Ribs de maximus

[Gunslinger]

Ok my wife is actually complimenting me so I HAVE to brag here.

I smoked some ribs (3 racks) for her birthday party and handed her a rack that I had just for her.  She looked at me and said "these are the BEST ribs you have ever cooked"

I feel vindicated.  I really do.  I've cooked some bad ones, and I've cooked some good ones.

I marinated them last night in three groups......beer, coke, and apple juice.  I basted them every hour with a squirt bottle of apple juice and water.

I cooked them for 4+ hours and they are to die for........

I feel like the king of the castle.  

[DREDIOCK]

Originally posted by Gunslinger
Ok my wife is actually complimenting me so I HAVE to brag here.

I smoked some ribs (3 racks) for her birthday party and handed her a rack that I had just for her.  She looked at me and said "these are the BEST ribs you have ever cooked"

I feel vindicated.  I really do.  I've cooked some bad ones, and I've cooked some good ones.

I marinated them last night in three groups......beer, coke, and apple juice.  I basted them every hour with a squirt bottle of apple juice and water.

I cooked them for 4+ hours and they are to die for........

I feel like the king of the castle.  

Just make sure you print out this post and keep it in a safe place so when you go to do it again you remember what you did.

Cant tell you how many truely outstanding dishes I've come up with only to have them being a 1 time thing because I "winged it" as usual and never bothered to make note of what I did
Or did something specifically as you just did then a couple months later when I went to do it again forgot what it was that I did

[Lizking]

I don't think I have ever cooked the same thing twice.

S! on the ribs, they are a biotch to get right.

[Gunslinger]

Yup everyone loved the ribs.  I Fed up the chicken breasts for the ONE guy at the party that doesnt like to get his hands dirty.   The thermometer was off by at least 15 degrees.  Either way the ribs were absolutly perfect.  My wife was happy with them.


What sucks is i've drank more than she has today and its HER Birthsday party.  I just took a shower and I'm pounding the water trying to sober up cause her sister is here and I am WAY more drunk than she is.

My wife rarely gets drunk and that was really my plan tonites cept I beat her to it.  I'm trying to slow down and sober up and get her to drink more.  That way when it comes to the lovin later......well no need to spell it out.

[TheThang]

pork ribs been ribs give em all to me and you'll never see them again. Ribs are by far my favorite dish. Mind cookin me up some?

[Hangtime]

film... FILM.. FILM!!

[mora]

Would you mind explaining how you did them in more detail? I'd like to try them your way, but didn't quite get it from your description(I'm total n00b when it comes to ribs).

[Gh0stFT]

Originally posted by Gunslinger
I marinated them last night in three groups......beer, coke, and apple juice.  I basted them every hour with a squirt bottle of apple juice and water.

I cooked them for 4+ hours and they are to die for.

WOAH Gunslinger! Beer, Coke and apple juice this must be the trick!??
Where did you get the recipe for the marinade? from Toad?

[Gunslinger]

Do some searches on here for ribs or smoked anything and you'll find alot.  Or ask toad he's pretty good.

Beer apple juice and coke all make good marinades.  You can add other stuff in there as well.  I used to go all out in my marinade but have quite cause it's too messy and too much work.  You can even take your marinade and put it in the water pan of the smoker.  I know a guy who marinades in thousand Island dressing.

Would you mind explaining how you did them in more detail? I'd like to try them your way, but didn't quite get it from your description(I'm total n00b when it comes to ribs).

Prep:http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/ribselect2.html#spareprep
I trim the ribs
cut the skirt off the back
remove the membrane
trim some of the fat

I let them marinade over night and then I pull them out in the morning and pat them dry.

Then I apply a dry rub.  I use this:


I wish they had a salt free version but oh well.

When applying the rub masage the meat very good until it starts to look an orangesh color of the rub.  Dont leave too many spots of excessive rub build up.

Then I cover them back up and put them in the fridge until I'm ready to cook.  You want to give your rub at least a few ours to sit on the meat.  I remove the ribs from the fridge about 45 minutes before cooking.

I use a brinkman el-cheapo smoker modified to use a propane burner instead of charcoal.  I also installed a thermometer on it.  the key is low heat moist air.  I add a beer to the water pan and make sure it's close enough to the burner in ordr to heat up.  I put a tin can filled with wet wood chips next to the burner.  (side note:  I preferr to use jack daniels wood chips.  I don't know if they are hickory or mesquite but they are good!)

I cook the ribs till they are done.  In this case it took 4.5-5 hours.  I know they are done when you can twist and pull a bone out or pull two bones away from eachother and the meat tears with ease  I never let the smoker get above 250 degrees and I try and keep it at or around 215 to 225.  If you are using a charcoal smoker I find it extremly dificult to maintain temp control....I am not very gifted in that aspect so I modded my smoker to use propane.  

If and when my smoke chips catch fire I use a spray bottle filled with apple juice and put it out.  This also creates more smoke.  Through the entire process I basted the ribs with the spray bottle filled with apple juice about every hour.  (only AFTER the first two hours....otherwise you might spray off the rub)  Some people like to wrap them in foil half way through others don't.  I preferr not to, I just think it's a waste of foil.   I just let them sit in some sauce about 15 minutes before serving and they were to die for.

Mora if you don't own a smoker I highly reccomend one.  This is a good place to start for all your smoking needs:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/index.html

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Gh0stFT
WOAH Gunslinger! Beer, Coke and apple juice this must be the trick!??
Where did you get the recipe for the marinade? from Toad?

also it should be known that I did not mix all three together but had three SEPERATE groups marinading.  This is the first time I've tried using coke as a marinade and I have to say it was the tenderest one of the bunch.  I think next time I will try Dr. Pepper.

[Toad]

Ghost, did you ever find a smoker?

[tapakeg]

It's funny I saw this post, I just finished off a great slab of ribs myself.



Here's a recipe given to me by a local restaurant chef.  I tried it the other day and it worked well.

First off NEVER BOIL THE RIBS.  I have heard people say this is their "secret".  The only problem is the flavor of the ribs boils into the water........then down the drain.


Mix garlic cloves, bay leaves, pepper corns, salt in water and let the ribs soak completely submerged for 24 hours in the refrigerator.  The secret to the mixture is not one ingredient overpowers the others.  Just a nice blend of them all

Drain the water and apply your rub.  I used cavenders.  It's a greek all purpose seasoning.  I don't have a secret rib rub.

Let the ribs sit uncovered in the fridge for another 24 hours.


I do not have a smoker........so

I lay the ribs on skewers across a baking pan so they are somewhat suspended.

bake for 4 hours at 210 degrees.

Take out of oven, throw on the BBQ sauce and slap em on the grill.

I do have a grill and could throw on some wood to smoke them, but I have to get a thermomoter so I can get consistant heat temp.

You know you have genuine smoked ribs when you see the "smoke ring"  cut the ribs and look at the meat,  under the skin it should be a different color ring if they were smoked properly.

The trade secrets are, the rub, the BBQ sauce and types of wood to smoke, exact temps  etc.


Oh yeah, I set my calender to the yearly "Reno Rib Cookoff"




Tapakeg

[Gh0stFT]

Originally posted by Toad
Ghost, did you ever find a smoker?

Hi Toad, negativ, i still searching one, ive seen a few, but they are
to small for my taste. I search one i can use for simple grilling too,
and ist should be large. The last few weekends i was grilling for some
friends and realized that our basic grill just isnt enough when you
have 6+ people. Someone was waiting forever when others where
allready done eating And i was working my a** off the whole
time standing at the grill and hungry LOL.
Toad, i will let you know when i found the right one.
What i have tested so far is Stubbs Pork Marinade, i enjoyed the flavor
very much, though it was a little bit to sweat for my taste.
I experimented with stubbs liquid smoke also with very good results
on chicken-breast !

Regards
Gh0stFT

[Toad]

Sounds like you may end up with a grill and a smoker. Many of us do, as the two techniques are different and it's much easier to get the right tool to do each one.

You can do both with some but it's always a compromise.

I don't think you can go wrong with that Brinkmann water smoker I mentioned before. It's cheap and you can easily smoke enough food for a dozen people on it.

Then you can get a good sized grill for not much money and be all set.

Let me know if I can help.  Good luck!

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Toad
Sounds like you may end up with a grill and a smoker. Many of us do, as the two techniques are different and it's much easier to get the right tool to do each one.

You can do both with some but it's always a compromise.

I don't think you can go wrong with that Brinkmann water smoker I mentioned before. It's cheap and you can easily smoke enough food for a dozen people on it.

Then you can get a good sized grill for not much money and be all set.

Let me know if I can help.  Good luck!

just stay away from the brinkman el cheapo.  That's what I use but it requires several mods to work properly and it is a pain if you ask me.  That's what I have and (like I said earlier) convereted it to propane using the stand for my turkey fryer.  

personally I've had my eye on this one:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1978617