OK, got these cooked yesterday. Of course I forgot to take pictures of the cooking processes but here is the finished result:
The two on the left were just smoked like regular ribs. The very left one I wanted to do spicy so I used a spicy rub, mopped with Franks Red Hot, and then glazed with some hot sauce. The one next to it was seasoned with Honey Hog and glazed with Blues Hog sauce. They were both as expected and tasted a lot like a regular smoked rib should taste. There were two other smaller pieces that I had to take off the heat before these were done so those got eaten up as a snack before the pic.
The next three were smoked and then braised like you would pork belly burnt ends. Probably needed another hour of cooking. They never got quite as tender as I would have hoped. They were decent but not my favorite.
The two on the right were grilled with direct heat over some lump charcoal and finished with a brush of sauce. Didn't use a super hot fire and it took about 15-20 minutes for them to cook. I expected them to be very tough but they were nearly as tender as the regular smoked ones. They didn't cook the same as flanken beef ribs since they were a bit thicker and I had to move them off the direct heat to the cool side of the grill so they didn't burn. I didn't give these any marinade or brine but I think that could be a good addition if there is a next time.
Overall I think the smoked ones were probably my favorite followed surprisingly by the grilled ones. The braised ones just didn't do it for me but like I said, they could have done with a bit longer cook. Not sure I would ever pick these up again in place of a full rack of ribs but they would make a nice substitute for chicken wings or sausage bites for a game day appetizer or something like that.
The two on the left were just smoked like regular ribs. The very left one I wanted to do spicy so I used a spicy rub, mopped with Franks Red Hot, and then glazed with some hot sauce. The one next to it was seasoned with Honey Hog and glazed with Blues Hog sauce. They were both as expected and tasted a lot like a regular smoked rib should taste. There were two other smaller pieces that I had to take off the heat before these were done so those got eaten up as a snack before the pic.
The next three were smoked and then braised like you would pork belly burnt ends. Probably needed another hour of cooking. They never got quite as tender as I would have hoped. They were decent but not my favorite.
The two on the right were grilled with direct heat over some lump charcoal and finished with a brush of sauce. Didn't use a super hot fire and it took about 15-20 minutes for them to cook. I expected them to be very tough but they were nearly as tender as the regular smoked ones. They didn't cook the same as flanken beef ribs since they were a bit thicker and I had to move them off the direct heat to the cool side of the grill so they didn't burn. I didn't give these any marinade or brine but I think that could be a good addition if there is a next time.
Overall I think the smoked ones were probably my favorite followed surprisingly by the grilled ones. The braised ones just didn't do it for me but like I said, they could have done with a bit longer cook. Not sure I would ever pick these up again in place of a full rack of ribs but they would make a nice substitute for chicken wings or sausage bites for a game day appetizer or something like that.
Comment