How do you cook your ribs?

[BrAss Man]

I use a modified version of the 3-2-1 method.

After taking the membrane off the back (baby-back or Saint Louis style ribs), I use the Rendezvous rub recipe:

1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup pepper
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp celery seed
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp chile powder
Liberally season both sides and let rest for an hour or so or wrap in plastic wrap and let it camp in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

Smoker set at 225, I go 3 hours. Normally apple and hickory, but any fruit wood is good. Pull out, lay them on a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil, hit them with this mop sauce (liberally):

1 bottle good beer (lager style if on hand)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup brewed coffee
2 Tbsp above rub
Whisk all ingredients together

Wrap tight in foil and back in the smoker for 1 1/2 hours @ 225.

Pull them out and throw them over an open flame until charred nicely, up to an hour. Sometimes I cheat and use my gas grill for the last step. Who cares? They already got the smoke from the first stage. They're damn good without anything else on them, or you can sauce them for the last stage or let people sauce them to their liking after the fact.

So many different ways, so little time. This is a bit of this and that from other recipes that I have found to be quite tasty. Sometimes it's nice to have a recipe that does not use a tomato based sauce. You get more of the meat flavor shining through with this one. Enjoy.

 

[Muck]

Sous-Vide is an interesting concept, but I'm looking to cook dinner, not create a science fair in my kitchen. I'll stick with basic oven principals.

Didn't you claim 'over a decade in the restaurant industry'? One would think you might be more familiar with how easy & painless Sous-Vide really is given how prevalent it is in said industry.

In the end it's just throwing a sealed bag into a container of hot water and letting it sit for a long time. What is more difficult than that?

The big ones are ~$500 or so, iirc.

Lat time I checked they were running in the $800-900 range but that has been a couple of years ago. At that time the cheapest kamado style ceramic cookers were the Bayou Classic Cypress line.

 

[DubCoffman62]

It depends how hot they are when I get home from the deli. Sometimes I'll nuke them for a minute or too if they've cooled off a bit but they're good cold too.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Didn't you claim 'over a decade in the restaurant industry'? One would think you might be more familiar with how easy & painless Sous-Vide really is given how prevalent it is in said industry.

In the end it's just throwing a sealed bag into a container of hot water and letting it sit for a long time. What is more difficult than that?

You don't learn ALL the tricks of the trade waiting tables at Applebee's.

 

[WolverineMike]

Didn't you claim 'over a decade in the restaurant industry'? One would think you might be more familiar with how easy & painless Sous-Vide really is given how prevalent it is in said industry.

In the end it's just throwing a sealed bag into a container of hot water and letting it sit for a long time. What is more difficult than that?

I also haven't worked in kitchens since this started growing in popularity. It was not prevalent in upscale restaurants when I was there. Like you said, cooking food in a bag in some water was not considered "fine dining" in the 90's.

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

Like you said, cooking food in a bag in some water was not considered "fine dining" in the 90's.

 

[buxfan4life]

I also haven't worked in kitchens since this started growing in popularity. It was not prevalent in upscale restaurants when I was there. Like you said, cooking food in a bag in some water was not considered "fine dining" in the 90's.

You mean to tell me my Uncle Ben's Boil-A-Bag Rice is fine dining now?

 

[WolverineMike]

You mean to tell me my Uncle Ben's Boil-A-Bag Rice is fine dining now?

If Bobby Flay uses it, people would probably consider it

 

[alexhortdog95]

I use a modified version of the 3-2-1 method.

After taking the membrane off the back (baby-back or Saint Louis style ribs), I use the Rendezvous rub recipe:

You are a man after my own heart, my friend.

If you want to know all of the tricks and trades, go here: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com. You'll learn plenty of stuff over there.

I won't get too indepth (cause I could talk about this all day), but I use my own rub as well and I never foil any of the meat I do (brisket, pulled pork, ribs, smoked turkey, etc). If you're going to get out there and smoke meat, though, you'd better have a few things first:

A decent smoker
A probe thermometer
Something to spray or mop the meat with
A good fuel source

Depending on the type of smoker you have, you may want to invest in a charcoal basket as well (so you can do the Minion Method).

The last thing to always remember about BBQ - do what YOU think tastes good.

 

[Muck]

I have a friend who has some translation of a Bruno Goussault DVD where he gives up ideas and recipes and techniques, but I was never convinced to try it due to time constraints (read: I'm too lazy). I bought a Foodsaver sealing system that I use for freezing, and it might be worth it to give it a try I have a reflector solar oven that I think might be rigged up to create a 140 degree bath.

The best place to start is with Douglas Baldwin. Not only is his website a great resource but he put out a book a couple of years back that consolidates many of his tips (he also used to be really active on various 'foodie' msg boards discussing sous vide).

I also haven't worked in kitchens since this started growing in popularity. It was not prevalent in upscale restaurants when I was there. Like you said, cooking food in a bag in some water was not considered "fine dining" in the 90's.

Where did I say that?

I first learned about the technique from the mother of my children. She is a chef and picked it up while working at upscale restaurants in Europe during the 90's.

 

[WolverineMike]

Where did I say that?

I first learned about the technique from the mother of my children. She is a chef and picked it up while working at upscale restaurants in Europe during the 90's.

I meant to put the "cooking food in a bag in water" part in quotes, not the rest of it.


Comparing Europe fine dining to American fine dining in the 90's is like comparing McDonald's to Hyde Park. They were ahead of the curve in regards to innovation.

 

[BrAss Man]

You are a man after my own heart, my friend.

If you want to know all of the tricks and trades, go here: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com. You'll learn plenty of stuff over there.

I won't get too indepth (cause I could talk about this all day).....

I'm with you about the all day thing. I was reluctant at first to use the foil, but it really does work. It is probably frowned upon by purists however. Kind of like a DH. The steaming in the mop juice helps break down the fats, keeps it moist, and flavors the meat nicely. I've always been about the final product anyway. The smoking meat forums is a great site. You can lose countless hours there pretty easily. The Weber virtual bullet site has some good stuff too, even though I don't own a Weber. Great turkey brining/smoking info there.

**By the way- I'm no newbie to the smoking world, but thanks for the tips.30+years of meat,wood and beer.Ahhhhhhh

 

[alexhortdog95]

I'm with you about the all day thing. I was reluctant at first to use the foil, but it really does work. It is probably frowned upon by purists however. Kind of like a DH. The steaming in the mop juice helps break down the fats, keeps it moist, and flavors the meat nicely. I've always been about the final product anyway. The smoking meat forums is a great site. You can lose countless hours there pretty easily. The Weber virtual bullet site has some good stuff too, even though I don't own a Weber. Great turkey brining/smoking info there.

**By the way- I'm no newbie to the smoking world, but thanks for the tips.30+years of meat,wood and beer.Ahhhhhhh

30+ years in the game, eh? Then you got what I call a SMOKA, not a smoker. I'm only a few years in, LOL....

A SMOKA is what you smoke the meat in that makes it taste so good, you wanna slap ya mama (heard that in KC on a commercial, LOL).