Ribs & Chicken
Well, my plan this weekend was to smoke two racks of spare ribs for the in-laws. They decided not to stop by this weekend so I scaled it back to just one rack. I trimmed and rubbed the ribs (Magic Dust) Friday night. I had a hell of a time trying to get the membrane off and eventually gave up. This was the first time I had trimmed ribs and was a little scared that I was doing it wrong but I think they turned out pretty good.
Using the Minion Method, I started the coals at around 11:15AM on Saturday. The fire was ready to go by around noon. I put the ribs on and smoked them with a combination of hickory chunks and apple chips. As I've seen others on BBQ boards say, you would think they elected a new Pope with the amount of smoke I had coming out of my smoker. My neighbor actually asked me what I was doing since it smelled like I was burning wood. I smoked them for 3 hours and started mopping them after one hour and mopped evey 1/2 hour with Joe-Be-Wan's cider vinegar & brown sugar mop sauce. After 3 hours I glazed them with the Nashville BBQ sauce that I had added extra brown sugar to and wrapped them in foil. I checked them after 1.5 hours and they were more than done. Almost too tender. I unwrapped them, glazed them again and threw them on the gas grill on high for about 5 mins (or less).
Overall they turned out good but still not the "perfect rib". A little too tender and I'm not sure the Magic Dust is the right rub. I think my method for spare ribs will be 3 hours smoking and 1 hour wrapped. That should produce a tender rib that still has a slight pull. The Magic Dust is good but a little strong at times. I much preferred the brown sugar rub that is used with the Maple Glazed ribs. This was a good test though since the in-laws might be stopping by next weekend. Now I have a better gauge of time and can try a new rub. I plan on doing one rack of Maple Glaze ribs and another rack that I haven't decided yet. Either dry rub or sticky ribs but with a different sauce than the Nashville.
Only one picture since I did not have the camera most of the day on Sat.
Sunday I smoked some chicken legs and finished them with Sweet Baby Ray's. Below are pictures of the legs, naked and sauced.
Using the Minion Method, I started the coals at around 11:15AM on Saturday. The fire was ready to go by around noon. I put the ribs on and smoked them with a combination of hickory chunks and apple chips. As I've seen others on BBQ boards say, you would think they elected a new Pope with the amount of smoke I had coming out of my smoker. My neighbor actually asked me what I was doing since it smelled like I was burning wood. I smoked them for 3 hours and started mopping them after one hour and mopped evey 1/2 hour with Joe-Be-Wan's cider vinegar & brown sugar mop sauce. After 3 hours I glazed them with the Nashville BBQ sauce that I had added extra brown sugar to and wrapped them in foil. I checked them after 1.5 hours and they were more than done. Almost too tender. I unwrapped them, glazed them again and threw them on the gas grill on high for about 5 mins (or less).
Overall they turned out good but still not the "perfect rib". A little too tender and I'm not sure the Magic Dust is the right rub. I think my method for spare ribs will be 3 hours smoking and 1 hour wrapped. That should produce a tender rib that still has a slight pull. The Magic Dust is good but a little strong at times. I much preferred the brown sugar rub that is used with the Maple Glazed ribs. This was a good test though since the in-laws might be stopping by next weekend. Now I have a better gauge of time and can try a new rub. I plan on doing one rack of Maple Glaze ribs and another rack that I haven't decided yet. Either dry rub or sticky ribs but with a different sauce than the Nashville.
Only one picture since I did not have the camera most of the day on Sat.
Sunday I smoked some chicken legs and finished them with Sweet Baby Ray's. Below are pictures of the legs, naked and sauced.
1 Comments:
At 8/06/2006 8:20 PM,
Joe-Be-Wan said…
I agree with your final plan- I think 3 hours smoke plus an hour of wrapped. But since I always do more ribs than you, I'll likely be doing 2-4 racks for 4 hours plus 1 hour wrapped.
As much as I like the Magic dust as a utility rub, I don't think it pairs well with sweet sauces. I think its more for ribs on their own or a milder sauce. I'm not sure if you ever tried the Apple City Sauce of Mike Mills, but it was sweet in a fruity way, not a sugary way, so I think it went well.
Nice trial run this weekend, though. We both had some less than stellar performances, but thats how you learn. Speaking of, I have to check on Andrew and Jay, the newest proteges to Moist Heat.
Post a Comment
<< Home