"Meaty" back ribs are the devil, skip them. Go for true "baby" backs, 2.5lbs/rack or smaller, if you want back ribs. Too much dry loin meat on top, which further insulates the internal layers from cooking on time, extends the cook, and becomes dry cardboard.
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I've always cooked ribs to 145-150 F and then let them cool so I can glaze them and put them under a broiler or on the grill to finish without exceeding that temperature. I'll do sous vide if I'll cooking for a crowd so I can freeze, transport, thaw and finish. Works every time.
I tried the method y'all are talking about and wondered if I had lost my mind by not sticking to what I know. After the overcooked failure I went back to 150-F and they came out fine, right in the smoker, prepared as instructed, but not overcooked to that high temperature.
Because of varying thickness from end to end, I'll probe in multiple places with an instant read to determine average doneness, but most of the time I cut the them into groups of three or four ribs and pull the thinner sections earlier than the thicker ones.
I wonder, sometimes, with the market pushing back against fats, if producers are breeding and feeding to achieve more lean products. I also wonder about the differences in smokers. Mine behaves like a convection oven so I've learned to use it that way. I find that it boils down to learning how your appliances cook, and adapting to food quality in your shopping area. Recipes are too variable to be absolute. I use them as guidelines and adjust based on what I've learned.Comment
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As Evvy says, you've got to do what works best for you and your cooker. You'll find that sweet spot, Rich93 , as you continue to experiment.
Sometimes it's best to change just one thing in your sequential cooks to search out the best method.
For me, smoking ribs on the Pit Barrel Cooker at 275°ambient to a final temp somewhere around 195-200° is a winner just about every single time. Even the ones that I deem not quite up to snuff are darn close. For me, that PBC is a rib-cooking machine.
As Huskee says, though, you've got to choose the right ribs to start with, meaty but not too meaty, especially if smoking babybacks.
Best of luck on your upcoming rib cook. Hope it turns out perfect for you!
KathrynComment
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BruceB I was just assuming you had trouble fitting it with the 2nd level rack. I would most definitely take advantage of that for a rib cook. I think with the convection currents inside the Silverbac that temps would be close to the same at both levels, but if not, you could rotate the ribs between top and bottom racks halfway through the cook. I would be surprised if you can't fit 6 racks of SLS cut ribs without any more space, with 2 levels in the Silverbac. -
Bruce B If you use the upper grate AND the optional expansion grate that gives you a FULL second level, Grilla says you can fit 12 racks of baby backs. I am guessing maybe 8 to 10 racks of SLS cut:
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OK, am I the only one who had to look up what an aquarium smoker is? Now I feel a need to visit Chicago...Comment
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As promised, in this reply I report on my "hot and fast" ribs redo. I bought a slab of SLC from the best butcher shop in my area, peeled off the membrane and cut them in half to fit on one side of my gas grill (which is a MHP model WNK). I filled a large smoker box with hickory pellets, lit them with my torch (took a while) and put the box directly on the porcelain briquettes on one side of the grill, leaving the lid of the smoker box open for max smoke. The ribs went on the stainless steel cooking grid on the other side. I set the grill temp on the higher side of medium on both sides of the grill. The grill temp was about 350 as measured by the built-in temp gauge, but was definitely not steady as I opened the lid so often.
The ribs went on. I cooked them on both sides, turning about every 6-7 minutes. The pellets created an awful lot of smoke but did not flame up. I measured the internal temp of the ribs in between the bones using an instant-read Thermopen, and took them off when the temp measured about 200 and the meat was contracting somewhat from the bones. They were done in about 40 minutes.
I didn't use a rub, relying on the sauce to enhance the flavor. The sauce was Cattlemen's Kansas City, the closest I've found to the Ribs 'n Bibs sauce (they used Cattlemen's base sauce and probably touched it up some way). I applied the sauce after the cook was done, just like they did.
It was a success!! The ribs were juicy. They were not as tender as I recall the R&B ribs being and they definitely were not falling off the bone (neither did R&B's). But they were good. I was very pleased that I was able to cook good ribs without taking up a whole afternoon. Not being the man I used to be, a slab lasted me two meals.
One lesson learned - I don't think the hickory pellets did much for the flavor. Despite all the smoke they created, I didn't notice a real smoky flavor on an unsauced rib. Toward the end of the cook I took the smoker box out and noticed that the ribs themselves were creating smoke, I guess by the fat dripping on the briquettes. Next time I will simplify even more by not using the pellets and see how they turn out with just this "natural" smoke. That's the way I've always done chicken leg quarters and they've always turned out great, I've just got to watch the flare-ups. The ribs flared up once but I caught that in time.
I thank everyone for their helpful comments. I'm not giving up on rubs and "low and slow", but for now I've found my easy-peasy method and am very satisfied with it.Comment
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I think you are inspiring me to try a "direct heat" rib cook. After all, the famous Rendezvous in Memphis does it, albeit 2-3 feet above charcoal, so its not intense as my gasser, but they supposedly crank the ribs out in about an hour, and I can attest to their goodness...
The first time I ever made ribs, I was single, about 23, living out of state by myself, and called home to ask my mom and dad how to cook ribs. They told me to boil them for 15 minutes, then finish on the gasser...
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Great report, Rich93 . Your Fast and Flavorful Method sounds like a winner.
I'm glad you found a way to get your rib fix whenever you get hungry for them.
Way back in the day I used to do ribs, brisket, etc. on a gasser. It didn't hold the smoke well, since gassers are so well ventilated, so the smoke flavor was quite mild. I had better luck putting a chunk of wood on the flavorizer bars (my gasser is a Weber Summit).
KathrynComment
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I reread your original post Rich93. I must say that I too, am skeptical. I worked years ago at a university that has a culinary college, although I'm not a chef. I taught engineering. OMGosh, I ate some of the best meals in my life at functions there, all cooked by 20-something students. I had a dear friend who was a Norwegian master chef (he's gone now 😢). He told me something, one dinnertime, that I'll never forget. All cooking boils down to a handful of skills, some practice, tasting as you go along, and a source of heat. The latter seems kind of obvious. You can't cook without heat! Or can you?
Low and slow is just a heat and time. Finish temperature is a whole different thing. I have failed at too many of the recipes here to be a 190-200-degree finish temp believer. Maybe it's the meat that I buy. Today's market wants lean. Producers are meeting market demand. Maybe recipes here are from a different era where choice and prime meant something factual and people knew that heat renders out fat and didn't eschew it. I grew up in a small town that had a butcher. He was a friend of my father's. I learned to order meat by the cut. I struggle to understand marketing names for cuts these days. A lot has changed. I'm sometimes slow to embrace it although I'll try anything that captures my curiosity.
I don't know. BBQ finish temps at around 190-200 just don't work as well as the lower temps at which I learned to finish - for me. They seem to work well for a lot of you. I'll keep trying though. I'm stubborn that way. My husband is patient. We love to cook, drink and eat together. The journey is way more satisfying than is the destination! 💕Comment
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What a lovely post, Evvy . You sound like a thoughtful cook, doing what works for you. That's how we all should cook, choosing the method that best suits the food being cooked.
Cooking lean meats low and slow to high temperatures with a good result is a challenge, which is why a lot of folks gravitate to choosing well-marbled meats in steaks or roasts or more fatty meats like pork butts to do the low/slow thing with.
As you continue to read here and on the free side, you'll see that many of us love to give that collagen and some interstitial fats in many well-marbled meats a chance to melt and gelatinize which happens at those higher meat temps.
Plus as a member here, you can watch some of those free Pitmaster videos that Meathead gifted us, and learn from some of the masters if you want to experiment more with your BBQ game.
I'm smoking two pork butts as I write this, and they'll come out of the smoker at around 200°ish internal (at probe tenderness) in another 7 or 8 hours. Delicious pulled pork on the horizon!
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; June 23, 2024, 07:17 AM.Comment
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Thanks for your kindness, fzxdoc!
I've decided from this discussion that I'm going to take a new direction where I'm going to use sous-vide-que as a stepping stone. I'm used to sous vide and the added que step should allow me an opportunity to step into full BBQ from a base from which I'm familiar.
We've got a full roaster chicken in the bath with just the breast bone cut out. This allows a 2-gallon bag to come in contact with the cavity to pasteurize it. Don't sous vide a whole intact bird any other way as salmonella can flourish in the sous vide low temp environment unless the heated water is in direct contact with all surfaces. Cavities are known trouble areas.
It'll go on a smoker spit later this afternoon along with some sweet corn on the cob on the grate under it. A marsala reduction gravy is sitting on the burner and a thunderstorm is about to go over and hopefully temper this sultry Southern weather for the rest of the day. Gotta chill some pineapple cider!
Update: We decided to add baby potatoes steamed in foil pack with olive oil, fresh rosemary from the garden, salt and pepper. The packet went under the spit and I'll open it in about 30-minutes to let them brown up. If of interest, I bought 2-gal Zipper Lock bags from ULine several years ago. Never cheap, but they are strong, durable, and FDA BPA free. I don't use 2-gallon very often so I've had them hanging around for years.
I suppose that I should have posted this note in the sous vide or chicken threads!
The storm knocked out utility power, but our used Army generator held up power nicely. We go full out to avoid stopping the cook!
Much love and peace everyone! 💕Attached FilesLast edited by Evvy; June 24, 2024, 04:17 PM.Comment
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Thanks for posting that info, Evvy . I think you should also post it over on the SV channel. SV safety is a murky business, still. So many websites recommend scary times/temps and never really mention pasteurization times. I think a lot of people here would like to learn more about SV safety.
FWIW, I don't SV whole chickens ever, for the reason you cite, but I do SV individual pieces.
For fun, you might want to try splitting that chicken in half next time, no SV, just dry brined for 24 hours, rubbed well on and under the skin with a tasty AP rub, then plopped on your smoker. So delicious! You may have already done that though.
All of the chickens I smoke on my PBC or Weber Summit kamado/kettle are split chickens. They cook faster (about 1 hour) and I can get crispy skin if I smoke the split halves at about 350°. By the time the breast has reached 155-160ish, allowing for carryover heat, the thighs and legs are at a delectable 180°, which is perfect. It's nice that chickens are designed to roast that way, with the legs getting up to a more palatable temp as the breast approaches its safe temp.
So how did your chicken turn out?
My pulled pork was delicious. We ate some for dinner, and then vacuum sealed 4 1 lb bags of it to give to our daughters when they come to visit next week. They're always raiding my freezer for smoked goodies to carry back to their own freezers.
Kathryn
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In addition to spatchcocking chicken for cooking I use a mix of kosher salt, baking powder, and cornstarch (taken from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt) which I rub on the chicken skin and let the chicken dry brine overnight in the fridge. It really helps to make the chicken skin more crispy for sure. Like fzxdoc I cook my chickens at 350/375 range and find that I get really get crispy skin also.
Also, since you seem to have a rotisserie I found cooking chicken wings in a Napoleon rotisserie basket is a great way to cook them and get crispy skins. I use the same dry brine as above with an overnight dry brine.
Thanks for sharing your cook.Comment
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It was delicious fzxdoc! I'll do a chicken multiple ways depending on how I want to present it. In this case, we wanted to put it on the rotisserie and splitting it into halves for sous vide would require tying it back together. I'm lazy so I prefer to straddle it over the spit thus I cut the breastbone out to expose the cavity. Plus, it goes onto the table in a more traditional presentation. That's not all that important most of the time, but every now and then we like to carve a bird.
just put a pork shoulder into sous vide at 180-F. It'll go into the smoker for a quick finish tomorrow around this time. We bought some NC bourbon to make a bourbon BBQ sauce. So good!
I'll see about posting on the sous vide thread.Attached FilesComment
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I bet that chicken was delicious! It looks as though it was getting good color in the photo.
What? There's a good NC Bourbon? Do tell! I'm a bourbon hound. For me, bourbon is to liquor like a good mac and cheese is to, well, almost anything.
K.Comment
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OMGosh, too funny!
John A. P. Conoley
Small batch
Bogue Sound Distillery
Bogue, NC 28570
It has a nice flavor that lends itself well to a sauce once the alcohol flashes off. I'll get the sauce to a boil just long enough to light it. our grandchildren love that!
It's the journey! 💕 -
Stealing "For me, bourbon is to liquor like a good Mac and cheese is to, well anything."
Made me chuckle thanks Kathryn.
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Just following up on the sous vide Boston butt. Being from next door Rhode Island, I can say that the name comes from the old sailing days. Pork was a staple aboard ship and shoulders were packed in quarter height barrels. Because of the barrel's short height they were called butt for the butt end of a barrell. Pork was heavily salted then as a preservative since refrigeration wasn't possible. It's not likely that the Boston Butt of the time resembled anything familiar to what we eat today.
Sous vide: 165-F x 18hrs
Cooled on counter in bag: 45-minutes, then pat dry
Smoker: 45-minutes, finish temp no higher than sous vide temp.
Outcomes: Nice and juicy and easily pulled, but we chop it here in NC. Hey, it's what we do!
Bourbon BBQ sauce: 2:1 ketchup:bourbon, brown sugar to taste, garlic, and chile powder, and vinegar to give a nod to NC, all added to taste. Heat it to a boil and then simmer 15-minutes to flash off the alcohol and thicken it a little. Never comes out the same way twice. Always yummy!
Corn on the cob: Sous vide 182-F for 30-minutes, while the butt smoked. Why sous vide? Because I froze several dozen last year, each a pair of cobs with a 1/2 tablespoon of butter. It's self basting that way. We can't get native corn yet. Mike Vrobel turned me on to this method. The water bath is usually hot anyway.
Mac & Cheese: 2:1 Colby jack:sharp cheddar. Roux based. I think I got the recipe from ATK, but tweaked it over the years by adding a small amount of brown sugar to return me to Hawaii, where I served with the Army Corps of Engineers. Going to a reunion there in September. I can hear the trade winds calling! Of interest perhaps, a luau is a pig sticking! BBQ is a Hawaiian way of life.
I know @fzxdoc...!!! I'll copy this to the sous vide thread.
My journey's goal is to get to this same level of goodness with straight up BBQ. 200-F... makes my knees knock!Attached FilesLast edited by Evvy; June 26, 2024, 06:09 PM.Comment
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