Teach me how to bbq ribs over charcoal!!! - Page 3

The current issue of Cook's Illustrated has an interesting recipie for Memphis-style dry-rub ribs, but I haven't tried it myself.

Blasphemy...

Hey man, I always appreciated your posts about food. I know it takes a lot of effort to cook the way you do, and to document it with pretty pictures. That said, feel free to participate in the forum's non-grilling topics too.

I hope you enjoy your stay.

Thanks, DNW. And I did stay around for a little while on the other topics as I'm a big wine, beer, scotch, bourbon guy and jumped in there. I used to be a big foodie but rarely cook other than on the grill anymore. I don't get home till 6:30 and the wife gets home around 5 so she, who never cooked in her life, has taken over and gotten pretty darn good. It was either that or wait till I finished something at like 8:30. From necessity, I guess!!

It's funny, this page has been open on my desktop for a year and I just sort of lost interest. I guess I was pissed that people were upset with what I was bringing here, and lost interest. Feels good to see people appreciate what I do. Thanks...

never been able to do good ribs from scratch on the grill, always get impatient after a while and put them under direct heat, that or i misjudge the amount of briquettes needed and the fire dies, now i just preboil with various stuff and finish them off on the grill with some glaze. may not be the ultimate ribs but pretty hard to fuck up

Hmm, think I posted these in my Cured and Smoked Meats thread.

http://www.amazon.com/Low-Slow-Maste...6189916&sr=8-1

that basically explains everything.

Back to the original topic. There are all manner of ways to cook ribs. The minion method, 3-2-1, 8+ hours over something like 200 degrees. I've done them all. Hell, I've got a website dedicated to the art and science of grilling. Here's my go to method for Baby Back Ribs (BBRs) which are my favorite rib. That's just a preference thing. If you go with Spares then add a little time to this method if they are thick, but no more than 30 minutes or so. If they are thin, then keep the same time, but always watch the ribs to let you know when they are done, rather than relying on time. This isn't baking, this is grilling and there are a lot more factors than just setting a temp and a timer. Some grills run hotter, or colder, or take longer to heat back up when you open them up to baste, spritz, sauce, add fuel or wood, etc. I'll get to letting the ribs tell you when they are done in a minute. First, peal the membrane off on the back. The first couple times you do this it will seem ridiculously hard. After you do it a few times it will be ridiculously easy. Paper towels are your friend here. Use a fork, butter knife, chopstick to get under the membrane then grab with paper towels for grip. Once you master it you won't need the fork or chopstick. I hesitate to give this advice because I don't want people to rely on it too much as a few successful practice rounds is all it takes to be able to peal the membrane with ease, but I will give it anyway. If you can't peal the membrane back, then score the back of the ribs (bone side) repeately with a sharp knife in a couple different directions. Score it really good. Now that the membrane is pealed back )or scored) what to do with the ribs? Myself, I do this a day out and put them in a ziplock with apple cider, garlic and black and white pepper. I leave them in the marinade for 12 hours or more. You can use whatever you like here. I've used Jerk Sauce, Walkers Wood being my fave, as a marinade. I've used Peach and Pepper sauce. Whatever you want. My dad skips the marinade, applies the rub the night before and wraps in seran wrap. That's fine. Try them all. PRactice is the best part of all this!! The next day I remove the ribs from the marinade, pat dry with paper towels, apply some course salt, black and white pepper to each side of the meat and apply a rub. Always apply rubs/salts/pepper, to the bone side down first. Seems like it shouldn't matter, but if you do meat side first and then flip to the bone side, all the rub/salt/pepper touching the cutting board is going to stick to the board and not the meat requiring you to reapply your rub. The bones keep the boneside from touching the cutting board as the bones are bowed up. It's a simple thing but it will save you a lot on the rub. Now to the grill. I set up the grill for indirect grilling, coals/smoke wood (or burners and smoke wood) on one side, meat on the other. I do mine at 275-300 for 2 hours. That's it. Other than moving the ribs around a bit to get the ones closest to the fire farther away and vice versa (if necessary) I don't do anything except add more fuel if the fire looks like it's dying and smoke wood if the smoke ebbs. The result is just short of fall off the bone (FOTB) ribs every time. I feel ribs should be tender, but firm and not FOTB. People request FOTB all the time and I make them by simply adding 30 minutes to the process and some foil. At the 1 hour 15 to 30 mark, I pull the ribs, place them bone side down on a large sheet of foil and turn up the sides. I add a little (like half a cup) of fluid which can be cider, beer, wine, bourbon, whatever, and seal it up and place it on the indirect side for 30-45 minutes. You can also add more rub here if you like. Then I remove from the foil, back on the indirect side to fim up what will be sort of mealy rub from the moisture. Don't bother with any smoke wood now as it won't have any impact. Another option is to slather the meat side of each slab with any of honey/syrup/molasses and more rub if you like, and put in the foil. They won't be overly sweet as you might expect but they will be incredible. I mentioned watching the meat and here is what I mean. When the meat pulls back from the bone a quarter to half inch they are done like this: Some ribs will be done with less pull back if they have lower fat content. That's when you need to let the elasticity of the ribs talk to you. Pick them up with the tongs. When they are raw they fold in half. When they are done they don't give all that much. When you see ribs like those above, pick them up and get a feel for the elasticity so you will know in the future in case you get ribs that are lower in fat and don't pull back as much. Now, people are going to say that I'm nuts doing ribs for only 2 hours. They will say the only way to do ribs is to do like 6 hours of smoke to have them come out well. I've met those people. Those people waste expensive smoke wood for 4 hours and mock me for going so short. I mock them for running the cost up on smoke wood, but I digress. Ribs only take on smoke for at the most 3 hours and that's only if you have the temp at like 190. The reason for long cooking times is more for breaking down tough connective tissue than it is for the smoke. Ribs are tender enough on their own. And if they are only going to take smoke for 2 hours then why prolong the process unless you are doing so to increase the social aspect of grilling? I have no problem with that, but I have a problem with the scoffers that say 2 hours isn't long enough. To them I show them one picture. Not that picture of the ribs above, but of the those same ribs above sliced: Look at that rib on the right and tell me it would be possible to have a deeper smoke ring. Two hours of smoke and the rings almost touch in the thinner part of the rib. I suppose it's possible if they cold smoked them like salmon, but that's a different process altogether... I teach Ribs 101 to all of my buddies and might be doing so at a local culinary school soon. Ribs aren't all that hard. A little practice and some knowledge is all you need. Also a willingness to ignore those that are so set in their ways as to how they do theirs to realize there may be a better way.... Trust me, if I find a better way I will discard this method in a heartbeat.

that, ladies and gentlemen, is a master's course. i loathe emoticons, but
that point about doneness is perfect. in fact, i was going to ask pio about that on his ribs, but was too polite. when the bone protrudes, it's done (don't make me move this to DT). same is true for rotisserie chicken ... when you see the meat pull back from the ankle, chances are the chicken's done.

Alright, this thread has now been bookmarked.

Chris Schlesinger's slow recipe kick's ass. I've never bothered with Bittman's faster one, but I imagine it's quite good too.

Chris Schlesinger's Slow-Grilled Ribs



(Makes 4 servings; Time: at least 3 (and up to 6) hours, largely unattended



These are ribs the way they should be, but you need a day off with an empty schedule to make them. If days like those are as infrequent in your life as they are in mine, try my version - Bittman's Faster Grilled Ribs variation. The flavor is roughly the same, but the texture is not as perfect as that you achieve with Chris's method.



Chris's reasoning is that you drink a beer every time you add charcoal to the fire, so wood fires are not only better but more fun. Mine is that you have a beer whenever you feel like it, regardless of which grill you're using.



· 1/4 cup Chris Schlesinger's Rib Rub (see below)

· About 4 pounds pork spareribs

· About 3 cups hickory, oak, or other hardwood chips, soaked in water to cover



1. Massage the rub into the ribs. If you have a gas grill, preheat by using the burner on only one side, on medium heat, for about 15 minutes. If you are using a charcoal or wood fire, bank it to one side of your grill and keep the fire as low as possible, starting with just enough fuel to get heat, about 15 briquettes or the equivalent in hardwood charcoal. Sprinkle a handful of wood chips onto the rack above the heat source, allowing them to fall directly onto the fire.



2. Place the ribs away from the heat source (over the unlit burner of a gas grill) and cover the grill. You want a very cool fire, less than 300 degrees if possible (you should be able to hold your hand right over the area on which the ribs are cooking with just a little discomfort). If you are using solid fuel, add a few lumps of charcoal or a few briquettes every hour, just enough to keep the fire going. Turn the ribs every 30 minutes or so, adding more wood chips as needed, and re-closing the grill cover.



3. Depending on the heat of your fire, after 2 to 6 hours the ribs will have lost much of their fat and developed an unquestionably cooked look. Just before you're ready to eat, raise the heat to high (or add a bunch more briquettes and wait a while) and brown the ribs on both sides. Be very careful; they will likely still have enough fat on them to flare up and burn, ruining all your hard work in an instant (believe me, I've done it several times). Watch them constantly and move them frequently. Browning will take about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.



Chris Schlesinger's Rib Rub



(Makes: 1/4 cup; Time: 5 minutes)



I've relied on this for more than fifteen years; it's the best rib rub in my repertoire, and the only one you'll ever need. Unbelievably delicious, and not at all hot.



· 2 tablespoons paprika

· 2 tablespoons sugar

· 1 tablespoon salt

· 1 tablespoon ground cumin

· 1 tablespoon black pepper

· 1 tablespoon chili powder



Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl, then transfer the mixture to a covered container. Keeps for at least one summer.



Bittman's Faster Grilled Ribs



There are certainly times I prepare Chris's ribs, but then there are times I decide to make ribs at the last moment. In those cases, I buy baby back ribs (about 1 pound per person) and rub them using Chris's Rib Rub. I grill them on a covered grill, over low or indirect heat for the first 30 minutes or so, to render some of the fat, and then I finish them over direct heat for 10 or 15 minutes, watching carefully so they don't burn. That's my recipe.



The recipes above are from How to Cook Everything: Bittman Takes on America's Chefs by Mark Bittman, published by Wiley.

Anyone have suggestions for best thermometers?

I guess it's not needed all the time, but sometimes I want an accurate reading instead of second guessing myself I don't really trust my current one.

but since that one is no longer available, i really like this one, which has the advantage of a cable attaching the probe to the readout, so you can leave it in the meat and walk away and still keep an eye on the temp.

The thermapen is no longer available? I love that thing

Yes, I have several similar to that too, for just that purpose. If I am doing a 10+ lbs brisket, I'll have at least two probes in it.