Tuesday, 07 April 2009

• The Definitive Guide To BBQ'n

  I get asked to make ribs for my friends all the time.  This little post is for you to make your own ribs.

  

  ***The PREP***

  After removing ribs (pork baby back) from packaging, you have to give them a thorough rinsing.  There are a lot of bone fragments that need to be cleaned off.

  

  
  Since I was dealing with so many (3 slabs), I decided to cut them up to make them a bit more manageable.  Rib purest's might scream foul, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
  
  

  

  ***The RUB***

  After the ribs and have been cleaned and cut, I put a hefty amount of RUB on.  You can make your own rub by using a combination of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar and any other seasoning you like.  Obviously I'm not going to give up my entire recipe, but you get the point.  It needs to be spicy, sweet with a bit of a roasty kick (chili powder).  If you don't want to make your own rub, go to your local store and you can buy pre-made rub.  Just be sure you're not buying "seasoning", it can't be too salty, or taste like lemons.
  

  

  
  Apply RUB liberally.  By "liberally", I mean, get it everywhere!

  

  

  ***The SMOKE***

  Next up is the smoke.  For your ribs to really have a depth in flavor, it needs to be smoked.  You can pick up cooking wood chips from your local hardware store.  I got these from Lowes.
  
  

  

  
  Soak a blend of 50/50 mesquite and hickory in some water.  This prevents fires and also assists in the smoking process.

  

  
  My grill has a little smoking tray built in.  If you don't just wrap up the wood chips in foil and poke holes in the foil pouch to allow the smoke to escape.  You don't want all wet wood in the pouch/smoker.  Throw some dry wood in there as well.  It gets the smoke going faster.

  

  

  
  Look at all that smoke, it's a beautiful thing.

  

   ***The Sauce***
  
  This sauce is something my brother and I came up with.  Years of eating ribs at home, we perfected our own style of sauce.  Of course you're not going to get the complete recipe, but you'll get a good idea of a base.  Add in your own elements and see what you come up with. 
  
  

  

  
  I had some maple syrup left over from my Detox I did a while back.  I'm so glad I tried it out because it adds an awesome flavor profile.  

  

  
  Worcestershire (I could never pronounce this properly), gives an awesome tang. 

  

  
  I like to use some rock sugar, it has a flavor similar to brown sugar, but not as sweet.  It also plays a big part in the glaze that's soon to come.  

  

  
  Cayenne Pepper

  

  
  The juice of two oranges.  Adds a freshness to the sauce.

  

  
  I love spicy so of course I have to add some jalepenos, 6 to be exact.

  

  
  Sticking with the sweet and tangy theme.  The vinegar cuts the sweetness nicely. 
  
  

  

  
  I forgot to take a picture of the ketchup I used, but you get the idea.  Many people don't know, but ketchup is the base that almost all bbq sauces are made from.  I add more ketchup to even out the flavors, store-bought bbq sauce is a bit overwhelming.

  

  
  
  Everyone in the pool!
  
  

  

   Some ingredients you don't see.  Garlic (about 7 cloves), hot sauce, and honey.
  
  ***The GRILL***
  
  So now your ribs are a smokin', and you have your sauce ready to go. 

  You'll notice that the ribs are not under any direct heat.  The smoke area on the left is the only portion of the grill that has heat on it. 

  

  
  The blackness on the bone portion of the rib is not from burning.  It's actually smoke that's condensed onto the flat portions of the meat.  If done properly you'll see black spots on all of the ribs.  At this point, I'm starting to get a chubby.

  

  
  Most grills come with a built in thermometer.  You want to keep the heat at 300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  That's the "happy" zone for the meat.  Much hotter and you'll dry out the meat.

  

  
  I smoke corn too.
  
  

  

  
  After roughly 2 hours of smoking, the meat is thoroughly "smoked".  I don't have all day, nor do I want an overwhelming smoke flavor, it's time to do some actual grilling.

  Here comes the sauce, and my bbq mop.
  
  

  

  
  Wrap up the meat in some foil, make sure you get these bad boys nice and sauced up previous to wrapping.  Also, you want to wrap in such a way as to make accessing the ribs easy.

  

  
  After some mopping, I just decided to toss this guy into the sauce tray.

  

  
  All the ribs have been packaged, sauced and now are on direct heat.  LOW heat.  Close the lid and give it 15 to 20 minutes depending on the strength of your grill.
  
  

  

  
  After you've let cook for 20 minutes I open back up to reapply the sauce.  As you can see, a lot of juice has come out of the meat.  Basically, you are letting the ribs boil in their own juices, which is never a bad thing.
  
  

  

  
  After another 20 minutes reapply sauce again.  You'll notice at this time that the meat will be pulling away from the bones.  I didn't have time to take a photo of it, but when that starts happening, it's time to glaze.

  Open all the packages and turn the temperature up to medium low.  At this point the sugars in the sauce will start thickening up.  You must be careful, this is where you can easily burn the sauce and ruin all your hard work.  Keep vigilant watch over the ribs.  If something sounds like it's sizzling too much apply more sauce or move the meat to a cooler part of the grill.  
  
  

  

  
  If you've been keeping watch, you'll notice that the sauces in the packages have begun to reduce.  As the heat evaporates the moisture, you're left with an oowey gooey, dank sauce.  This is the glaze, let the meat cook in the glaze but you must keep watch it can easily burn.  Afterward, you get a shimmering rib that should give you a mad hard on.

  

  
  The end result.  3 racks of awesome spicy, sweet, tangy goodness.  Enjoy.
  
  

  

  

  So good, makes you wanna slap your mamma. 
  
  

  

  Do you love eating bbq? What other tips do you have for good bbq'n?

  • 4:49 PM
  • 1045 Views
  • 34 eProps
  • 18 Comments