Ribs! Ribs! Ribs!

This weeks blog is all about the mighty rib. I am going to offer my recipe up so you can go ahead and make the best ribs of your life, but warning, this recipe does get expensive because everyone will want them after trying them.

Who doesn’t love ribs, am I right? I have found that around our area of South Central/ South Eastern Wisconsin, baby backs are the rib of choice, which was once confirmed by my placing an order at a meat market for spare ribs and they called me back right away making sure I wanted spares and not baby backs because they don’t get many people asking for spares.

So what’s the difference? Great question! Baby backs are also called loin back ribs or back ribs and that is because they come from the rib section closer to the spine, which is where the loin is located. Baby backs typically have less meat on them, and the meat can dry out easily because that loin meat does not have a lot of fat compared to other cuts of the pig. Baby backs also have a signature curve in the bones because of how close to the spine they are. Spare ribs, my favorite rib of choice, come from lower on the rib cage and the meat on the spare rib is fattier because it comes from the belly. Since it is lower on the rib cage, the bones are straighter, which makes the racks typically bigger. When it comes to competitions, spare ribs are the most common ribs cooked because they are meatier, but in certain regions of the country you will see baby backs reigning supreme, typically down south.

I’ll get into this more on a future post, but in competitions, everything is different, and I have spent 3 years trying to perfect my rib recipe so I can try and have an edge while competing. Competitions are typically a one bite, blind judging challenge, so you want to try and pack as much flavor into that one bite as possible. I have finally found a recipe I am confident in, and the nice part is that it works for competitions, and backyard cooking as well.

I am going to explain my technique here, but I do plan on posting just the recipe itself in another section of the website once I get that set up.

I usually buy whole spare ribs, which can be bought at almost any store. Once i get them home, I will cut in a straight line from the biggest bone and completely cut the meaty flap without bones. This is called the St Louis cut or style, and some stores will have pre-trimmed St Louis Style Spare Ribs for sale as well, which is a great time saver. I like trimming my own and saving the meat for future cooks, or just throwing them on the smoker with the ribs and making rib tips. Once I have them trimmed down into perfect rectangles, I flip them over and remove the big flap of meat that goes along the back to even it out and make it flush. Then I remove the membrane, which is one of the most satisfying things in bbq, especially if you get it in one pull. I usually use a piece of paper towel to remove it, but they do a make a membrane removal tool, and you’ll often hear about getting a butter knife underneath it and using it to pull it up enough to get a finger underneath it, you pick what works best for you.

At this point, the ribs are ready for seasoning. I do a double rub and no binder, which is just a preference for me. I start with a light layer of The Everything all purpose rub of mine (available soon!) and coat the ribs evenly on both side. The Everything has a course grind of salt and pepper and once its on, it starts pulling moisture from the meat which after about 15 minutes, the “meat sweat” as I call it acts as a binder for the primary rub. Usually after the base layer is on, I take the time to get the smoker fired up and ready to go. I cook at 275 on my Masterbuilt 1050 Charcoal Vertical Smoker with Blues Hog Charcoal Briquettes and Cherry wood chunks. Use whatever wood flavor and charcoal you like, this is just what I prefer.

After 15 minutes, I apply the And Then Some rub (also available soon!) and I apply a good layer to both sides of the ribs, and the edges as well. The nice part about this rub is that the primary red color helps you know if you need to fill in any spots. Once the rub is on, I usually let them sit in the open air for about 15 minutes before putting them on. Letting them sit helps the rub set and adhere to the meat better. At this point I’ll get them on the smoker and sit there undisturbed for an hour.

After an hour, I will spritz them with Apple juice. The apple juice helps keep the exterior of the ribs from drying out and keeps moisture on the rub. The sugars in the juice helps give a great color and some caramelization on the outside as well. 30 minutes later I will spritz again. After 2 hours on the pit, I pull them off and get ready to wrap. The base layer on the wrap is lined with brown sugar, honey, a few pats of butter, a shake of the And Then Some rub, and a good few sprays of the apple juice again. At that point I put a rack of ribs meat side down on that layer of ingredients so you are looking at the bottom of the ribs, then repeat those same ingredients on the back side of the ribs as well, do this same process with every rack. Once each rack is done, put them on them back on the smoker for about 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes, use a thermometer and check the temp between bones, if the temp is between 202-207 degrees pull them off, if not, keep them on checking periodically until you get between that temperature window. Once they are pulled off, drain the liquid out of the wrap but keep the ribs wrapped and rest in a dry cooler for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pull them out of the wrap, sauce the ribs and put them back on the smoker for about 5-10 minutes until the sauce is set and somewhat tacky.

A great tip for cutting the ribs is to put some sauce on the cutting board before putting the ribs down and put them meat side down. The board sauce helps the ribs not stick to the board, and ruin the top of the ribs. By cutting them meat side down, it is easier to see the bones so you can cut more accurately. The next step is very important, EAT!

This will be posted to my Lovely Jubbly BBQ Facebook page and if you have any questions, feel free to comment on the post and get the conversation started! Remember, there are many ways to cook ribs, this is my way, there are no right or wrong ways to make ribs, unless you boil them…

As always, keep cooking, and Lovely Jubbly!