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| Posted: Sun Jul 27th, 2014 09:56 pm |
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1st Post |
Vargr
Vargr
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Vargr's “3-2-1†BBQ Spare Ribs
“Low and slow†smoked ribs, finished on the grill. Plan to wait at least 7 hours to eat these babies, but they are SO worth it!
This recipe also uses a few “atypical†ingredients, and the selection of rubs makes all the difference in the flavor. Wuff will note the unique attributes of the key ingredients, in case you have to make substitutes.
The “3-2-1†refers to the primary cooking method: 3 hours in the smoke, 2 hours cooked in foil, 1 hr out of the foil without smoke. All cooking is done at 225 degrees. (Or as close as you can keep it to that.) Vargr added one final step to these; “finishing†on a hot grill to create a wonderful charred, sweet, savory glaze.
Though the cook time does take hours, preparation and “actual work†doesn't really involve that much effort – just routine, periodic supervision for the most part. You'll want to be sure to keep the smoke running well for the first 2 hours (the third is somewhat less important). And boiling down the mop for the glaze needs some watching, so it doesn't reduce too much and burn. The rest is pretty much “automation†if you have a gas or pellet smoker. And “normal business†in keeping the charcoal replenished throughout the 6+ hours if you don't.
But, as said before, these ribs are absolutely worth it! Juicy! Let me tell you – wuff always has “BBQ Paws†when eating ribs. They come with the territory! But rarely does the juice run down his wrists to his elbows as it did here, and WITHOUT adding a drop of BBQ sauce; that's all from the meat!
The flavors are robust, spicy, with a noticeable degree of cayenne heat from the TastyTz rub that is tempered almost instantly by the sweet sugar in the Weber KC style rub, the honey and soda during the “foil sessionâ€, and the fruity savory maple glaze. Complex flavors of fruit, maple, paprika, onion, garlic. Tender, but not so tender than you can shake the meat from the bone. You'll still need to bite it a bit, and that's just how Vargr loves his ribs!
Charred bits from the grill, with a sweet edge from the glaze. Tangy zip from the vinegar spritz. And the rich pork flavor still underpins it all.
YUS! These were yum yum yummy!
Ingredients:
2 slabs pork spare ribs (about 3 pounds each)
(The Rubs)
Tasty T'z BBQ Rub
Weber Kansas City Style BBQ Rub
(For the “spritzâ€)
1 1/2 Cup Hot Water
1/3 Cup Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Schwans Black Raspberry juice concentrate
(For the Foil)
2/3 to 1 Cup “Real†Dr. Pepper (not diet!) (If you can find the Cane Sugar type, use it!)
4 Tablespoons Honey
4 Tablespoons Bacon Fat
Heavy Weight aluminum foil
(For the glaze)
2/3 C Hot Water
All the juices from inside the foil
3 Tablespoons Schwans Black Raspberry juice concentrate
1/3 C Maple Syrup
1-2 Tablespoons Honey
Directions:
Trim the spare ribs “Kansas City†style, and remove the membrane. Here's an excellent link that explains how, with pictures! (http://bbq.about.com/od/ribs/ss/aa010607a.htm) . Some folks say, it's okay to leave that membrane on. But it keeps the rub, the smoke, and the glaze away from the meat, and it is tough as gristle and has nearly zero flavor. So Vargr definitely wanted it gone!
Those extra pieces of pork you have left now? We're going to smoke them too! But you can regulate your cooking better now with those as separate pieces, so everything comes out just as done as you like. And those extra bits? You can snack on them. Have 'em for appetizers. Make “Texas BBQ Nachos†with 'em. Or lop 'em up and put 'em in your BBQ beans. They'll definitely not go to waste!
Dust both sides of the slabs and all the pieces with a light coating of the TastyT'z rub. Just enough to color everything red. Remember, LIGHT coat! This rub has a goodly amount of Cayenne pepper in it, and it will definitely show up later! Rub it into the meat well!
Apply a heavier coat of the Weber's Kansas City Style Rub. It has more brown sugar, but still brings a lot of other savory spices. Rub it in too! Wrap the individual slabs up in a couple layers of cling wrap, and the extra bits too. NOTE: The meat will express juices because of the salt in these rubs, so make sure your wrappings don't leak or you'll be wiping out your fridge later!
Place in a leak-proof container (if you have one) and put in the fridge over night.
On smoking day, remove from the refrigerator first thing, and allow to begin coming to room temperature while preparing your smoker.
Set up your smoker for 225 degrees F. Make sure you have a good water bath for steam moisture. Soak your wood chips as necessary. Wuff smoked with a few large chunks of mesquite, several handfuls of hickory chips, and a mix of Sugar Maple and Apple wood pellets. The mesquite chunks smoke long and slow. The hickory chips give nice sustained smoke too. And the pellets smoke up quickly and don't require smoking. They smoke a LOT and fast, but don't linger as long as the others.
Didn't add any spices to the water, nor other ingredients this time. But apple juice or apple cider wouldn't be amiss.
Put all the meat into the smoker. Set the rib slabs meat-side up. The bits and pieces are a bit less important, but meat-up is okay there too.
Smoke at 225 degrees for 3 hours, spritzing every 45 minutes to an hour with the “Spritzâ€. Make sure the smoke keeps running strong for at least the first 2 hours. After the ribs get to about 160 internal temperature, which ought to happen in the third hour, it's okay to let the smoke taper off a little.
At the end of the third hour, remove the meat from the smoker. Tear off two LARGE portions of heavy gauge aluminum foil. Make sure the foil is big enough to completely wrap around each slab of ribs. Use Heavy gauge, so the bones don't poke through. It's important that the foil not be punctured!
Place each slab of ribs on its own sheet of heavy foil. Combine all the extra bits into a third sheet. Lift the sides and ends of the foil up to form foil 'boats' or bowls to keep the next step from running all over.
Drizzle 2 tablespoons bacon fat and two tablespoons of honey over the meat side of each slab. You can also add more bacon fat and honey to the third foil package with the extra bits. Pour 1/3 to 1/2 Cup of non-Diet Dr. Pepper onto the ribs (and the extra bits).
Fold the sides and ends of the foil in and crimp/roll to seal tight. CAREFULLY return the sealed foil packets to the smoker. Do Not Puncture the packets!
Allow the meat to continue to cook for another 2 hours at 225 degrees. If you want more tender ribs, let them go a little longer. But not too long, or you'll end up with mushy rib meat. Probably no more than 1/2 hour would be “safeâ€. (Note: This is known in some competition circles as “The Texas Crutch†and it REALLY does make a fantastic difference in tender, juicy ribs!)
While the meat is cooking in the foil, begin preparing your glaze. Pour all the ingredients for the glaze, except the foil juices, into a 1.5 Quart sauce pan. Bring to a boil and reduce by at least 1/2, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to keep warm when sauce has reduced in volume and coats a spoon.
At the end of 2 hours, have your pot of glaze handy. CAREFULLY (do NOT use tongs that will puncture the foil!) remove the foil packets. Tear a small hole near one corner, and drain the juices all into that pot of glaze. Do the same for all 3 packets.
Remove and discard the foil. Return the meat to the smoker. Smoke for ~1 hour more at 225 degrees, spritzing once about 45 minutes.
While the meat is finishing in the smoker, return the pot of glaze to the burner and bring back to a boil. Reduce in volume until it coats the back of the spoon once again. Lower heat to warm.
About 15 minutes before the meat is done in the smoker, fire up the grill and bring it up to high heat.
After the meat has finished its final hour in the smoker, remove the meat and shut down the smoker. Brush the meaty surface with the glaze, coating it all, and put it glaze-side down on the grill. Brush the bone side with the glaze. Note – this is going to smoke like CRAZY. Be prepared!
After 2 minutes, flip all the meat over. You should see some char marks on the grilled side, but it shouldn't be blacked over large areas. Paint on more glaze while the bone side is caramelizing. Do it quickly, and it will halt any excess charring. Note- the sugary mixture is expected to char slightly over that high heat.
After 2 minutes, flip the meat back to the meaty side down, and paint the glaze over the bony side again.
Repeat until you have at least 3 coats of glaze, grilled on each side.
Remove the meat from the grill and paint one last thin coat of glaze over the side that was last down.
Allow to rest about 5 minutes, then slice as desired.
Vargr recommends serving BBQ sauce on the side with these. This will give you “optionsâ€, and you may find you don't want to use any additional sauce. Wuff and roomie didn't add any extra at all.
Unusual / Key Ingredients:
TastyT'z BBQ Red Rub: (Spelled with a Z) See (http://tastytz.com/?product=bbq-sauce ) This Colorado-based rub has a sincere kick from Cayenne pepper and spicy Paprika. It also brings savory notes from cinnamon, cumin, mustard, onion and a bit of brown sugar.
Weber Kansas City Style BBQ Rub: (http://www.amazon.com/Weber-Kansas-City-Style-BBQ/dp/B004VRKOTU) This rub has more sugar and a different spice set than the Tastyt'z. With onion, garlic, and chili pepper along with Turbinado sugar. It also has a bit of its own red pepper. NOTE: This spice is no longer available at the Weberseasonings web site, and may be being replaced with their new “Sweet N Tangy†seasoning.
Schwans Black Raspberry juice concentrate: This item is no longer available from Schwans, and has been replaced with their “Blue Raspberry†version (http://www.schwans.com/products/productDetail.aspx?id=54426&c1=9404). However, you could find other sources through Google, or use frozen just concentrate (just let it thaw and don't add any water before mixing into the recipe).Attachment: 3-2-1 Ribs plate.jpg (Downloaded 20 times) Last edited on Sun Jul 27th, 2014 10:01 pm by Vargr
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We grow not old, so long as we continue to chase our dreams.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28th, 2014 12:38 am |
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2nd Post |
boojum
boojum
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OOooookaaaayy.. that picture is EVIL! And looks so yummy!!!
Boojum the brown bunny
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29th, 2014 02:21 am |
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3rd Post |
Vargr
Vargr
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boojum wrote:
OOooookaaaayy.. that picture is EVIL! And looks so yummy!!!
Boojum the brown bunny
Wuff has more images of them, too! And yes, they were absolutely fantastic! Even reheated the second day, they were still gloriously juicy, tender, and brimming with flavors!
Served them with some eggy "Amish" tater salad and some nice sweet bacon-y BBQ beans.
Took some to the office and offered the samples to everyone. Rave reviews! If you see a few odd guests visiting the recipe section here on the board, it might be coworkers looking for this recipe. I steered them this way! 
<Edited - Added a photo of the ribs plated with some Amish 'tater Salad and BBQ Beans.Attachment: 3-2-1 Plated Pork Ribs1.jpg (Downloaded 7 times) Last edited on Mon Aug 4th, 2014 12:39 pm by Vargr
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We grow not old, so long as we continue to chase our dreams.
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