite can get a little harsh, so be careful with those woods.
After a couple hours, take a large sheet of heavy duty foil (enough to wrap your rack) and coat it with brown sugar and honey. Lay the meat side down on top of this. Add 2-3 oz of apple juice or other liquid of choice (beer would work). Wrap tiightly. Wrap with another layer of foil. Put back on the smoker meat side down for another 2 hours at the same temp as before. Here you are basically braising the rib meat to make it very tender. After this period, check to see if the ribs are done. They should be pulling back from the bone a bit, and be tender enough to pull two ribs a part with your fingers. You basically want the meat done at this point.
Unwrap the ribs. Mix the liquid from the foil with your finishing sauce. Put the ribs back on the smoker for about an hour at the same temp. You are trying to dry them out a bit now. The last 20 - 30 minutes glaze with the finishing sauce.
Last time I did them this way they were very good, but not great: two changes I'll make are NO ENHANCED MEAT and leaving them in the foil a little while longer. Some of them could have been a bit more tender.
IMO, ribs are one of the hardest meats to master. Good luck.