Reebs

Tee-hee, my titles are so clever.

I made ribs yesterday, and after posting a pic of them, some of you wanted to know what I did.  Normally I wouldn't share this stuff because it kind of bores me to write, but I'll write about anything if asked.  Almost anything. 

I got two sides of pork ribs from Costco.  Cut one up and froze it in foodsaver bags, the other I cut in half and marinated it for two hours in a small amount of white vinegar/juice of one lemon/porter.  Not sure if the amounts matter, just put in lots of beer and not so much vinegar. 

I pulled them out and dried them off, then applied my home-made rub, that I stole from "How To Grill", by Steven Raichlen.  If you want to either learn how to BBQ (or grill), or you want to start making your own sauces and/or rubs, buy Stevens books.  The man knows what he writes about and his recipes are great starting points for cooks of any level.  The one I made (pictured above) was a take on his Basic Barbecue Rub, and my version goes like this:

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sweet paprika

3 tablespoons black pepper

3 tablespoons coarse salt

3 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons celery salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

a sprinkle of nutmeg

Mix together with your fingers, breaking up the brown sugar.  Sprinkle over the meat and rub in.

Anyway, so you do that, rub it on the meat, then put it in the fridge (covered) for about an hour.  Not sure why, don't really care.  It works.

Meanwhile, I went outside and set up my Big Green Egg for indirect cooking (meaning I put a little platform in there to lift the meat away from the coals).  After an hour, I slapped the meat on the grill, added my Pecan wood chips and went to make my mop sauce.

A mop sauce is optional, but I like to use it because I really like fucking with things I'm making/brewing/cooking.  It's more of a souther BBQ deal than, say, Kansas City, and I like the bite the vinegar gives.  The sauce I made is listed below, and I put it in a spray bottle and hit the ribs with it every 30 minutes.  Again, taken from "How To Grill", and this is my take on the Basic Barbecue Mop Sauce.

1 cup white vinegar

1.5 cups Homebrewed Irish Red Ale

1 tablespoon coarse salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 shallot, thinly sliced

The spray bottle ended up getting clogged by the pepper, so next time I'll get a brush or something.  Though I hate cleaning that shit.  

Anyway, after 6 hours the ribs were done.  I put a light coating of Stubbs barbecue sauce on them for the final 20 minutes or so and then took them off the grill.  Sauce is where I prefer not to make my own.  I love Stubbs a great deal - it's the best BBQ sauce I have tasted, and the other times I have tried my hand at sauces, I just ended up making spicy ketchup.

There they are.  9 hours in the making, but worth it.  Smokey, with a hint of spice.  

If you guys have any good recipes for rubs or sauces, let me know. I'm always on the lookout for new stuff to try. 

JP