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Where's the flavor?

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    Where's the flavor?

    I’ve been to Corky’s and Neely’s in Memphis for Baby Backs; Corky’s were way better IMHO. I prefer dry rubbed and ordered that in both places.

    I’ve been doing my own ribs since February when I bought my CampChef Windwood SG and have used at least 4 or 5 different pork rubs. Here’s my question with regard to flavor/taste of my home cooked ribs. I have yet to produce anything at home that has that awesome flavor that I experienced while eating the ribs at both Corky’s and Neely’s. Why can’t I get that wonderful BBQ flavor that the restaurants produced or that I can get when using a BBQ sauce (Blues Hog is my current favorite)? Are there any dry rubs that will give me the full flavor that I get from sauce?

    #2
    It isn’t just the rub. A lot of it has to do with how it is cooked and what it is cooked on. I.e the whole charcoal vs gas vs electric vs pellets vs sticks etc... debate.

    Using the same rub... My ribs taste different when they are cooked on my pellet cooker vs when they are cooked on my Weber vs on my PBC vs on my stick burner.

    Rubs and all their ingredients, sauces and all of their ingredients, smoke, etc... alone are just single instruments in a symphony of flavor. It is how they all combine and come together that give you the complex profiles.

    Mike Mills talks about building and layering flavors... each component changes things.

    Comment


      #3
      I am not familiar with your cooker, but telling us at what temp are you cooking, how long, water pan or not, wood source (chips, pellezts, wood or chunks), and specific kind of ribs (spare, St. Louis, or Baby Back) can help us advise.

      Comment


      • LA Pork Butt
        LA Pork Butt commented
        Editing a comment
        dubob Here is my suggestion. Skip the wrapping, and put a water pan in or plan to spritz them ever 45 minutes after the 1st hour and a half. Cook them at a temp of between 225 and 250. Chose stronger pellets like all hickory, oak or even mesquite. Plan to cook spare ribs or St. Louis spare ribs for 6 hours and baby backs for 5 hours. Wrapping or spritzing with too much liquid can wash off the smoke flavor and you will get more rendering of the fat without wrapping.

      • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
        ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
        Editing a comment
        LA already mentioned it, but I've found if I wrap on a pellet cooker Iose some flavor. Not sure why it is since many say smoke intake on protein has a time limit. But on the pellet cookers most of them don't need wrapping, less moisture loss since the chamber stays a bit more humid than some other smokers.

      • dubob
        dubob commented
        Editing a comment
        I forgot to mention that I also use a Pellet Smoker Tube, 12'' Stainless Steel BBQ Wood Pellet Tube Smoker for Cold/Hot Smoking, Portable Barbecue Smoke Generator Works with Electric Gas Charcoal Grill or Smokers, Bonus Brush, Hexagon
        by LANNEY (Amazon - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) For us, the smoke profile is good, even with the wrap.

      #4
      Yup what they said. You have to understand the way they cook them, type of rub they use, what sauce they put on them, etc. versus how you do it. What is it that you taste that makes it different from the way you cook them?

      We have a Corky's franchise that opened here in Houston. They're ribs are the worst I have ever tasted. They reminded me of eating Baby Backs at Chili's. They were over cooked, literally mushed off the bone, were sauced with about a gallon of some sort of overly sweet connection and generally tasted like they'd been sitting under a heat lamp for about 4 hours.

      Having cooked tons of ribs in my life, some good, some really bad, I can pretty much tell what it is that I like or dislike about restaurant ribs. Again ask yourself what it is that you like flavor wise then try to replicate that. There are really just so many variables.

      Comment


      • TNPIGBBQ
        TNPIGBBQ commented
        Editing a comment
        Lol, the original Corky’s in Memphis is okay they put a chain in my hometown, it lasted a couple years. I ate there once & that was enough for me.

        I thought this thread was about how Corky’s sucks till I got to the end of the OP 😂

      • dubob
        dubob commented
        Editing a comment
        😃 Like I said further down in this thread, "Taste is an individual thing for sure." I know folks that think cuckamole (guacamole) is the best thing since the coming of Christ. You couldn't pay me to eat that crap. Makes me want to puke. But I digress. I'd go back to Corky's in a heartbeat. Carry on. 😁❤👌

      • Potkettleblack
        Potkettleblack commented
        Editing a comment
        Pizzeria Uno theory... the original and the dozens of franchises are different deals, and you can't judge the one by the other.

      #5
      Yep, as others have said. Its more about how you cook them. I usually use only salt and pepper on briskets. And there is a ton of flavor, but not for the rub, its from the smoke.

      Pellet rigs have a lighter flavor profile than what you are probably used to when it comes to what you are getting at commercial places. Especially if you are cooking at higher temps on your pellet rig.

      To me, personally, I don't think anything beats the smoke a flavor you get from burning logs. I love using my FOGO lump and BGE it makes great BBQ as does Kingsford in the PBC. For me personally, I have to burn pure wood to get the beast flavor I can get. There really is no way around it for me. The best BBQ I have had had been at La Barbecue, Blacks and Franklin's they all use logs and there is a reason for that. They could be setting up huge pellet rigs or barrel smokers, but they don't.

      Just do what works for you. If you are searching for a different flavor profile look at getting something else to cook with. Rubs only go so far. IMHO.

      Comment


        #6
        You mentioned in your reply that you are using pellets which makes me assume you are using a pellet cooker.... I am not knocking pellet cookers... I have one, I love it, and it has been what I have used the most this year out of my arsenal of smokers and grills....

        but you don't get the same flavor profile as a stick burner on a pellet grill no matter what you try... if the smoke profile is what you feel you are missing then this is the culprit and maybe a pellet cooker isn't right for you.

        if they are using a stick burner or charcoal cooker this may be one of the big differences you are noticing....

        again though there are so many variables and factors in bbq that it is hard to know for sure.

        Comment


          #7
          I guess I need to clarify a tad. The Memphis Corky's ribs were the best baby back ribs I've ever eaten in a restaurant anywhere in the country. I've not eaten in all of them around the country but probably at least 40 or more. I got the dry version, not the wet version. The meat was tender, moist, and fell off the ribs with very little shaking.

          Second, I don't have any problems with the smoke profile I get from my pellet grill. It is milder than I get from my Bradley for sure, but it is there and to my liking. The ribs come out tender, moist, and need slightly more effort to get the meat to slide off the bones. The flavor I'm talking about is the flavor that comes from the rub itself; the sweet taste of the spices in the rub. The 4 or 5 rubs I've tried have very little flavor compared to the dry rub flavor I enjoyed on Corky's ribs which was full and rich. I don't get that with any of the rubs I've tried thus far.

          I'm just wondering if this is common or am I not doing something right. I do get a full, rich, and sweet flavor with Blues Hog sauce, but not with their rubs. i actually never did ribs or pulled pork in my Bradley, just fish, chicken and some whole game birds (upland & waterfowl). I've had vertical smokers for over 40 years, just never did anything thing in them other than fish, chicken and some whole game birds.

          I do appreciate any input all y'all can give me.

          Comment


          #8
          Lots of good info, but it might be as simple as adding some brown sugar on top of your rub a la Huskee .

          Comment


            #9
            Originally posted by RonB View Post
            Lots of good info, but it might be as simple as adding some brown sugar on top of your rub a la Huskee .
            Amen to that! Works and takes the flavor to spikey blonde highlights sunglasses flavortown.

            Comment


            • Troutman
              Troutman commented
              Editing a comment
              I wanna go o "spikey blonde highlights sunglasses flavortown". Actually it sounds like an episode of Triple D, never mind

            • Huskee
              Huskee commented
              Editing a comment
              That's exactly what that means! Triple D Troutman

            • Potkettleblack
              Potkettleblack commented
              Editing a comment
              Don't make me break out the donkey sauce meme.

            #10
            I'm a big fan of dry ribs. We've had excellent results using Meathead's Memphis dust.

            Comment


              #11
              I did some further digging and contacted Heaven Made Products for their thoughts on this and they said their Texas Best Rib Rub Seasoning might do what I'm trying to achieve. I ordered some this morning using my Pitmaster discount code, of course.

              They also suggested something that I'm definitely going to try on my next pork rib rack - cover the ribs with butter, honey, and brown sugar at wrapping time. Sounds yummy.

              Comment


              • Troutman
                Troutman commented
                Editing a comment
                I was going to suggest that too. It's done a lot in competitions, as well as a lot of backyard guys here. Don't like it personally but that may just do the trick for you. Good luck !!!

              #12
              Here you go dubob , looks like I did them a couple years ago, dug it out of my archive. Throw in a bit of hot sauce too for an added kick. Nothing like a little sweet and sour to perk up you love life !!!!

              Click image for larger version

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              Comment


              • dubob
                dubob commented
                Editing a comment
                👍❤😁

              • HouseHomey
                HouseHomey commented
                Editing a comment
                Yeah baby!!!

              #13
              The rub I fond of is on Ribs is simply Marvelous spicy Apple rub. I've gone away from honey in the last year or so, but have always used a little brown sugar in addition to the rub. Butter Is a yes. I'm not a fan of Blue's Hog. But do like there com piton blend. Both are to thick IMO.

              Comment


                #14
                I know others have mentioned how cooking method affects flavor. I've not been to those 2 places in Memphis, but have had great ribs at the Rendezvous, and believe it or not, the ribs at BB Kings might have been even better than the Rendezvous, the one time I had them at BB Kings anyway.

                This article by Meathead is specifically about trying to replicate the Rendezvous ribs, and note that. while it has NO sugar, one step seems to be that they use a mop sauce during the cook, which might give it another flavor layer:

                https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...ipe-ribs-hurry

                I think for the sweetness you are looking for, most commercial rubs, and the Rendezvous rub, do not have sugar. You want a rub with sugar, like the recipe here on the site for MMD (Meathead's Memphis Dust).

                Back to true Memphis style dry rub ribs. I think the closest cooker that would replicate the ribs from the Rendezvous, which are grilled directly above charcoal, would be the PBC, or a Santa Maria. I think I prefer slow cooked ribs though, as I feel that more of the fat renders, and the meat comes out more tender. One thing I have STOPPED doing is wrapping the ribs. I used to be a huge believer in the 3-2-1 method (or 2-2-1 for baby backs), and since joining the pit, I've stopped doing the wrap. I think my family might have liked those fall off the bone ribs from the time spent in the foil, but I feel bark suffers too much, and I lose 2 hours of smoke flavor.
                Last edited by jfmorris; October 4, 2019, 08:12 AM.

                Comment


                  #15
                  I've heard great things about the Rendezvous as well. The folks that we met in Memphis are BIG fans of the place. Alas, haven't had the pleasure myself, but will, should we return to Memphis.

                  Taste is an individual thing for sure. I like sweet and sassy Q; others not so much. I plan to make some of the MMD in the near future, and as I said earlier, I have some of the Heaven Made Texas Best Rib Rub on the way to my doorstep. That should be enough to try for the time being.

                  I'm not real big on smoke flavor; just a hint is fine with me. Again, individual tastes. I may do a side by side wrapped/not wrapped cook on some ribs later on, but for now I'm very happy with the 3-2-1 with wrap method.

                  Thanks to all y'all that took the time to indulge my novice status questions. I'm still learnin' at my tender young age (77).
                  Last edited by dubob; October 4, 2019, 09:36 AM.

                  Comment

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