Barbequers, Why do you smoke ribs?

[auburngrad82]

Personally, I do it because I like gnawing on charred pig bones with very little meat.

[AngryAmish]

1. Smoking takes longer

More time to sit in my lawnchair and drink beer.

[ScreamingMeemie]

6. aHA!!! this is what I always suspected. I have never and will never

smoke ribs before bbqing them. It's all in the sauce, and MrG loves my ribs without the extra time involved.

No silly, not those ribs. ;)

[DBoon]

2. Because it is illegal to smoke marijuana

eom

[goju]

3. Ooohhhh

You have got to get the right ribs. Smoking is low and slow, shouldnt char the meat execpt for a little on the tips or fatty parts.

You smoke because it gives you a deeply "embedded" flavor that you cant get any other way. It also cooks the meat very slowly keeping the juices inside, where they belong.

I prefer beef ribs to pork. I smoke them for about 4 hours, then char them real hot and fast on the grill with a little sauce on them. You can practically lick the meat off the bones.

Damn, now I want to break out the smoker. You got me started :)


Edit, you have to use a dry rub. Paprika, garlic, cayenne, powdered chipotles, cumin, corriander (cilantro), and onion powder. Use a coffee grinder, powder all of it, let it marinade in the rub for an hour at room temperature. Then smoke away.

[soothsayer]

7. What kinda' smoker you got?

I've got R2D2---the Weber Smokey Mountain. Love it! Can go 18 hours on load of charcoal, with verrrry little attention.

[goju]

8. Ive got a few

Ive got a water smoker but its too small most of the time. I dont use it that much but for fish or the odd pork roast. I just built a good one from an old fridge summer before last. GREAT for jerky and huge loads of meat. I can smoke 12 or so big racks of beef ribs at once, if I ever need to ;). I did 5 chickens on it this summer and it was great. I had to replace the seal around my smoke bowl door because its exposed but other than that, its the best smoker ive ever seen.

I usually use a barrel smoker for just the family. Kinda like this one but not exactly


I have to keep things covered out here or they ruined pretty easily with the weather. I like the barrel smokers because I can use them to grill on and I dont need a damn trailer to haul it out ;)

[soothsayer]

13. Yowza!

You got yerself some cool toys...!

[goju]

15. Yes indeedy

I got hooked on it some years ago. Once I started doing all the cooking at home, my wife was all to eager to encourage me ;)

[EstimatedProphet]

12. Also:

use indirect heat, or at least low heat. You want them to cook really slowly. the easiest way to do that is split the coals into two piles on opposite sides of the grill, and put a drip pan in the middle. Then put water, beer, wine, etc. in the pan and the ribs on the grill over that. It will keep the humidity up and steam into the meat.

[TXlib]

4. Then try a whole chicken or turkey

or whole fish, or brisket or steak (very thick cut)

[Surf Cowboy]

5. To get Stoned!

[HughBeaumont]

9. Because any idiot can cook a damned burger or dog

It's a challenge to smoke some baby backs or spares just right. I'm the Rib King of Brookfield Road.:crazy:

I use a New Braunfels commercial grill and vary my indirect cooking. 2 ribs, I move to one side and use a mix of charcoal, moistened hickory wood and mesquite chips. 3-4, they go in the center with the coals on each side, same ingredients. I marinade the ribs in a lemon/cider mix for about 4 hours prior to cooking. We usually go 3-5 hours smoking on that pig, continually spraying with vinegar/cider/lemon mix.

Rubs - I use either a mixed grill rub (not sure of the brand) or this BBQ rub from this store in Cleveland's West Side Mkt. Also buy the meat from the butchers at WSM - better trimmed and it's cheaper.

Sauce - I use Paul Kirk's mustard slather and homemade Memphis style BBQ for sharp, smoky flavor, JB 5-star sauce and Kirk's slather for sweeter ribs.

I plan on firing up the grill one last time - gonna get me about 4 baby backs, some Red Bull and Black Sabbath.

Also - anyone tells you to boil the meat - you know, like what some restaurant chains do because they're too damned lazy to smoke them, ignore that dumb advice. Turns the meat grey and robs it of flavor. The meat should have some give, but "Fall off the bone" is overrated if all you're tasting is sauce.

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. I use a plain old, bargain basement Weber. And they're awesome.

It's all in the chef, not the utensils. ;)

[HughBeaumont]

11. At this one competition I saw on the Food Network

This old dude from Snail Slow BBQ (I think it's called that) cooked using a metal trash can, a wooded OSB plank as a lid, and a stick for ventilation.

One day, I'm getting me some metal trash cans, some welding stuff and making a beast.

[leftofthedial]

14. and how do you keep them lit?

cheap cut of meat (in the old days it was garbage for the slaves, now it's a delicacy).

Must cook long ot make flavorful and tender. Smoking is a great slow-cooking technique that adds loads of flavor.