Older Bolder Life

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the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: The Best Damn Smoked Baby Back Ribs

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Long time readers appreciate the fact that we’re big fans of grilled and carefully smoked proteins here; I suppose partly due to our Texas heritage and partly due to the unassailable fact that proteins fresh off the grill or from the smoker are almost always outrageously good.

My friends and I cooked our first pork ribs “on our own” in high school while on camping trips around Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado, and had plenty of hometown, old-fashioned barbecue pit masters around to show us how the real deal que was done.

Over the years we’ve grilled ribs, smoked ribs over live fire, on pellet rigs, and even in jury rigged near-smokers on the beach, and even at times resorted to cooking ribs lows and slow in the oven when pressed by weather or time.

I’ve even dabbled with friends in the competition barbecue world off and on, and we began to notice 4 or 5 years ago, along with an army of others, that a trend was developing in the meat smoking world – the pursuit of “fall off the bone tender” ribs, despite the competition smoked rib standard being ribs with a bit more tooth (a key feature being ribs holding their perfect shape when cut into individual rib sections).

As with most things related to health, fitness, nutrition, and cooking, I firmly believe that we all need to experiment with different approaches (particularly with regard to nutrition, fitness, and cooking) to find our own “sweet spot” that works the best for our unique physiologies and taste buds.

Dialing back into the rib issue at hand today, my compadres and I began to see an explosion of recipes calling for a 3-2-1 rib cook – three hours low and slow in a smoker, 2 hours foiled wrap (still low and slow heat), followed by another hour unwrapped and sauced. To my/our way of thinking, that almost always resulted in ribs that were overcooked and mushy; sure, when you picked up a rib or part of a rack by the bone the meat would fall away, but the texture was frankly off-putting.

At the other end of the spectrum, having dried out dozens (if not hundreds) of racks over the years cooking too fast (too hot) or too long, we began, as many others have, to experiment with alternative cooks to perfect the baby back experience.

And while none of my crew of compadres would ever claim we “invented the idea”, we’ve now joined the ranks of those who find the perfect rib cook formula to be a 3-0.75-.5 hour cook as follows. By the way, this recipe is configured as written for a 2 full baby back rib cook; that’s what we usually do at home on rib day. Adjust amounts as needed for your cook.

The Essential Roadmap to the Perfect Baby Back Rib Cook

Clean and trim 2 full baby back rib sections; peel the back side membranes like your grandfather taught you to do. Just to make them easier to handle, I usually spit each individual full rack into 2 more or less equal pieces.

Coat your ribs with your rub of choice and throw in the fridge for at least a couple of hours, removing 30-45 minutes before starting your cook.

A quick thought on rubs – there are literally thousands available commercially, and if you do a bit of digging, they’re almost all built around a common formula – salt, sugar (or other sweeteners), and complementary spice arrays. By all means experiment, shop around, compare ingredients, and see what your family enjoys the most, though I’d encourage (if not demand) you to make up your own rubs to control the quality of ingredients and freshness of spices used. We have a go to rub recipe that we use on all sorts of meats, I need to share here on OBL one of these days…

Fire your smoker and heat to 225; being long time Texas folk, my lovely wife and I are partial to using pecan and/or oak for our rib cooks, though they’re great with cherry as well.

Place the racks in the smoker and cook for 3 hours at a steady 225; many aficionados insist that ribs should be spritzed very 30-45 minutes (liquid of choice, often apple juice, a secret mop recipe, or water and ACV mix). To be honest, most days we don’t do that around our camp as I’ve never really be able to see a meaningful difference with or without.

At three hours, pull the rib sections, place meat side up on a large piece of heavy duty foil, and brush with a braising liquid of choice – once again, there’s a huge amount of variation in what folks are using out there. When we’re really needing to make an impression, I’ll melt 4-5 tablespoons of grass fed butter and combine with an equal amount of organic honey, and brush that over the meat side and underside of each rack. Then wrap with the foil and seal snugly; by the way, I typically place the racks meat side down when in the foil to expose the meat to more of the braising liquids brushed on before wrapping.

Now the ribs go back on the smoker (or in the oven – they’re not absorbing smoke while wrapped of course) at 225 for 3/4 to a full hour; experiment a bit to see what produces the results you like the most.

When that cook has finished, carefully remove the ribs from the foil, sauce with the sauce of your choice (there are lots of nifty low carb and keto options out there, or better yet, make your own), and throw them back on the smoker for another 30-60 minutes, meat side up.

How Do I Know My Ribs are Done?

A quick confession is due here – I cook just about everything on the grill or in the smoker to internal temperature targets these days instead of using time; if you’re not you should be, and my food has never been better since doing so.

Ribs are probably the only protein we don’t cook to internal temp targets – it’s very difficult to get accurate internal meat temps given the thin bands of meat on pork ribs (baby backs more-so than spareribs) and the proximity of the rib bones.

That said, and pending a host of variables including the actual size/thickness of your rib sections, baby back ribs are typically done in 4-5 hours using this approach, and the thicker, fattier St. Louis Cut rubs or spare ribs will take 5-7 hours (consider using a 4-0.75-.5 hour run to start) to finish.

Finally, you’ll know your ribs are done to perfection when you perform a bounce test – pick up a rack with tongs and give it a gentle bounce – if the meat cracks along the edge of a bone – you’re in rib heaven and it’s time to eat.

Grab some ribs and git ‘er done this weekend.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: In Pursuit of the Perfect Home Baby Back Rib Cook

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Like many of you, we’ve enjoyed our share of baby back ribs over the years.

Growing up in Texas and living around the Southern Tier of the country for half (more or less) of our adult lives, we’ve sampled more ribs that I’d care to recount, including those prepared by an army of home grill and smoke masters as well as enjoying those offered up by some of the most hallowed barbecue joints in the nation (which probably actually means the world, dammit).

Some have been sublime, with taste and textures approaching perfection; some have been nigh on inedible, and like you, we’ve seen everything from ribs ruined by a par-boil, some undercooked and raw, or otherwise burned to a crisp, tough as a boot and so bad the dog wouldn’t touch ‘em.

Though we almost always think of a low and slow cook over live fire when conceptualizing the perfect back rib recipe, like many of you we’ve experimented with all sorts of approaches, including a faster grill over live real-wood fire (or damn nice hardwood charcoal), slow roasts in the oven, and even a braise now and again.

For a host of reasons that most of you really wouldn’t give a damn about, this year I pulled the plug on a pellet grill/smoker rig; it’s a nifty tool, damned efficient, insanely convenient, for the most part child’s play easy to use, and can often achieve results close to what I’d (and many others) would argue is the absolute gold standard for smoking proteins at home – an offset, wood-burning smoker.

Pellet grill / smokers versus off-set wood burners can still invoke colorful and contentious debate in some circles, most often for good reasons, though I’m choosing very intentionally to steer clear of such today; I use both, and dammit the pellet rig is far easier to use and doesn’t need the nursing and attention that the wood burner does.

When it comes to baby back ribs, many pellet rig acolytes insist that the only way to go is to use what’s become known as the 3-2-1 approach, which entails starting a prepped and rubbed rib for 3 hours at somewhere around 225 (classic low and slow), then wrapping in foil (the Texas Crutch) with various additional ingredients and cooking for another 2 hours at 225, then unwrapping and most often saucing with another hour at 225 required to finish the cook and set the sauce.

I first tasted baby back ribs cooked using this method at the table of a friend who’s actually quite handy in the kitchen, and at the grill/smoker. His sauce was delicious (a classic Dr. Pepper based, Texas-style sauce), his base rub perfection, but the ribs were of a decidedly off-putting texture – they were in reality too tender to the point of being mushy. My compadre was all about the ribs being “fall apart” tender, which they were to the point of not being able cut into single serving rib sections without crumbling, and being unable to lift meat using a single rib as a “handle” to one’s mouth.

This example is of course illustrative of a key concept in cooking for one’s family at home – you have the ability to cook your food exactly how you and yours enjoy it maximally. For most food there’s unquestionably a range of what perfection is to you and yours, and you get to make the call.

That said, we fall into the “mushy ribs suck” camp, and prefer our back backs to be as tender as can be without falling apart as you pull them off the smoker rack, with the perfect tooth remaining.

The Best Rib Cook in Our Book: The 3 – 3/4 – 3/4 Approach

Hey, let’s face it, this isn’t rocket science, and experimenting a bit to attain the best results is part of what makes cooking at home such a rewarding approach.

Getting great tasting, amaze your family and guests results with baby backs is really pretty damned easy, and starts of course with selecting the best baby backs you can find. If not prepped by the butcher, remove the membrane from the underside of the ribs before seasoning with your favorite rub.

A quick thought on rubs – there are literally thousands available commercially, and if you do a bit of digging, they’re almost all built around a common formula – salt, sugar (or other sweeteners), and complementary spice arrays. By all means experiment, shop around, compare ingredients, and see what your family enjoys the most, though I’d encourage you to make up your own rubs to control the quality of ingredients and freshness of spices used. We have a go to rub recipe for pork that I make up in bulk, after looking quickly today I see that I haven’t shared it and will do so here in the next few weeks…

Though there’s some debate among chefs and food scientists as to how much time is needed to allow rubs to maximally flavor meat before cooking, we lean to rubbing pork baby backs at least 6 hours (and up to 12 hours) before throwing in the smoker, resting uncovered in the fridge once rubbed.

Our son Jake is a fan of using standard American yellow mustard as a binder for rubs on pork; I tend to lean to apple cider vinegar (probably out of habit as much as anything).

Once ready to start a cook we’re now using a 3 – 3/4 – 3/4 approach to our baby back rib cooks, with the first three hours typically in the smoker at 225.

Another quick aside on temps – I cook just about everything on the grill or in the smoker to internal temperature targets these days instead of using time; if you’re not you should be, and my food has never been better since doing so. Ribs are probably the only protein we don’t cook to internal temp targets – it’s very difficult to get accurate internal meat temps given the thin bands of meat on pork ribs (baby backs more-so than spareribs) and the proximity of the rib bones.

Once that first three hour cook has been complete, we use the Texas Crutch approach, wrapping each rib section in heavy duty foil after brushing both sides liberally with a mixture of melted butter and honey as shown below. There are dozens and dozens of “magic mixtures” touted as being best add-ins or pour-ons for the wrapped portion of rib cooks, you’ll want to experiment a bit, though we keep coming back to the butter and honey mixture given its rich flavor contributions that don’t overwhelm the spices in our rub.

Once wrapped, the ribs go back in the smoker at 225 (or the oven, wrapped they don’t absorb any flavors from their environment) for 45-60 minutes.

Once that cooking window has been completed, unwrap the rib sections carefully (there will be liquid in the foil packages), sauce the ribs, and throw them back on the smoker for another 30-45 minutes, until the sauce has set and a bend test shows the ribs have reached perfection.

It’s time to round up your next batch of ribs, your favorite rub, and fire the smoker – git ‘er done.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 14 June: Rain Day Spice Dusted Spareribs

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A few years back our family lived, worked, and played hard in Montana; I was involved (more than) full time in a medical practice, and as a family we ran a horse farm, training facility, and equestrian event center.

We were unbelievably busy, and tended by necessity to be very efficient in our food preparation and cooking. Our food prep challenges were compounded during the winter season; winters in Northwestern Montana can be long, dark, snowy, and brutally cold.

Back several years ago we were catering an event at the barn, and the group wanted a Texas-inspired barbecue with brisket, ribs, and all the trimmings. Brisket is another issue, but the ribs were a particular challenge as we were deep in a teeth-chatteringly-cold snowy spell and couldn’t spend a day outside tending ribs in our commercial smoker.

Long story short, we sorted through a pile of recipes and experimented for several weeks to craft the predecessor of this rub. The beauty of this approach was simple: we could rub the ribs and do the majority of the cook in a relatively slow oven, then finish them up over a quick turn on the grill (something we could do no matter how damn cold it was at at time).

The ribs were so easy, and more importantly, so danged good that we’ve ended up making this our default, go-to rib rub recipe, whether we’re cooking in the smoker or in the oven, as I did again a few days ago when a day-long rain make a long cook in the smoker impossible.

I make the rub in fairly large batches and have outlined the proportions used for the ingredients below – you can make as big or small a batch as you desire. You can substitute fresh cilantro and oregano for the dried, add any dried pepper you care to for heat (we like chipotle), and add a bit of brown sugar or cane sugar for a hint of sweetness, though I haven’t done that in years.

3 full racks 3/down pork spareribs

2 parts sweet paprika
1 part chile powder
1 part ground cumin
1 part ground coriander
1 part granulated garlic
1 part freshly ground pepper
1 part good salt
1 part dried cilantro
1 part dried oregano

Optional
Sub 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro for the dried
Sub 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano for the dried
1-2 tsp chipotle powder
Up to 1 part brown sugar

Prep your ribs by removing the membranes, washing off the bone, then patting dry.

Combine the rub ingredients and mix well, paint the ribs with cider vinegar and coat both sides liberally (very liberally) with the rub.

The rain day oven cheat version: Place on a baking sheet (they can be stacked) and place in a 225 to 250 degree oven for at least 4 hours, I typically try to shoot for 6 hours. No need to turn these beauties; your slow-cooking in dry heat and letting those spices work their magic.

Thirty minutes before the end of your planned cook time, fire your trusty grill to a low heat setting (real wood is so much better here). When the ribs are done, throw them over the low heat fire for about 10 minutes, turning once. Your goal here is color them up a bit and add a bit of a crunchy sear.

The low and slow smoker version: Fire the smoker with a gently flavored wood; we favor oak with just a little mesquite for this one (though use your favorites). Smoke for 4-6 hours at a target temp of 200 to 225. These beauties won’t need to be tuned up on the grill like their oven-roasted kin above.

We like to trim these into single ribs right at the table and let everyone ‘grab it and growl’. These are so good, and tender, we most often don’t serve with any sauce; if you insist on one, use your favorite, though we most often reach for a tomatillo-based sauce/salsa like this one, or use a taqueria-style guacamole.

Enjoy.