Like many of you we're stuck at the house trying to dodge the invisible enemy. We managed to stock our freezers pretty well just prior to the stay-at-home order came down so plenty and a variety of things to cook. Like a lot of you we've been grilling and smoking quite a bit lately.
Well I pulled out a couple of racks of ribs, salted them over night and planned to smoke them on Sunday. As I was about to season them and prep the smoker, SWMBO starts in with the "I don't like all that 'stuff' you put on my ribs" crap that she complains about every time I cook them. Now by 'stuff' she means the usual seasoning with some sort of glaze, like a raspberry chipotle, at the end of the cook.
Given that we've been married going on 30 years, along with the fact that we are fully sequestered here, I've decided to appease my bride so I offered up a throw down. "Honey", I says, "if you wanna put your own 'stuff' on this whole rack of ribs then be my guest. We'll cook them up and the kids can be the judges."
As a background, Mama is Asian and as such has distinct flavor profiles she likes. She's a pretty decent cook in her own right although a lot of what she cooks I pass on. One thing she does like, which I gotta admit is old school barbecue, is to have little or no seasoning on her meat. Salt and pepper and lots of smoke. In fact her tolerance to heavy smoke amazes me, I can't ever get it smokey enough for her taste.
So given that I'm watching her rub her rack of ribs with a little light soy, followed by a squeeze of fresh lemon, a light peppering and chopped fresh garlic. At the end of this utterly bizarre concoction all I added was fresh garlic in a low and slow cook will burn and turn bitter, but whatever. Me, standard stuff, Lea & Perrins wash down, base of pepper & garlic powder with a top coat of Malcom Reed's Killer Hogs seasoning.
So who's cook would reign supreme? Decided to fire up my pellet cooker with the Smoke Daddy filled to the brim with oak wood mini splits. Went with a 250* cook to let the smoke roll as long as possible before the splits extinguished. Got right at 2 hours of heavy smoke before it tapered off to nothing but what the pellets produced.
So away they went. As always I spritz with apple juice every hour on the hour to help set the bark and encourage color. Here's a peak at about the two hour mark. Funny thing is Mama's are starting to look really good, I mean a rich mahogany color versus mine which shows sign of the seasoning turning a dark, rich color....
So I'm getting a little nervous, dang those nekkid ribs are looking good. Shove them back in and continue until the 4th hour when I generally wrap in butcher paper for tenderness...
Left them for a 5th hour wrapped, left hers for an additional 30 minutes while I exposed mine for glazing with a raspberry chipotle sauce.
So whose ribs reign supreme? Here are the results. To be honest both had their merit. I actually preferred mine, as did the kids. The seasoning and the glaze just added to the smokey taste of the pork. Of course Mama liked hers, she loves the straight taste of the meat with the kiss of oak smoke.
All in all it was a fun experiment. I made her happy, and had a good time in the kitchen doing so. Like most of you we're trying to stay close to home, so we're using cooking as a form of entertainment and learning. Challenge your kids to do the same. Have fun but most of all, stay safe out there guys !!!
Troutman is out !!!!
Well I pulled out a couple of racks of ribs, salted them over night and planned to smoke them on Sunday. As I was about to season them and prep the smoker, SWMBO starts in with the "I don't like all that 'stuff' you put on my ribs" crap that she complains about every time I cook them. Now by 'stuff' she means the usual seasoning with some sort of glaze, like a raspberry chipotle, at the end of the cook.
Given that we've been married going on 30 years, along with the fact that we are fully sequestered here, I've decided to appease my bride so I offered up a throw down. "Honey", I says, "if you wanna put your own 'stuff' on this whole rack of ribs then be my guest. We'll cook them up and the kids can be the judges."
As a background, Mama is Asian and as such has distinct flavor profiles she likes. She's a pretty decent cook in her own right although a lot of what she cooks I pass on. One thing she does like, which I gotta admit is old school barbecue, is to have little or no seasoning on her meat. Salt and pepper and lots of smoke. In fact her tolerance to heavy smoke amazes me, I can't ever get it smokey enough for her taste.
So given that I'm watching her rub her rack of ribs with a little light soy, followed by a squeeze of fresh lemon, a light peppering and chopped fresh garlic. At the end of this utterly bizarre concoction all I added was fresh garlic in a low and slow cook will burn and turn bitter, but whatever. Me, standard stuff, Lea & Perrins wash down, base of pepper & garlic powder with a top coat of Malcom Reed's Killer Hogs seasoning.
So who's cook would reign supreme? Decided to fire up my pellet cooker with the Smoke Daddy filled to the brim with oak wood mini splits. Went with a 250* cook to let the smoke roll as long as possible before the splits extinguished. Got right at 2 hours of heavy smoke before it tapered off to nothing but what the pellets produced.
So away they went. As always I spritz with apple juice every hour on the hour to help set the bark and encourage color. Here's a peak at about the two hour mark. Funny thing is Mama's are starting to look really good, I mean a rich mahogany color versus mine which shows sign of the seasoning turning a dark, rich color....
So I'm getting a little nervous, dang those nekkid ribs are looking good. Shove them back in and continue until the 4th hour when I generally wrap in butcher paper for tenderness...
Left them for a 5th hour wrapped, left hers for an additional 30 minutes while I exposed mine for glazing with a raspberry chipotle sauce.
So whose ribs reign supreme? Here are the results. To be honest both had their merit. I actually preferred mine, as did the kids. The seasoning and the glaze just added to the smokey taste of the pork. Of course Mama liked hers, she loves the straight taste of the meat with the kiss of oak smoke.
All in all it was a fun experiment. I made her happy, and had a good time in the kitchen doing so. Like most of you we're trying to stay close to home, so we're using cooking as a form of entertainment and learning. Challenge your kids to do the same. Have fun but most of all, stay safe out there guys !!!
Troutman is out !!!!
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