OT Southern BBQ Ribs

[seti]

Growing up in Little Rock I was exposed to some of the best Southern BBQ in the world yup thats right ain't no typo. I was trying to revisit some of the places that used to be estasblished institutions only to see most are gone and with them fine recipes and secrets. I have tried some of the newer bbq places and most of them just don't cut it for me something is always missing with few exceptions.

I grew up with dry ribs and they are my favorite but when I grill at home I usually do wet ribs soaked overnight bake for 1.5 hours under 200 degrees and then grill (coal) for 15-20 minutes liberally brushing sauce on the ribs until finished. I'm going to try my hand at dry ribs. If any of you guys have an old school rib recipe send it to me. Grill season is upon us and I plan on having a killer recipe by the end of the summer. I like country ribs and baby backs. BBQ is about taking cheap meat and making it good.

For all you rib experts what seperates the old school rib legends from the new ribs on the block? What did they know or do differently that is being missed? 

Little Rock Rib Legends!

Sim's in business for over 50 years. Go to the location in the hood it is better.

Tom's Twelfth St BBQ is closed as Tom was 80 and his children wouldn't run it to his satisfaction so he closed shop. Just looking at the run down sorry excuse for a building made you salivate.

Lindsey's BBQ North Little Rock open since 1965.

The Shack on Catrell is closed soo sad.

If any Little Rock members can remember the BBQ place in a maroon house off of 65th street let me know the name. <edit> I was just told the name of this place is HB BBQ and is very close to how Tom cooked his ribs.

Damm I am hungry now.......

[kaiser SET say]

Say you wanna take my to Sim's for lunch do ya[][][] You can take me for Britt's Birthday which is today by the way[<)]

[seti]

Say you wanna take my to Sim's for
lunch do ya[][][] You can take me for Britt's Birthday which is
today by the way[<)]

I thought you would be a rib expert? No input but buy me ribs ! LOL

Drop by Saturday I'll be doing a trial run.

[kaiser SET say]

Can't, Golf Tournament in Hot Springs[] THX for the invite[]

[thebigonion]

Here is my recipe for pork Baby Back Ribs

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Preparation

One of the key preparation steps is to peel the membrane off the back side of the ribs. You do not have to do this if you are using pork short ribs or country ribs. You can start peeling the membrane at one end or one corner and if you work slowly you might be able to get it off in one piece. You can leave it on if you want but it will be crispy and the meat will not take on as much flavor.

After removing the membrane rinse the ribs under cold water then salt and pepper both sides and coat with Worcestershire sauce and <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Louisiana hot sauce. Put them back in the refrigerator for an hour or two while the fire heats up. You can cut each rack of ribs into 2 or 3 pieces to make them easier to handle.

Start a fire using charcoal briquettes in the fire box of your smoker. If you do not have a smoker with a separate firebox you can use a Webber grill and build the fire on one side. It helps to use an old broiler pan or large aluminum pan under the meat to keep the coals isolated to one side. Do not smoke the ribs over direct heat. Do not use charcoal starter fluid. Use either an electric starter element or a chimney. Let the coals get white and stay white long enough to get the smoker up to 190 to 210 degrees. Put a small aluminum container full of water under the meat to keep the meat from drying out. You can add water to the pan if you are using a Webber grill.

Cooking

Put the meat on the smoker as far away from the fire as you can. The ribs should cook for 5 to 6 hours. Try to maintain the temperature as close to 200 degrees as you can. Turn and rotate the ribs every 30 minutes adding coals to the fire every time you rotate the meat. After an hour start adding hickory or mesquite to the fire for flavor. If you use chips be sure and soak them in water for an hour to keep them from burning up instead of smoking. It is better to use larger pieces of wood.

After 2 or 3 hours the surface of the ribs will start to dry out a little. Coat the ribs with Stubbs mopping sauce when you turn them. You should only have to do this once but twice is probably better. After the ribs have cooked for 5 to 6 hours take them off the fire and coat them with Stubbs BBQ sauce.

Put the ribs in an aluminum container (like the ones made for a turkey), cover the top tightly with foil and put them in a pre-heated 220 degree oven for another 3 hours. Ribs should be slow cooked for 8 or 9 hours depending on the size of the ribs and how many racks you are cooking. You can cook them for a lot longer if you want but you will have to maintain a lower heat to make sure they dont dry out. When the ribs are done they should be almost black on the outside and dark pink on the inside and they should fall off the bones. The best part is you can take the leftovers and put one or two pieces in the microwave for a minute of so and they will be just like they came out of the oven.

You can use this same recipe for country ribs or even brisket but you need to cook the brisket for a couple of hours longer. This is a Texas recipe so it might be different than you are used to. Substituting a dry rub for the marinate, eliminating the mopping sauce and waiting until they are out of the over to add BBQ sauce is okay but everyone that has tried these loves them the way they are.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Ronny

[seti]

Here is my recipe for pork Baby Back Ribs

 

Preparation

 

One of the key preparation steps is to peel the membrane off the back side of the ribs.  You do not have to do this if you are using pork short ribs or country ribs.  You can start peeling the membrane at one end or one corner and if you work slowly you might be able to get it off in one piece.  You can leave it on if you want but it will be crispy and the meat will not take on as much flavor.

 

After removing the membrane rinse the ribs under cold water then salt and pepper both sides and coat with Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana hot sauce.  Put them back in the refrigerator for an hour or two while the fire heats up.  You can cut each rack of ribs into 2 or 3 pieces to make them easier to handle.

 

Start a fire using charcoal briquettes in the fire box of your smoker.  If you do not have a smoker with a separate firebox you can use a Webber grill and build the fire on one side.  It helps to use an old broiler pan or large aluminum pan under the meat to keep the coals isolated to one side.  Do not smoke the ribs over direct heat.  Do not use charcoal starter fluid.  Use either an electric starter element or a chimney.  Let the coals get white and stay white long enough to get the smoker up to 190 to 210 degrees.  Put a small aluminum container full of water under the meat to keep the meat from drying out.  You can add water to the pan if you are using a Webber grill.

 

Cooking

 

Put the meat on the smoker as far away from the fire as you can.  The ribs should cook for 5 to 6 hours.  Try to maintain the temperature as close to 200 degrees as you can.  Turn and rotate the ribs every 30 minutes adding coals to the fire every time you rotate the meat.  After an hour start adding hickory or mesquite to the fire for flavor.  If you use chips be sure and soak them in water for an hour to keep them from burning up instead of smoking.  It is better to use larger pieces of wood.

 

After 2 or 3 hours the surface of the ribs will start to dry out a little.  Coat the ribs with Stubbs mopping sauce when you turn them.  You should only have to do this once but twice is probably better.  After the ribs have cooked for 5 to 6 hours take them off the fire and coat them with Stubbs BBQ sauce.

 

Put the ribs in an aluminum container (like the ones made for a turkey), cover the top tightly with foil and put them in a pre-heated 220 degree oven for another 3 hours.  Ribs should be slow cooked for 8 or 9 hours depending on the size of the ribs and how many racks you are cooking.  You can cook them for a lot longer if you want but you will have to maintain a lower heat to make sure they dont dry out.  When the ribs are done they should be almost black on the outside and dark pink on the inside and they should fall off the bones.  The best part is you can take the leftovers and put one or two pieces in the microwave for a minute of so and they will be just like they came out of the oven.

 

You can use this same recipe for country ribs or even brisket but you need to cook the brisket for a couple of hours longer.  This is a Texas recipe so it might be different than you are used to.  Substituting a dry rub for the marinate, eliminating the mopping sauce and waiting until they are out of the over to add BBQ sauce is okay but everyone that has tried these loves them the way they are.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Ronny

Ronny, I have had ribs just like this and they do turn out very nice. The only problem I have run into with the slow cooking is in keeping the temp low enough. Thanks for the recipe.

[seti]

I wonder when Roy is going to share his BBQ prefs as I have heard he likes them ribs.

[thebigonion]

Seti,

Keeping the temperature low is always the tricky part. It's a lot easier if you have a heavy walled smoker but it is still pretty easy on a grill. The key to keeping the fire temp low is to build a small fire. If you use a grill (like a Webber) put a pan on the lower grill that covers up about 80% of the space and build a very small fire (only 20 to 30 pieces of charcoal) off to one side. Add 5 to 10 pieces of charcoal every 30 minutes and the fire won't get too hot. If it does get hot just stack your ribs as far away from the fire as possible until it cools down. The cover should stay on the grill unless you are turning the meat. The top vent should stay closed, adjust the bottom vent as necessary to keep the heat low or close it completely for a few minutes if it gets too hot. Slow smoking is the key to old school ribs. Give it a try and let me know how it works. You may not get it perfect the first time but they will still be great. The second time they will be perfect.

If you don't want to slow smoke them you might modify your recipe by putting them on the grill first then in the oven. I think the flavor comes from the grill so I put the meat on the grill first as opposed to after they are already cooked. If you grill them first do not put the sauce on or it will burn. I think putting the ribs in the oven after they are cooked is the key to making the meat fall off the bones. If you cover the container the cooked ribs will steam and that seems to really make them tender. Also, it helps if you are drinking beer.

Good Luck,

Ronny

[Daddy Dee]

Seti,

I grew up on Shack BBQ. It was great. As I've checked out other BBQ around the country, I think the Shack also had a fairly unique style of sauce. Not too sweet and plenty of black pepper!

Sims' and Lindsey's are both great family style type places. I think Sims' has the edge.

I'd be interested to hear how you like Whole Hog Cafe on Cantrell or Rendezvous in Memphis. I think WHC is excellent, though short on atmosphere. Their sauce variety is pretty attractive.

One thing on cooking ribs, baby back and spare ribs are quite different in terms of cooking requirements. The meat on BB ribs is the same as a pork chop, so they cook quickly relative to spare ribs. Spare ribs have more of a brisket type meat on them and they take about twice as long to cook. If you have the chance to cook with pecan wood, it is an excellent alternative to hickory. Oklahoma Joe says pecan is his favorite for cooking. Most people can't tell the difference between hickory and pecan. Also, pecan is less likely to impart bitterness to the meat.

http://www.barbecuen.com/ check out Smoky's FAQ's and New FAQ's

THE GREAT AMERICAN BARBECUE & GRILLING MANUAL
"Smoky" Hale
ISBN 0-936171-02-0

Smoky Hale is who I've learned most from. The link above is a site where Smoky gives good advice. Also, his book, is the BBQ Bible. In addition to being an excellent cook and teacher, he has a dry sense of humor.

[Travis In Austin]

Is there any good BBQ in or around Hope?

[Doc Robin]

I also grew up eating a lot of Shack BBQ it sure was good. But my favorite is the White Pig Inn over in Protho Junction; havent been there in awhile so I may just have to make a run. Man I sure hope they are still open.

Daddy Dee is right on the money with Whole Hog they are right up there with the old school guys. The Mean Pig here in Cabot is good but I have had several tastes of some type of starter fluid; man that sure ruins it big time.

Everyone should check out a Big Green Egg to use. The temp can be regulated very well. Also check out the web site for good recipes. The Egg is high priced but well worth the money to those that do a lot of outdoor cooking. Later Bill

[Coytee]

Is there any good BBQ in or around Hope?

I'm certainly NOT the one to know the answer to that however, we DID go to a place once while we were there. Probably about 10 of us? (I'm sure others went also)

As you leave the factory you can turn left or right. Either way can get you back to the main highway, just at different points. If you leave the factory and turn LEFT to go back to the highway, this place is right at the junction of this road and the highway.

We had several cars pull up right as they were closing. If you remember ever seeing a commercial on TV where the local football team loses, they show up at a place (I think Shoney's??) and they've just closed. The people at the food place have some compassion and decide to chip in, stay late and serve the crowd of football players.

That is pretty much exactly what happened to us. Pulled up, they had just closed...they they looked at each other...looked at the 10 or so of us and said..c'mon in...

Was the only place I had bbq while there but I liked it. I'm sure someone else can tell more about the place or perhaps its name.

[theryugobuddy]

I'm always amazed at how consistently good the ribs are at Sam's Club. And that's the secret--you buy the ribs from the right place. If you don't have a good rack of meat to start with, you can't experience rib rapture.

Sam's Club has sealed ribs, usually three large racks, for $25 to $30--

I let them sit at room temperature for a half hour or so with a little salt and pepper on them before grilling with indirect heat for 2 1/2 hours. And you apply loads of great BBQ sauce the last half hour.

The sauce has ketchup, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard powder, sugar, lemon juice and salt&pepper that is mixed into a saute of chopped onion and celery in butter. Gotta have the celery.

The great Sam's ribs have flavor good enough to match the tangy sweet in the sauce. A mess to eat, but that's part of theor charm-

One of the few things I'm not humble about -- they are do darn good

[theryugobuddy]

The recipes' in the Weber grill manual--but tweaked a tad--

[Groomlakearea51]

Seti:

They opened a Corky's off Markham over by Circuit City on the road on the hill that goes up past Walmart. We'd been stopping at Corkys outside of Memphis for "dry ribs" every time we drive to LR and were surprised to see one in LR. Prices are pretty good and their kid's meals are huge!

[steve hollowell]

The BBQ joint off of 65th is HB's BBQ(Herb's Best), the owner is Bruce and they are a part of the family that ran the Shack. Like most people that grew up in North Little Rock in the 60's and 70's the Shack and Lindsey's were the two places that stick out in my memory as good local BBQ.

Bruce is a great guy and the food is good, but because of the westward movement of Little Rock, business off of 65th is slow and he only opens from 10 to 6 mon thru fri......if your local you know everything has to be in West Little Rock or the River Market area!!!!!!!

The only thing I can add to ribs is cook'em low and slow....I use a Big Green Egg and smoke them for about an hour before I wrap them in heavy duty reynolds and go for about three hours in sauce(a mixture of a couple store bought kinds that are then Dr.'d up with brown sugar, curry and what ever else looks good at the time). For ribs I only do Baby Backs and they fall off the bone! This is Saturday around 10:30 am, I now know what we will be having Sunday afternoon for supper..... Later dude I have to go to the meat market..........................Steve

.

[Daddy Dee]

thereyougobuddy is right about the meat from Sam's Club. That is where I buy ribs and Boston butt.

Sam's also has carried an excellent pre cooked brisket whole or sliced. If I want to serve brisket, that's what I get. IMO brisket is darn hard to cook and have it turn out right. This pre cooked option is excellent. I can do a decent job on ribs, shoulder, and chicken. This brisket however, is really done right

[seti]

I think I'll try buying some of those Sam's club ribs. 

This weekend was an experiment on how to take cheap country ribs and make them good which is the original philosophy behind bbq. They were brined then marinated with garlic and a spicey sweet rub overnight then slow cooked for 4 hours. The results were suprisingly good next grillout in two weeks will be with primo rib meat.

I'd like to try HB again and thanks for the history. I have not been there since I was about 15. I prefer to support local business over chains especially good eats. The last time I was at Whole Hog it was pretty bad but maybe it was an off nite. I'll give them a second chance.

White Pig Inn isn't that the place were you end up eating in the parking lot because they are always so busy?

Has anyone  tried Mason's on Capital?

[oldbuckster]

Boy, you guys and your rib talk....I might have to venture down that way and try those Bad Boys...You make me RIB hungry.!!!!!!!!!

[dtel's wife]

Is there any good BBQ in or around Hope?

I'm certainly NOT the one to know the answer to that however, we DID go to a place once while we were there. Probably about 10 of us? (I'm sure others went also)

As you leave the factory you can turn left or right. Either way can get you back to the main highway, just at different points. If you leave the factory and turn LEFT to go back to the highway, this place is right at the junction of this road and the highway.

We had several cars pull up right as they were closing. If you remember ever seeing a commercial on TV where the local football team loses, they show up at a place (I think Shoney's??) and they've just closed. The people at the food place have some compassion and decide to chip in, stay late and serve the crowd of football players.

That is pretty much exactly what happened to us. Pulled up, they had just closed...they they looked at each other...looked at the 10 or so of us and said..c'mon in...

Was the only place I had bbq while there but I liked it. I'm sure someone else can tell more about the place or perhaps its name.

Coytee,

Dtel and I didn't see this post and we were just talking about our "first" dinner together with other Forum members. Do you remember who all went to eat that night? Here is my list...dtel, dtel's wife, Coytee, Mike 2b..., IndyKlipschfan, DoubleJ, LarryC, Dr. Who, ...I apologize if I forgot anyone...Coytee do you remember anyone else that was there?

It was kind of surreal, none of us knew each other, pulled up in the parking lot, the place was closed and they did open to let us in. Real nice folks....