Rib cooking advice

[peejman]

Moore's is my second favorite. Allegro is my favorite. Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

 

 

Allegro.... :up:   Ever tried their "hot & spicy?"  It's most excellent!

[JAB]

For pork ribs, I hit them with a dry rub, wrap them in cheesecloth and put them on the smoker for 8 hours or more until done.  Keep the cheesecloth damp with a water/vinegar mix.  None of this boiling beforehand, baking in the oven, wrapping in foil for part of the cook time nonsense.  Sometimes when I am unwrapping the cheesecloth from the ribs the meat will be so tender than several of the bones will come out of the meat and pull away with the cheese cloth.  I know a lot of folks remove the membrane but - and maybe I am weird - I like to eat the membrane, too (at least on pork ribs) so I leave it on.  I find that as long as the ribs are kept moist the membrane is pleasantly chewy, not dried out and tough.  In fact, sometimes I like it almost as much as the meat (especially on those rare occasions where the ribs have a bit of fat on the membrane side.) 

 

Before I had a smoker and did pork ribs on the grill, I admit that I would usually boil them a little in a water/vinegar mix first.  That is because it can be difficult to get them good and done in the middle without burning the outside when cooking them on a grill.

 

For beef ribs, I think a good braise is the way to go.  I have actually braised beef ribs on my smoker for the best of both worlds.  What I would do on the grill is that I think I would grill the beef ribs over direct heat long enough to brown them on the outside.  Then I would place a deep, foil pan over indirect heat.  In that pan I would have a mixture of red wine and/or beer, tomato sauce, minced fresh garlic, sliced onions, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and just a little brown sugar, honey or molasses as a braising mixture.  I would want enough of that braising mixture to cover the ribs when I place them into the pan.  I would cook low and slow.  At first, I would cover the pan with foil but would remove that foil once the ribs were about done and allow to continue cooking uncovered until the braising liquid thickened up a little so that it would become a sauce.  When I uncovered the pan, if using a gas grill I would want to put in a smoker box* to get a bit of a wood smoke flavor into the mix.  Honestly, I think using this method with a charcoal grill would simply be too much of a PITA because you'd have to constantly add charcoal to keep the fire going for the extended cooking time that would be needed.  I can say it works great on an offset smoker and would probably work well on a gas grill, though.

 

*A smoker box (or whatever, other name a manufacturer might call it) is simply a metal box, often stainless steel, with holes in it and a lid that usually slides on and off.  To use it, you soak wood chips in water, drain them then put the damp/wet chips into the box, put the lid on and place the box over the heat in your grill.  Most gas grills that I have seen say not to put such boxes directly on the burners but if you are using an indirect cooking method then you could just place the box on the cooking grid over the direct heat.  The steam/smoke from the wood chips won't give you nearly as much of a smoky flavor as you would get in a smoker but it can give some.

Edited July 16, 2014 by JAB

[reed1285]

you can buy moore's and allegro at walmart or target?

[peejman]

you can buy moore's and allegro at walmart or target?

 

 

I've never seen Moore's but will look for it.  Allegro is at Kroger and Food City, not sure about walmart....  Ok, their web site says yes at walmart.

 

http://www.allegromarinade.com/products

 

And I see they have BBQ sauce, may have to try that too. 

 

The only catch to Allegro is that the stuff is like water and the bottle has a large opening so it comes out REAL fast.  If you're not careful, you can end up with half a bottle in your lap.  Not that I'd know that from experience or anything.... 

[reed1285]

Thanks for the link. I see Bi-Lo sells it too so thats good as they are about a minute from my house. I wonder how either Moore's or Allegro would do in the oven with the ribs wrapped up in some foil. Or should I just use it as a regular marinade the day before I cook them.

[LagerHead]

I smoke mine for about 2 hrs, then take them in the house and cook them at about 225 to 250 until they fall off the bones then slather the bbq sauce on them. And turn them up to about 400 for 30 to 45 min.

 

 

3-2-1.

 

Three hours in the smoke. Two hours in foil. Last hour exposed and sauced in the smoker. If your using a grill, try indirect heat for a couple hours. I would not want to cook ribs at a temp over 225*

 

Rub the ribs with mustard and then coat with the rib rub of your choice. Spray with a apple juice/butter mixture while cooking to keep things from drying out.

 

 

I was like this for about 15 years then finally figured out what works best, for me at least.
I use a dry rub on the ribs, wrap them in foil and before I seal the foil I add a mixture of beer, soy or Worcester and a little water. I don't add too much, enough to steam the ribs in the foil. Low and slow on the grill, you'll smell when the magic is happening. I'll flip em once. Once they're done, I'll take em out of the foil and put em on the grill, add sauce. Sometimes they are so tender they fall off the bone to the point you can't add sauce. Best of luck with learning your rib recipe.

 

All good advice. In my opinion, whether you like your ribs wet or dry, if they don't taste good dry it's a waste of time to get all fancy with your methods. 

 

You gotta smoke 'em. That's all there is to it. You can do so on a grill using your choice of woods (50/50 mix of apple and hickory for me) and indirect heat. Depending on time you can do the low and slow or turn up the heat and do it a bit faster and still get excellent results, at least as far as flavor goes. I am willing to give a bit of tenderness for time, sometimes. Just depends on my schedule. But you definitely want at least 2-3 hours of smoke to get that flavor instilled. Use just a little bit of chips, and add more every 30 minutes for the first 2-3 hours. Rubbing with just a bit of olive oil will help dissolve some of the oil soluble spices in your dry rub and give you that nice, black coating you want. It ain't burnt, it's just tasty. Once your meat is cooked, turn the grill up, slather some sauce on it, and get the nice burnt BBQ sauce coating on the outside. Mmmmm, mmmmmm. 

 

It won't help you this weekend, but my advice is to get a real smoker. They're easier to get the results you want and most come with a built in thermometer to help monitor and maintain temps. Some of the "purists" will balk at me, but I have an electric smoker that also includes a meat thermometer. I can set the temp and time and just check back every now and then and add more wood chips. It is very easy to get good results, and while I may not win the Jack Daniels BBQ contest, nobody is going to walk away from my food saying it sucked. 

 

Best of luck to you on your first rack. Let us know how it turns out. 

[peejman]

Thanks for the link. I see Bi-Lo sells it too so thats good as they are about a minute from my house. I wonder how either Moore's or Allegro would do in the oven with the ribs wrapped up in some foil. Or should I just use it as a regular marinade the day before I cook them.

 

Can't speak to Moore's, but either seems to work with Allegro.  An overnight marinade will result in stronger flavor but sitting 15-60 mins before cooking works pretty good too.  If you like the taste, just brush some on after it's cooked.

[Bubba0031]

I can't add to the advice on cooking methods your guys covered it pretty well but sure made me hungry.  I personally do 3-2-1 in a smoker.

[southernasylum]

I like to parboil mine in beer with salt and pepper. Then I finish them on the grill slow and low. Add sauce just before they're done and more sauce after. I usually tweak some sweet baby rays or some other off the shelf sauce with garlic or ginger or whatever I'm in he mood for. I'm usually too lazy to add wood chips but it does taste better that way.


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[JAB]

My favorite use for Allegro is to marinate mushrooms before putting them on the grill.  Portobellos are particularly good that way.  I have also used Allegro as a marinade for steaks and liked it.  I don't know that I would want to actually cook anything in Allegro, however, as in my opinion it is pretty salty.

[peejman]

My favorite use for Allegro is to marinate mushrooms before putting them on the grill.  Portobellos are particularly good that way.  I have also used Allegro as a marinade for steaks and liked it.  I don't know that I would want to actually cook anything in Allegro, however, as in my opinion it is pretty salty.

 

Hmmmm.... grilled mushrooms.  Haven't done that in ages.  My favorite use for Allegro is on chicken.  It is a bit salty, a little more so than Worcestershire but way less than Dales. 

[Motasyco]

low and slow, (3 hour minimum) in the oven then finish them on the grill

 

The only thing I would add to this is a good coating of my homemade rub.  If done right, sauce will just spoil the taste.

[reed1285]

 

Ready for tomorrow. My plan thus far goes like this.

• marinade in Moores for a couple hours

• take out of marinade, rub dry rub (jar in pic) on

• wrap in foil and put in oven at 225* for ~3 hours

• when they get good and tender take em out and mop the bbq sauce all over them then put them under broiler for a few mns

 

Hope they turn out good!

Edited July 18, 2014 by reed1285

[reed1285]

Ok got them soaking in the marinade! I have to brag on the people that cut up our cow, these are good looking ribs! I have a couple questions though. I removed the membrane on the bone side of the ribs, but what about the skin on the meat side? I just left it. Also check out how thick the one section is, it has a whole extra layer of meat on the ribs it looks like. Supposed to be like that right? Will ~3 hours be long enough if they are that thick? Sorry for the probably dumb questions but like i said im clueless ribs!

 

Edited July 18, 2014 by reed1285

[Tncobra]

Sorry, deleted info.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Tncobra

[JAB]

So, how did they turn out?

[Ugly]

So, how did they turn out?

 

We wanna know :up:  :down:

[LagerHead]

So, how did they turn out?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

[reed1285]

yeah....about that. Out of all honesty I was pretty disappointed in them. I was expecting that though seeing as how I've never done ribs before. I dont know what I did wrong really. Maybe it was the ribs fault lol

 

marinaded them for a couple hours, took them out and wrapped them in foil. Put them in the oven at 225 and after about 3 hours they still werent done. All they did was shrink up into about a 2 or 3 inch thick steak pretty much. They didnt get "fall off the bone tender" at all. They were in the oven for about 4 hours total. I have another rack so I have another chance to get it right. I just need to figure out what went wrong.

[Ugly]

This is a common learning process, don't be discouraged. It has taken me many years to be able to cook them to my satisfaction.

Beef are a bit more difficult than pork but it is still possible to get them to fall off the bone.

An easy method for the oven is to use an oven bag.

I still use the foil method on the grill, it keeps the heat down in the house and adds flavor.

With foil on the grill, use heavy duty foil, seal it up tight tight tight, if the liquid leaks out, well it won't work so well.

[JAB]

yeah....about that. Out of all honesty I was pretty disappointed in them. I was expecting that though seeing as how I've never done ribs before. I dont know what I did wrong really. Maybe it was the ribs fault lol

 

marinaded them for a couple hours, took them out and wrapped them in foil. Put them in the oven at 225 and after about 3 hours they still werent done. All they did was shrink up into about a 2 or 3 inch thick steak pretty much. They didnt get "fall off the bone tender" at all. They were in the oven for about 4 hours total. I have another rack so I have another chance to get it right. I just need to figure out what went wrong.

 

I'm telling ya', man, braise those bad boys.  Beef ribs are not pork ribs and, in my experience, cannot be prepared the same way as pork ribs with very good results.  There is a reason why most barbecue restaurants have pork ribs on the menu but you rarely (if ever) see beef ribs.  Beef ribs just generally do not lend themselves to turning out well when prepared using the methods generally used for pork ribs.  Although I mentioned braising on the smoker/grill earlier you don't have to use a grill, etc. for that.  I was only mentioning doing it on the grill because I thought you had said you wanted to use the grill.  In fact, braising is traditionally done in the oven and using the oven would probably work better.  Low, slow cooking in an enclosed/covered vessel with a good braising liquid is the way to go with beef ribs.  That is actually what the braising technique is all about and probably the reason it was created in the first place - to make an otherwise tough, disappointing cut of meat into something delicious.  Beef short ribs are one of the standard cuts for braising.  Usually they are the short ribs cut a specific way when using them for a braise but I think you could use what you have with very good results.  I probably would suggest separating the rack into individual ribs before cooking so the braising liquid can more fully surround each piece.  Beyond that, just look up recipes for 'braised beef short ribs' and choose the one that sounds best, to you.  One, additional bonus to braising the ribs is that after you remove the ribs from the braising liquid  - especially if you use a recipe that calls for adding carrots, onions and the like along with the ribs - you can use what is left in the cooking vessel (dutch oven, etc.) to make a really nice gravy/sauce.  Oh, and if you decide to go with a recipe that uses wine in the braising sauce don't make the mistake of using cooking wine from the grocery store.  That stuff is extremely salty and pretty foul.  Instead, use a normal table wine.

 

Don't be too hard on yourself if the first batch didn't turn out as well as you had hoped.  While pork ribs are fairly easy to cook and get at least decent results, beef ribs are not.  Beef ribs are, in some ways, a lot like beef brisket in that the meat sometimes tends toward being tough and dry - often with a lot of connective tissue - if not prepared properly.  Also as with beef brisket, however, when they are prepared properly the very properties that can make them challenging can also make them really, really good. 

Edited July 22, 2014 by JAB