[USA] Smoked Ribs With BBQ Sauce
Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 04:18
[USA] Rocky Mountain Wrangler`s Rubber Ribs, Rotten Rub, Ghastly Glaze, N` Rusty Sauce
Ribs, Ribs, Ribs!
If you order just one rack of these tasty, golden-brown, smoky, ribs in a fancy restaurant, you`ll probably have to sell a kid or mortgage your house! Why would anyone want to cure a rack of ribs? Brining ribs in a curing solution allows them to retain moisture and ensure their safety in the smokehouse. In America, pork must also be heated to a minimum 138°F. (59°C.) if smoked, destroying any possible trichinae. Later, the finishing temperature will be 160°F. (71°C.). If the rack is to be slowly cooked while being smoked, it must be cured - for safety reasons.
Remember nitrites completely change the texture and flavor of meat. If you grill a fresh rack of ribs, you have great tasting roasted pork. The same fresh rack of pork ribs cured with sodium nitrite a few days, will gradually develop an entirely different texture and flavor we know as "cured ham" and it is delicious smoked and finished on the grill! Most often, large amounts of ribs are prepared for sizeable gatherings of famished folks at parties or gatherings, and clostridium botulinum should be the last thing a busy cook has to worry about. Restaurants, often cooking ribs on the spot, consistently choose to cure ribs for the convenience of storage or bulk purchasing.
What is a "wrangler"? He`s the cowpoke on a ranch responsible for getting up an hour early, putting on a pot of coffee, and going for a walk to round up the horses for the other cowboys to ride that day. The horses scatter throughout the nighttime while they "mow the lawn" and sometimes it takes quite a while to round `em back up. So the wrangler takes along a few "chaws" of hickory-smoked beef jerky for a snack. In America, even with the remote possibility of trichinella spiralis, jerky is never made of raw pork or bear meat.
Rocky Mountain western-fashion tasty barbecued ribs are first cured, then smoke-cooked, being hung inside a smokehouse several hours before being removed and grilled over indirect high heat for just a couple of minutes while a little glaze is applied. On the grill, the final temperature of the meat should be about 160°F. (71°C.). Remember, the smudge in the smoker cuts off oxygen, the meat remains moist, and with temperatures relatively low, the use of actual curing agents is critical, as a smokehouse composes perfectly correct conditions for botulinal development. The process is completely safe if a cook remembers any smoked meat must be completely cured using a precise amount of nitrite and dried to the touch before it will take in any smoke.
"Baby Backs"
Pork provides four types of ribs, perfect for any barbecue party. Back ribs, sometimes called "Baby Back Ribs" or more correctly "pork loin ribs", are those of the center rib section with the loin "end" attached. They are taken from the upper part of the piggy`s rib cage called the "chine", adjacent to the backbone. One domestic rack of baby-backs weighs about two-and-a-half pounds, costs a little more than beef, and feeds only two hungry guests. These slightly more expensive chine ribs created the expression "eating high off the hog".
Spareribs, taken from the rib cage surrounding the sides and upper belly, are larger and longer than baby backs. Often they are called "Dinosaur Bones" in jest. Containing more connective tissue, they are a bit tougher, but the meat is actually more flavorful. The average weight is about 3-1/2 pounds and the shoulder end of the rack is wider than the other. Longer ribs are leaner than the shorter, more fatty, and more meaty ends. No matter what your pocketbook will afford, either section is great for grilling.
Rib tips are the favored, very flavorful, sections used in much Chinese cooking. Tips are taken from gristly section connecting the two racks of spareribs in the piggy`s underbelly. These ribs contain much cartilage and may be a little tough to chew, but their flavor is certainly worth every cent you may pay for them. Braised then barbecued, they are the first choice of many wranglers.
Country ribs are most often not considered ribs at all in the Rocky Mountains. They are taken from the blade-end of the loin and are much like small, meaty, "pork chops". Although many markets trim the bones from the meat and present the cuts as "country style ribs", you may find these tasty n` fatty cuts ideal for grilling if they are baked first.
Preparation & Instructions
A little preparation is necessary for great barbecued ribs, consisting of trimming, membrane removal, application of your super-secret rub, and resting of the ribs before cooking. First, remove the tough translucent membrane located along the inside curvature of each rack of ribs allowing spice rubs and smoke flavor to penetrate the meat, making eating more pleasurable. The membrane is best removed using a blunt instrument like a screwdriver to begin the separation. Once you are able to get your fingers and thumb between the membrane and the bones, use a paper towel and your fingers to pull away the membrane. You'll soon discover that for some unknown reason, peeling the membrane is much easier if you begin at the small end and peel toward the large end of the rack.
Trimming the excess fat from the ribs is the next step. Using a smaller boning knife, carefully remove any extraneous pieces of fat, leaving the natural fat located between the ribs. Don't attempt to remove all the fat, as much of it is absolutely crucial for creating moist, flavorful, ribs while self-basting during the cooking process. Simply remove the larger pieces along the outside of the meat.
[USA] "Wrangler`s Rusty Rib Curing Solution"
(Prague Powder Nitrite Curing Brine For Ribs)
25 lbs. pork ribs
2-1/2 gallons ice water
1 lb. uniodized salt
8 oz. powdered dextrose (its only 75% sweet as sugar)
16 level tspns. (four ounces = 113.4 gr.) American strength 6.25% sodium nitrite Prague Powder #1.
Clean, trim, and remove the membranes from 25 pounds of pork back ribs. Mix the salt, dextrose, and the curing nitrite #1 into the water to make Wrangler`s Rusty Ribs curing solution. You may simply double the recipe for 50 pounds of ribs if you don't intend to eat alone! Place the ribs into the brine completely submerging all the meat and bones and refrigerate them (in the brine) two days inside a non-reactive container. A food-grade cooler or plastic lug is best.
Rinse the ribs thoroughly and pat them dry. Generously apply and vigorously rub in your own super-secret, yet to be legendary, spicy rib-rub. Common ingredients of rib rubs consist of salt, sugar, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, Hungarian paprika, peppers and chilies of all types, and, whew... many more. Every self-respecting rib cook develops his own favorite seasonings through experience and better "rib rubbers" soon discover the necessity of allowing the meat to rest a bit following rubbing, while seasonings and cures work their magic. You may want to start with my recipe for "Rotten Rub":
[USA] "Rocky Mountain Rotten Rib Rub"
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
Smoke-Cooking "Rocky Mountain Wrangler`s Ribs"
Place the cured, dried, and rubbed ribs into a preheated 120° F. (49°C.) smokehouse, start the smoking process using dampened hickory sawdust, and completely open the dampers, allowing moisture to escape. Gradually increase the heat inside the smokehouse to 160°F. (71°C.) degrees over a few hours time. The internal meat temperature must reach at least 138°F. (59°C.) although most wranglers smoke-cook ribs a little higher, until the meat just begins to separate from the bones (in about four hours). Remove the ribs and allow them to cool for later use or finish them on the grill over indirect heat with more hickory (moistened "chips" this time) at only about 200°F. (93°C.). Many old timers retain the meat`s moisture during final grilling by brushing on a little sugary glaze while the ribs finish over indirect heat, being most careful not to burn or char the sugars! Because sugar burns at 265°F. (129°C.), brush on glaze only at the very end of the grilling. The following glaze recipe is an old favorite silky-smooth blend generating a mahogany sheen that just can`t be ignored!
[USA] Ghastly Grilling Glaze For Pork Ribs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple or apricot preserves
1/2 cup whiskey
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 stick butter
1 tspn. garlic powder
2 tblspns. lemon juice
*Simmer all the ingredients five minutes then brush the mixture over the ribs just before removing them from the grill.
Careful now. Smoked ribs simply do not need the extremely lengthy cooking periods, as do briskets, shoulders and whole hogs. Never cook ribs, or any meat being barbecued, over a direct heat source. Use indirect heat by turning off the middle burners of a gas grill, or by scraping hot coals to the edge inside a covered charcoal grill. If you have the luxury of a larger offset smoker, you'll find plenty of room to place the ribs and won't have to worry about them drying out or over-cooking. If at all possible, rotate the ribs at intervals providing uniform heating. One perfectly ideal method of barbecuing ribs is to use a rotisserie, slowly cooking either several dry or wet rubbed racks, taking advantage of the utensil`s self-basting capabilities.
A few old "coots" like myself, prefer a simple glazing solution of vinegar, butter, and limejuice! Remember, glazing ribs with any mixture containing sugar, should be done just before serving them to avoid charring.
When the finishing temperature of the meat reaches 160°F. (71°C.) serve the ribs with plenty of "finishing sauce". My favorite is "Rocky Mountain Red". Some of the ingredients are not readily available in Poland so I`ve posted this recipe in another column previously with recipes for making your own 57 Sauce, ketchup, etc.
[USA] Rocky Mountain "Red" (Barbecue Sauce)
4 cups ketchup
2 bottles (10 oz. ea.) Heinz 57 Sauce
1 bottle (10 oz.) A.1. Steak Sauce
1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
1-1/2 cups apple cider
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tblspns. Frank's Hot Sauce
Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a large, heavy, Dutch oven or non-reactive saucepan and cook the sauce, stirring it frequently, over medium heat, five minutes to develop flavors. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the mixture, covered, until it reduces to the consistency of a thickened sauce - in about 90 minutes. Be sure to stir the mixture frequently. Start with a half cup of vinegar, then as the mixture simmers, add more a little at a time, until it suits your taste. The best way to serve the sauce is piping hot in small bowls. Be sure to serve an unlimited supply of moistened finger towels. Cool leftover sauce and pour it into jars. Cover and refrigerate. This sauce will keep several months when refrigerated.
The ribs are usually cut in pairs as to include lots of meat between the two bones as well as half on the sides. At a party, I often serve the entire rack in one piece - slathered with this sauce... and let the guests cut their own ribs. I hope you give this recipe a try. People will think you are a culinary expert!
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Ribs, Ribs, Ribs!
If you order just one rack of these tasty, golden-brown, smoky, ribs in a fancy restaurant, you`ll probably have to sell a kid or mortgage your house! Why would anyone want to cure a rack of ribs? Brining ribs in a curing solution allows them to retain moisture and ensure their safety in the smokehouse. In America, pork must also be heated to a minimum 138°F. (59°C.) if smoked, destroying any possible trichinae. Later, the finishing temperature will be 160°F. (71°C.). If the rack is to be slowly cooked while being smoked, it must be cured - for safety reasons.
Remember nitrites completely change the texture and flavor of meat. If you grill a fresh rack of ribs, you have great tasting roasted pork. The same fresh rack of pork ribs cured with sodium nitrite a few days, will gradually develop an entirely different texture and flavor we know as "cured ham" and it is delicious smoked and finished on the grill! Most often, large amounts of ribs are prepared for sizeable gatherings of famished folks at parties or gatherings, and clostridium botulinum should be the last thing a busy cook has to worry about. Restaurants, often cooking ribs on the spot, consistently choose to cure ribs for the convenience of storage or bulk purchasing.
What is a "wrangler"? He`s the cowpoke on a ranch responsible for getting up an hour early, putting on a pot of coffee, and going for a walk to round up the horses for the other cowboys to ride that day. The horses scatter throughout the nighttime while they "mow the lawn" and sometimes it takes quite a while to round `em back up. So the wrangler takes along a few "chaws" of hickory-smoked beef jerky for a snack. In America, even with the remote possibility of trichinella spiralis, jerky is never made of raw pork or bear meat.
Rocky Mountain western-fashion tasty barbecued ribs are first cured, then smoke-cooked, being hung inside a smokehouse several hours before being removed and grilled over indirect high heat for just a couple of minutes while a little glaze is applied. On the grill, the final temperature of the meat should be about 160°F. (71°C.). Remember, the smudge in the smoker cuts off oxygen, the meat remains moist, and with temperatures relatively low, the use of actual curing agents is critical, as a smokehouse composes perfectly correct conditions for botulinal development. The process is completely safe if a cook remembers any smoked meat must be completely cured using a precise amount of nitrite and dried to the touch before it will take in any smoke.
"Baby Backs"
Pork provides four types of ribs, perfect for any barbecue party. Back ribs, sometimes called "Baby Back Ribs" or more correctly "pork loin ribs", are those of the center rib section with the loin "end" attached. They are taken from the upper part of the piggy`s rib cage called the "chine", adjacent to the backbone. One domestic rack of baby-backs weighs about two-and-a-half pounds, costs a little more than beef, and feeds only two hungry guests. These slightly more expensive chine ribs created the expression "eating high off the hog".
Spareribs, taken from the rib cage surrounding the sides and upper belly, are larger and longer than baby backs. Often they are called "Dinosaur Bones" in jest. Containing more connective tissue, they are a bit tougher, but the meat is actually more flavorful. The average weight is about 3-1/2 pounds and the shoulder end of the rack is wider than the other. Longer ribs are leaner than the shorter, more fatty, and more meaty ends. No matter what your pocketbook will afford, either section is great for grilling.
Rib tips are the favored, very flavorful, sections used in much Chinese cooking. Tips are taken from gristly section connecting the two racks of spareribs in the piggy`s underbelly. These ribs contain much cartilage and may be a little tough to chew, but their flavor is certainly worth every cent you may pay for them. Braised then barbecued, they are the first choice of many wranglers.
Country ribs are most often not considered ribs at all in the Rocky Mountains. They are taken from the blade-end of the loin and are much like small, meaty, "pork chops". Although many markets trim the bones from the meat and present the cuts as "country style ribs", you may find these tasty n` fatty cuts ideal for grilling if they are baked first.
Preparation & Instructions
A little preparation is necessary for great barbecued ribs, consisting of trimming, membrane removal, application of your super-secret rub, and resting of the ribs before cooking. First, remove the tough translucent membrane located along the inside curvature of each rack of ribs allowing spice rubs and smoke flavor to penetrate the meat, making eating more pleasurable. The membrane is best removed using a blunt instrument like a screwdriver to begin the separation. Once you are able to get your fingers and thumb between the membrane and the bones, use a paper towel and your fingers to pull away the membrane. You'll soon discover that for some unknown reason, peeling the membrane is much easier if you begin at the small end and peel toward the large end of the rack.
Trimming the excess fat from the ribs is the next step. Using a smaller boning knife, carefully remove any extraneous pieces of fat, leaving the natural fat located between the ribs. Don't attempt to remove all the fat, as much of it is absolutely crucial for creating moist, flavorful, ribs while self-basting during the cooking process. Simply remove the larger pieces along the outside of the meat.
[USA] "Wrangler`s Rusty Rib Curing Solution"
(Prague Powder Nitrite Curing Brine For Ribs)
25 lbs. pork ribs
2-1/2 gallons ice water
1 lb. uniodized salt
8 oz. powdered dextrose (its only 75% sweet as sugar)
16 level tspns. (four ounces = 113.4 gr.) American strength 6.25% sodium nitrite Prague Powder #1.
Clean, trim, and remove the membranes from 25 pounds of pork back ribs. Mix the salt, dextrose, and the curing nitrite #1 into the water to make Wrangler`s Rusty Ribs curing solution. You may simply double the recipe for 50 pounds of ribs if you don't intend to eat alone! Place the ribs into the brine completely submerging all the meat and bones and refrigerate them (in the brine) two days inside a non-reactive container. A food-grade cooler or plastic lug is best.
Rinse the ribs thoroughly and pat them dry. Generously apply and vigorously rub in your own super-secret, yet to be legendary, spicy rib-rub. Common ingredients of rib rubs consist of salt, sugar, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, Hungarian paprika, peppers and chilies of all types, and, whew... many more. Every self-respecting rib cook develops his own favorite seasonings through experience and better "rib rubbers" soon discover the necessity of allowing the meat to rest a bit following rubbing, while seasonings and cures work their magic. You may want to start with my recipe for "Rotten Rub":
[USA] "Rocky Mountain Rotten Rib Rub"
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
Smoke-Cooking "Rocky Mountain Wrangler`s Ribs"
Place the cured, dried, and rubbed ribs into a preheated 120° F. (49°C.) smokehouse, start the smoking process using dampened hickory sawdust, and completely open the dampers, allowing moisture to escape. Gradually increase the heat inside the smokehouse to 160°F. (71°C.) degrees over a few hours time. The internal meat temperature must reach at least 138°F. (59°C.) although most wranglers smoke-cook ribs a little higher, until the meat just begins to separate from the bones (in about four hours). Remove the ribs and allow them to cool for later use or finish them on the grill over indirect heat with more hickory (moistened "chips" this time) at only about 200°F. (93°C.). Many old timers retain the meat`s moisture during final grilling by brushing on a little sugary glaze while the ribs finish over indirect heat, being most careful not to burn or char the sugars! Because sugar burns at 265°F. (129°C.), brush on glaze only at the very end of the grilling. The following glaze recipe is an old favorite silky-smooth blend generating a mahogany sheen that just can`t be ignored!
[USA] Ghastly Grilling Glaze For Pork Ribs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple or apricot preserves
1/2 cup whiskey
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 stick butter
1 tspn. garlic powder
2 tblspns. lemon juice
*Simmer all the ingredients five minutes then brush the mixture over the ribs just before removing them from the grill.
Careful now. Smoked ribs simply do not need the extremely lengthy cooking periods, as do briskets, shoulders and whole hogs. Never cook ribs, or any meat being barbecued, over a direct heat source. Use indirect heat by turning off the middle burners of a gas grill, or by scraping hot coals to the edge inside a covered charcoal grill. If you have the luxury of a larger offset smoker, you'll find plenty of room to place the ribs and won't have to worry about them drying out or over-cooking. If at all possible, rotate the ribs at intervals providing uniform heating. One perfectly ideal method of barbecuing ribs is to use a rotisserie, slowly cooking either several dry or wet rubbed racks, taking advantage of the utensil`s self-basting capabilities.
A few old "coots" like myself, prefer a simple glazing solution of vinegar, butter, and limejuice! Remember, glazing ribs with any mixture containing sugar, should be done just before serving them to avoid charring.
When the finishing temperature of the meat reaches 160°F. (71°C.) serve the ribs with plenty of "finishing sauce". My favorite is "Rocky Mountain Red". Some of the ingredients are not readily available in Poland so I`ve posted this recipe in another column previously with recipes for making your own 57 Sauce, ketchup, etc.
[USA] Rocky Mountain "Red" (Barbecue Sauce)
4 cups ketchup
2 bottles (10 oz. ea.) Heinz 57 Sauce
1 bottle (10 oz.) A.1. Steak Sauce
1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
1-1/2 cups apple cider
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tblspns. Frank's Hot Sauce
Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a large, heavy, Dutch oven or non-reactive saucepan and cook the sauce, stirring it frequently, over medium heat, five minutes to develop flavors. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the mixture, covered, until it reduces to the consistency of a thickened sauce - in about 90 minutes. Be sure to stir the mixture frequently. Start with a half cup of vinegar, then as the mixture simmers, add more a little at a time, until it suits your taste. The best way to serve the sauce is piping hot in small bowls. Be sure to serve an unlimited supply of moistened finger towels. Cool leftover sauce and pour it into jars. Cover and refrigerate. This sauce will keep several months when refrigerated.
The ribs are usually cut in pairs as to include lots of meat between the two bones as well as half on the sides. At a party, I often serve the entire rack in one piece - slathered with this sauce... and let the guests cut their own ribs. I hope you give this recipe a try. People will think you are a culinary expert!
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon