OT Southern BBQ Ribs

[Fjd]

How are you cooking those JL? Oven, smoker, grill?

I have purchased a "pellet smoker" which is the best thing since sliced bread. Absolutely love it!!. I use 100% Hickory pellets with it. The thing has a digital controller which I can set to desired temp and the smoker will keep it there feeding the firepot pellets as needed via auger. It's amazing how good the thing works too.

That seems to be the new trend. Its not just a fad either, lots of people bringing home trophies using them too. I think there have been a few folks on Pit Master using them.

The Traeger patents expired on their pellet smoker design during October 2007. Prior to 2007, I believe that historically Traeger was built local in Oregon, then they may have sold once the patent expired and production moved overseas as other brands also started to build pellet smokers. Similar to how the Infrared cooking patents expired during 2000, then more companies started to produce infrared burners and grills.

http://www.patentbuddy.com/Patent/4823684

[JL Sargent]

I had a Traeger first. Enjoyed it too. Just wouldn't hold as much as my present smoker.

[Mallette]

Max, it pays NOT to go where the real stuff is unless you either are savvy or with someone who is. Not sure about now, but Kingston was an EXTREMELY dangerous place in the 80s even for Jamaicans.

Dave

[The Dude]

Dee, I haven't read Mallette's 2,2,2 method but would look into it. But I have all ways had luck, marinating for 24 hours, rubbing for 24 hours, then smoking for 2-3 hours over wood and coals, then wrap in foil and move to an electric smoker. 185-225 have been my favorite temps, depends on what kind of time I have, another thing that helps is searing it first as was well. There are lots of good ideas out there, I find its what works best in your climate.

For a marinade, I do like beer but need to use a gluten free for my wife. So now for pork I do use a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar, and water. Vinegar helps break down the meat real good. My food has never tasted vinegary at all.

I would like a wood/propane hybrid for a smoker. Something I can smoke and cook with wood for the first 2-3 hours but add propane for heat when need to keep my temp up.

Edited April 7, 2014 by duder1982

[Boxx]

I suppose an upgrade is in order here..... Pellets you say...

[dtel]

I suppose an upgrade is in order here..... Pellets you say...

Come on Boxx, prop it up you can a couple more cooks on it, it's still holding tongs !

[JL Sargent]

Pellet smokers are the new "King of the Hill" for me.

Lots of different folks now building em too.

[Max2]

I suppose an upgrade is in order here..... Pellets you say...

6'5" Garage door. 6'7" Boxx

[Daddy Dee]

Thanks Dave!

Thanks Max!

Thanks Duder!

I'm getting inspired!

[Gilbert]

I suppose an upgrade is in order here..... Pellets you say...

LMAO,.... that's a honey of a BBQ, she's still got a few laps in her before this year's Spring time garage sale.

[BLSamuel]

Duder, could you say more about how you cook the pork loin? I've tried it from time to time, but have always let it overcook, i suppose. It ought not to be dry, but that is how it turns out with me.

Max2, thanks for your take on brisket. Never have been happy with what i've turned out there. What you describe sounds doable.

I'll have to try some brisket like Max suggests. Can't bring myself to use mustard though as even a small amount in most things ruins it for me. My wife has snuck a small amount in a few things and I've been able to tell. Maybe overly sensitive to it? Definitely no mustard based bbq sauces for me.

Dee. We do our pork loins too hot, up to 325 to 350 deg F and higher in about 5 hours and they turn out pretty good. Rub with olive oil and spices. Put over a drip pan full of water. We have a simple Brinkman offset smoker that I need to modify from research I've done to close off most of the opening between the firebox and grill area so it's lower than grates. The mods also suggested to extend the chimney to below the grates. Benefits easier to keep from way overcooking the end or side close to the firebox and easier to keep the temperature low and better smoking with smoke and heat path more under the meat if that makes sense. Still haven't done anything. lol. Need to clean off the rust and replace rusted bolts.

i

Anyway, other than the overcooked ends as we usually put the pork loin perpendicular to the fire, it stays reasonable moist. More of a roast pork loin than smoked.

I've roasted turkey's in the Weber a few times. The last couple with charcoal, and mesquite chunks I boiled. In my mother in law's expensive cookware .... uh, it's the Swedish tradition of boiling the cooking wood. They turned out really well, looking and tasting so MUCH BETTER than mil's anemic oven roasted turkey. She wouldn't let us do the turkey on the grill after that as everybody liked ours better. Our youngest daughter and maybe oldest helped. All kinds of excuses ... it's too much trouble. Not at all. We took them our old generic Weber when upgraded to a Master Touch along with a new grill. And of course the mil and wife when we were allowed to grill the turkey, you'd better get your fire started.... so I would, and of course the turkey was not yet ready and I'd have to start over. I filled the drip pan with the water used to boil the mesquite and I think boiling the mequite did boil out some of the sap and kind of mellow it out a bit. Maybe the drip pan full of mesquite added to the flavor? I'd put some spices in the drip pan at times which seemed to add a bit of flavor but subtle.

[dtel]

Max, it pays NOT to go where the real stuff is unless you either are savvy or with someone who is. Not sure about now, but Kingston was an EXTREMELY dangerous place in the 80s even for Jamaicans.

Dave

Very true

It is safer outside the bigger cities than it was in the past, seen a big difference just in the last 5 years but that's in the areas way outside of the cities where tourist tend to congregate. Still a very poor country which always brings out some of the worst in some people. It's a real shame, it's a beautiful place with mostly very nice people.

[Loudly Does It]

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.

Use two water pans. As he said, one under the meat to keep them from drying, but use the other one over the fire. I use it to keep the temp. at about 225 which is at what I cook my ribs. It will also keep the cooking chamber damp and prevent spikes in temperature.

[dtel]

I'll have to try some brisket like Max suggests. Can't bring myself to use mustard though as even a small amount in most things ruins it for me.

You will taste NO mustard at all, it's the same thing I do to pork butt's and it has NO mustard taste at all, none.

[dtel]

Dee. We do our pork loins too hot, up to 325 to 350 deg F and higher in about 5 hours and they turn out pretty good. Rub with olive oil and spices.

Ben try it any temp you want but stop it when the INTERNAL temp is at 140 degrees MAX, take off and leave sit for a few minutes, it will have the texture of steak and very juicy. Pork loins are totally different at that temp, very slightly pink and MUCH better.

I have always overcooked Pork which was completely wrong, just try it once, you won't believe the difference.

[Loudly Does It]

Pellet smokers are the new "King of the Hill" for me.

Lots of different folks now building em too.

I've read that you can't sear your steaks on a pellet smoker and the higher you cook the harder it is to get smokey flavor into your meats. Have you had this problem?

[JL Sargent]

My pellet smoker allows for direct heat so yes you can sear a steak. I preheat the smoker to a high temp before adding the steaks. The cast iron grate on the hot side of mine at 500F literally sears the steaks. Hot side is on the left of smoker in photo.

Meats that you might be cooking will only take smoke flavor up to a temp of about 160 F. So after that temp is passed no more flavor is absorbed so to speak. Thats why "low and slow" is such a popular motto. You want to smoke meat slowly to get that good flavor. You want to sear a steak so that's just not gonna be hickory smoked like ribs or a boston butt. Does that answer your question?

[seti]

Well guys yesterday we went to Jones BBQ and Craig's in the Delta...

Didn't know what to think of Jones at first but when I got home with my 2 lbs and tried some on its own I was shocked. It isn't overwhelmed with sauce and the meat is delicate and deep. Dang!

http://www.itishifi.com/2014/08/arkansas-delta-bbq-and-blues.html

[Sancho Panza]

seti, where is that place, as in town & State?

OK, Marianna, ArKansas...hard to see details on iPhone...

Edited August 17, 2014 by Sancho Panza

[ssh]

Craig's has GREAT sauce. I rode my motorcycle to Craig's years ago, ate a couple of sandwiches and bought all the bottles that my bags and cases would hold- 40+. The sauce was later bottled by Con Agra, I think, or the recipe rights were sold, and it was available at our Kroger store, but it wasn't quite the same as what Craig's had bottled. When I ordered "hot" sandwiches, one of the cooks said, "Now the hot is hot."; my response was, "Burn me!". I'm glad to know they're still in business.

SSH