Spare Ribs on the PBC

[Shff1984]

Spare Ribs with Meathead's Memphis Dust finished off with Vermont Maple Glazed Pig Candy

[Shff1984]

Ribs have been dry brining with Kosher salt for the last three hours.

[Shff1984]

Hmm, I seem unable to post these pictures in the correct orientation. The files on my computer show the correct rotation until I upload them.

[Shff1984]

JPP, I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago and have been living in Tampa for the past 5 years. Maybe the south is rubbing off on me but I am not sure if Florida is considered the true south.

[JPP]

I've actually been south of the equator... Good thing I brought my magnetic boots! If I were to speculate, when I've had these sorts of issues, it's because I neglected to save the photo prior to uploading it.

[JPP]

Fwiw they're fine for me as well when I click on them...

[Jerod Broussard]

Shiny barrel....wooohooo!!!

[Shff1984]

Thanks Jerod, I purchased this one off craigslist for $250 with the ash catcher and hinged grill grate included. The discount was enough to convince my wife that we'd better jump on the deal! I think I saw a pic of your original PBC last night on one of the many forums I was browsing. It looked like it had never been covered from the elements but i am sure it works perfectly.


I just put the ribs on 20 min ago and since I am new to the PBC I have tried to control the temps to be low in the past but this time I think I am going to shoot for cooking at 275 to 300. Hopefully the sugar in the rub will not burn. I put on a very generous amount.

Looks like this pic is better...

[Jerod Broussard]

Yeah, mine has actually never been out in the weather, but is always subjected to the moist east Texas air which is way less than what I would get back home in southwest Louisiana.

[Nate]

Looks good. I did 3 racks yesterday using Meathead's Memphis Dust and then used Blues Hog Original on 2 of them and Blues Hog Championship on another so I could do a little comparison... also had a couple chickens hanging...

Not sure what is going on with your probe their.. if you are using for air temp then you might consider either hanging it or making a foil ball and putting it in to get it off the grate.

[Shff1984]

Maaannn, I want to try that Blues Hog Sauce. Been readen all about it on here. I plan on doing a butt next weekend so I'll order it this week.

Nate, do you think the probe might be inaccurate on the grill grate?

For the pig candy glaze I plan on using this bourbon maple syrup I purchased at a local place called 4 rivers smoke house. Hopefully it works out.

[Nate]

my understanding it has to do w/ heat & energy transfer. Read the AR article on thermodynamics of BBQ. metal is going to hold heat longer than air will. your air temp may be dropping but the grate may not drop at the same rate so you'll get a false read. Do you want to know air temp or grate temp?

[Shff1984]

When I think about it, that could make sense but it I will have to read the article. The way I understand it, you cannot heat the metal to a higher heat than the surrounding air. That sounds logical to me.

[Shff1984]

If the temp does drop, the metal it is heating should follow shortly after, with a little delay.

[MBMorgan]

"When I open the files they show the correct orientation. Nevertheless, I rotated them, saved them, and tried to upload them here twice and they were still upside down. Kinda weird but when you click on the pictures they show up the proper way."

When you say you rotated them and saved the pics, did you rotate them so that they appear upside-down on your PC? If so, then they will appear upside-down when you post them (the inverted orientation data was saved with the image files). If that's the case, simply rotate them right-side-up on your PC, save, and when posted they'll be correct on the website.

[Shff1984]

I tried it both ways and uploaded it here. I deleted one of the upside down photo posts and reposted here. For some reason it wouldn't post correctly. Believe me, I am very computer savvy.

[MBMorgan]

"When I open the files they show the correct orientation. Nevertheless, I rotated them, saved them, and tried to upload them here twice and they were still upside down. Kinda weird but when you click on the pictures they show up the proper way."

When you say you rotated them and saved the pics, did you rotate them so that they appear upside-down on your PC? If so, then they will appear upside-down when you post them (the inverted orientation data was saved with the image files). If that's the case, simply rotate them right-side-up on your PC, save, and when posted they'll be correct on the website.

Shff1984 - vBulletin can be pretty weird when it comes to how it handles images ... or not ... depending on time of day, the direction you're facing, or any one of a number of random factors that we humans just don't understand. We've gotten pretty used to it around the Pit because, as you observed, pics always seem to look perfectly normal when you click on them.

[Shff1984]

Thanks for the input and your willingness to help out those of us who are new to the AR.

[Shff1984]

Umm, We have eaten those leftover ribs that were on the hinged cooking grate and I have to say it is amazing. I am about 15 min from making the pig candy glaze and I anticipate the results will get even better. I will post pictures of these amazing ribs soon.

[Shff1984]

Ok, So the ribs were cooked between 275 and 300 for about 3:50 on the PBC. The ribs are overdone but not burnt and still edible. I think next time I cook spare ribs at these temps I will use the Texas crutch at 1:45 into it and not 2:45 into it to prevent overcooking. That being said, I haven't started devouring yet but from the little pieces I have tried so far are pretty damn good. I am used to cooking at lower temps so it's all part of the learning process but I am still pretty happy with this. Overall I know that the PBC is a great tool, I just need to learn it.

I Will post detailed info on my pork butt I plan to do this weekend.

[MBMorgan]

That's a pretty fine looking batch of ribs ... I bet they're not nearly as overdone as you think they are. Looking forward to pics of the sliced results. FWIW, most of us PBC'ers don't bother with wrapping ribs. The humidity and cooking temps are high enough that it's not really necessary.

[Shff1984]

Thanks, We just finished devouring half the ribs (the left half). Pretty good but overdone as far as being too tender. I think I'll skip the glaze and the crutch next time.

[Shff1984]

Also next time I will take meatheads suggestion and use about two tablespoons of rub to a rack. I over killed it with the rub but the dry brine of the salt still balanced it out.