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Anti BBQ Ribs


scott123

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Instead of the usual BBQ goal of maximizing the flavor of the pork/smoke, my goal for the spare rib recipe I'm working on is maximizing the flavor of the sauce.

Besides sauce, I'm also looking for a fall off the bone tenderness (another BBQ faux pas, I know).

Pre-boiling tends to make tender ribs, but at the same time it seems to boil away a lot of the flavor from the overnight marination.

I guess what I'm looking for is fall off the bone meat without a boil before hand. Done, for the most part, in an oven.

The tricky part here is that my marinade/basting sauce uses costly ingredients so I can't use much of it. It's also sweet, so if I use it at the beginning the sugar burns off and the flavor cooks away.

The meat needs some moisture for the duration of cooking or it'll end up like jerky.

Do I baste it with water? Do I baste it with a watered down version of the sauce? Do I wrap it in parchment?

What temp is the best for long slow roasting?

I want a very slight smokiness/char to the final product, so I'll be finishing it on the grill. The lion's share of the cooking, though will occur in the oven.

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What about filling a spray bottle with apple cider/juice and misting the meat with it to keep it moist?

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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I like Toliver's suggestion as well. I usually bake my ribs in a covered roaster 4+ hours at 250 or so, spritzing occassionally as necessary. For the last hour, take the lid off, and spritz a little more frequently, then put on the grill and baste away with your sauce.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Brine in salt and sugar -- 2-1/2 hours for baby backs, three for spares.

Roast at 225 F for 4 hours, for baby backs. Spare ribs will take a little longer -- maybe 4:30.

Remove from oven, allow to cool, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled -- a couple of hours.

Prepare your grill with a level bed of coals, one layer deep, on the side of the grill opposite the top vent. Straight from the fridge, give the ribs about 20 minutes over direct heat with the grill covered, turning once or twice.

Call me, so I'll be there in time for dinner.

Move them to the cool side of the grill, meat side down, and baste with your concoction. Cover for 10 minutes.

Flip, baste, cover, and give them another ten minutes.

Let's eat.

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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It has been a while but I did this with some beef short ribs one time...

I put a little rack in my biggest Le Creuset. I put some liquid in the bottom. The ribs had been marinaded overnight. I put the ribs on the rack, put the lid on and put it into a 225F oven, best I remember. I basted a few times with the sauce toward the end of the cooking time (which I don't remember). I also don't remember exactly what the sauce was but I left the lid off at the end, turned the temperature up, and it formed a lovely glaze. The result was lovely and melt in your mouth. I tried a similar technique with pork ribs. The problem was that I didn't have a heavy pot with a lid like a LC that would hold enough for more than two servings. Then I got a smoker and quit tinkering with the oven techniques.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Braise.

Or to be more specific, braise and glaze. Use pork stock as the liquid medium, and then just before serving, glaze with more of your sauce.

I have to say, though, that Toliver's suggestion is brilliant. :biggrin:

Glaze with more of the sauce? Does that mean braising using my sauce AND the pork stock?

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Phifly04 and Dave, do you put the ribs right into a 225 degree oven? Doesn't 225 prolong the time in the bacterial 'danger' zone a bit?

Dave, I'm very curious about your chilling technique. Does this allow the ribs to be grilled without being overcooked or is it because a chilled rack is less likely to fall apart when handled?

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And yes, I too, like Toliver's idea :smile: I actually did some spritzing of my ribs today. I got a little paranoid and went with 275 which I think might be a little high. The texture was not as succulent as I would have liked. My biggest error, though was cooking them too long after the final glazing. I lost a lot of the sweetness/fruity note in my sauce.

Next time, though, thanks to you guys, I think I'll be ready. :smile:

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Phifly04 and Dave, do you put the ribs right into a 225 degree oven? Doesn't 225 prolong the time in the bacterial 'danger' zone a bit?

No. Ribs are pretty thin so get to temperature quickly. You are only worried about the surface anyway. The interior of meat is, for all practical purposes, sterile. Acids, salt and sugars in a marinade only help you out if you are worried about bugs... but I wouldn't be.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Phifly04 and Dave, do you put the ribs right into a 225 degree oven? Doesn't 225 prolong the time in the bacterial 'danger' zone a bit?

No. Ribs are pretty thin so get to temperature quickly.

Right. And since they will spend a couple of hours at temperature, time in the DZ is neutralized.

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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Dave, I'm very curious about your chilling technique.  Does this allow the ribs to be grilled without being overcooked or is it because a chilled rack is less likely to fall apart when handled?

Sort of both. But it's really in the service of letting some smoke into the meat, as well as getting a proper glaze. If you take ribs straight out of the oven and toss 'em on the grill, they'll be too hot to get very smoky, because the meat simply won't accept smoke at elevated temperatures. But they'll come to temperature pretty quickly over the direct heat, and then they'll be ready for glazing. You move them to indirect heat so they don't burn, and so they can reach eating temperature throughout.

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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No one has mentioned to wrap the dry-rubbed/marinated ribs in foil and bake them in the oven.

I just made meaty baby back ribs in the oven this way this week. Two hours in the oven at 325 deg F did the trick. Then I drained the liquid from the packets and they went into the fridge. The next night I covered them with the sauce for the final heating at a higher temp, like 425 f. I did not use the grill (lazy). They were very moist and I recommend this method. It's not messy and they absolutely do not dry out.

Mine got a dry rub treatment for a day in the fridge before the initial baking. And I remove the membrane in the back.

In the past I have also used this method with a lower temperature (250-275) and longer time, which is even better to melt the fat away. I didn't have that much time this week, but they were still very good.

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I, too, do the dry rub and bake at 225 for 4 - 5 hours. I let them cool to room temperature then marinade them in the sauce overnight.

Next day, I bring them back to room temperature and then throw them on the hot grill.

Works every time.

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No one has mentioned to wrap the dry-rubbed/marinated ribs in foil and bake them in the oven. 

I just made meaty baby back ribs in the oven this way this week. Two hours in the oven at 325 deg F did the trick. Then I drained the liquid from the packets and they went into the fridge. The next night I covered them with the sauce for the final heating at a higher temp, like 425 f.  I did not use the grill (lazy). They were very moist and I recommend this method. It's not messy and they absolutely do not dry out.

Mine got a dry rub treatment for a day in the fridge before the initial baking. And I remove the membrane in the back.

In the past I have also used this method with a lower temperature (250-275) and longer time, which is even better to melt the fat away.  I didn't have that much time this week, but they were still very good.

I was just discussing this with my sister. She has also used this method with great success. She suggests considering a Reynold's turkey sized cooking bag that is very convenient and you can see what is going on.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Braise.

Or to be more specific, braise and glaze. Use pork stock as the liquid medium, and then just before serving, glaze with more of your sauce.

I have to say, though, that Toliver's suggestion is brilliant. :biggrin:

Glaze with more of the sauce? Does that mean braising using my sauce AND the pork stock?

No. What I meant was:

  • Take meat out of marinade and wipe off excess; return excess to fridge.
  • Brown meat on both sides.
  • Add pork stock to pot; simmer (stovetop or oven) until falling-off-bone.
  • Remove meat; keep warm. Reduce cooking liquid to a glaze; mix reduced jus with reserved marinade (cook down more if still very liquidy).
  • Place meat on baking sheet or in shallow baking dish, coat with jus/marinade. Broil until nicely glazed.

Edited by Suzanne F (log)
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Ok, I flew through these responses and am Shocked, shocked, shocked no one has given you the obvious responce. Smoke'em on a weber grill. Easy-breesy.

Braised, oven cooked, whaaaaat! Them aint ribs.

Rub your ribs with your choice of seasonings the night before. Yes add viniger.

Fire up the Weber. Gas grill I don't know nothing. Go for temp. about 200. Add Hicory chips, or whatever. Slowly BBq about 3 hours adding coals every hour and drinking beer. Mop with viniger during cooking to keep moist. Ps. put coals on far sides of grill, grease pan under ribs, and ribs in center. Any sauce you want to add goes on the last 10 minutes or so over the hot coals.

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No. What I meant was:

  • Take meat out of marinade and wipe off excess; return excess to fridge.
  • Brown meat on both sides.
  • Add pork stock to pot; simmer (stovetop or oven) until falling-off-bone.
  • Remove meat; keep warm. Reduce cooking liquid to a glaze; mix reduced jus with reserved marinade (cook down more if still very liquidy).
  • Place meat on baking sheet or in shallow baking dish, coat with jus/marinade. Broil until nicely glazed.

Thanks!

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FWIW, Here's my foolproof rib process:

Place baby backs on foil, anoint with salt, pepper and olive oil. Wrap tightly, place in 225 oven for about six hours. Open the foil, raise temp to 450 for 15 minutes.

That's it.

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i've had great success (as well as great flavor) by placing the ribs on a rack over a sheet tray (if that's all you have) or a deeper roasting pan, then filling the bottom of the pan with beer--i've used yuengling, but prefer guinness with a little apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar--and then wrapping the whole shebang really tightly in foil, then into a 250 oven for two to three hours. let cool slightly, then onto the grill and hit it with your sauce. mmm-mmm. oh when making sauce--tamarind is a must. shiitakes are very nice too. :biggrin:

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