# bbq pork rib preparation



## brushmonkey (Jun 16, 2006)

My father wants pork ribs for father's day. I have heard that par boiling the ribs before bbqing them will make them tender and speed up the cooking time. Is this true? Also If so can they be par boiled the day before and marinate them with a dry rub?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Par boiling robs them of flavor and texture. Don't do it. Low and slow on indirect heat on a grill or in the oven.

Phil


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## jock (Dec 4, 2001)

Phil's right, don't do it. If you haven't the time to slow cook them on the grill over indirect heat for 5 hours or more, you can roast them in the oven for an hour and finish them on the grill for flavor. 

I just got my July (BBQ) edition of Bon Appetit and it has a good, quick recipe for ribs done that way.

Jock


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

When I don't have time to BBQ my ribs properly I rub them with a dry rub, wrap them in foil with an ounce or 2 of beer and slowly cook them in the oven until nice and tender. It actually works even better to do this the day before as the ribs have time to cool down before grilling making them easier to handle on the grill.


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Dead on target! LOW AND SLOW WITH INDIRECT HEAT!


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## gonefishin (Nov 6, 2004)

With the others...rub them, wrap them, leave them (for 4-5 hours and then eat them  But don't boil'em...it ain't pasta:bounce: 

dan


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## doyle (Jun 17, 2006)

I am new here but I do cook a lot of ribs and have found several ways that work good. I used to boil them but as stated above, they really get robbed of the flavor. My favorite way is to smoke them at about 250 F for 2 hours using hickory and then cut the ribs apart, double wrap them in foil along with some barbeque sauce (I prefer the sweet saucy ribs) and then put them in the oven at 300 for another hour. After that take the ribs out of the foil and put them on the barbeque to finish them up. Continue brushing the ribs with sauce while turning them but don't let them burn. The BBQ sauce has sugar in it and can burn easily. This last step takes only 10-15 minutes. 

If you don't have a smoker, you do the same thing by putting the ribs into foil along with barbeque sauce as stated above for about 90 minutes. Then finish them as above. With this second method you will have a lot more liquid in the foil when you pull them from the oven so be careful as it is hot. The liquid is from all of the rendered fat. 

A last tip would be to use Baby Back Ribs. You only have one DAD and he is worth the extra cost for the best of the ribs. 

Good Luck

Doyle


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## muskyhopeful (Jun 16, 2006)

Smoke makes the best ribs. If you don't have a smoker (most people don't), indirect on a kettle or something similar will work, but be careful with the heat, 200 to 225. Use hardwood charcoal as a base, no briquets, and sticks of hardwood to keep the gentle heat going. Chips will work, but soak them well and you will need to add two or three pieces of charcoal at a time to keep the heat up. I like fruit woods. If you have room, a foil pan under them with beer, water, and apple cider keeps the chamber moist. Build little foil walls to keep the heat from the sides. I would use spare ribs as it easy to dry out baby backs. Rub them with yellow mustard and cover with a dry rub the night before. 2.25 to 2.5 hours indirect, then they will most likely need to be wrapped in foil, or they will get too black from the smoke. Spray them quickly two or three times with diluted apple cider during the unwrapped period. 45 minutes in the foil and they're done. They should have a bit of a crust, and it takes a bite to get the meat from the bone. These are not fall off the bone ribs, but true BBQ "Memphis in May", "KC World Championship" style ribs. It sounds complicated, but it's really not. Just watch the temp and have a few beers while they're cooking.

They're great without sauce. Have a slightly warmed sweet sauce, and a hot sauce for the lucky people that are eating them to apply if they like. 

Hope this makes sense, this is just my third post. I'll get the hang of it.

Kevin


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

One vey important thing: Remove the "skin" or thin membrane that lies directly ontop of the meat/ribs. Just take a cloth, grip and pull it off like a band-aid. If you leave this on, when the ribs cook they'll curl up like an old shoe...


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## bigwheel (May 26, 2006)

Hey Kevin..very good advice here. I only change up a few minor things. Ideal rib cooking temp for them who is temp gauge watchers in my book is around 260. Person start shooting for the low 200's it tends to dry them out and though they will have great flavor the texture be similar to bone-in pig jerky akin to that world famous ******* seasoning meat called Tasso. I also aint in favor of spraying the things with anything including but most especially apple juice or cider. Only thing I see the squirting accomplish is to slow down the cooking and wash off the bark/seasonings etc. which is not a good plan. Past few years I have been cooking them bone side up the whole time and trying to not move em at all till they tender up. If you will notice that bone side will make a nice little convave depression which is great collecting and holding moisture. Do not spill that juce and dont flip em. After a few hours of not messing with em...try to reach in and see if you can pull on the middle bones and make the meat tear slightly. When it reaches that point..wrap em in foil and stick em in an insulated container..empty ice chest work great..and let em swelter for at least an hour..two hours is even mo betta. At the end that time frame drag em out of the foil and put them back on the fire and hit with a sweet glaze. Your favorite tomato based sauce mixed with a little honey works well. Dont glaze em but once and let the glaze burn in just slightly. Eat. For home cooking dont worry about debraining em..just score up through the brane on the bone side betwixt each bone with a sharp knife. Object is to cut through the brane but not into the meat. Also cut off the brisket flap on the bone side. It dont cook up well. All kinds of rubs out there...but good garlic salt and black peppa works well in a pinch. Mustard slather on the front end of course. Hope this helps somebody.

bigwheel


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## muskyhopeful (Jun 16, 2006)

bigwheel,

Differences noted. I found in my little New Braunfels tower that temps above 225 both blackened and dryed out the ribs more quickly than I liked, however, I've never bothered to determine how accurate the door thermometer is. LOL. It's very possible my 225 is 250 to 260. I try not to mist before the rub is well set on the ribs. I will definitely try the wrapping and cooler storage. Seems that would be a gentle way to loosen the ribs up and allow for a gentle finish. More consistent possibly than the wrapping and leaving in the smoker.

I've gathered from reading some posts you're a BBQ guy from TX. I've only been to TX once, and made a drive from Austin to Taylor for a stop at a joint named Louis Miller's. My God, the brisket! Washed down with Lone Stars out of an ice filled metal bucket. A lunch I will never forget. I've never had much luck smoking brisket. Pork shoulders, butts, and chicken thighs seem the easiest.

Kevin


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## bigwheel (May 26, 2006)

Well if they turning out good hopefully that dial is erring on the hot side. Anywhere above 240 be just fine with me. I cook in a sorta ho made tower which is the upight part of my offset pit named Fred. He got a door thermometer too and as long is he is rocking twixt 200 and 300 I feel purty safe. If it goes below 200 it means it time to add some fuel..if it goes above 300 figger it fixing to start coming back down shortly Never ate at Louie Muellers that I can recall but have heard mighty flattering things about their chow. Glad to hear you found it eceptable. It very hard to find good storebought bbq. Sure aint none in Foat Wuth. Anybody who wants good bbq in Foat Wuth..betta plan on coming to my house Now I drank enough Lone Star beer to float several battleships and used to just love the stuff. Unfortuanantly yankees bought it out Pabst or Strohs or one of them putrid brands..and now it aint fit to feed to the pigs. I mostly drink Budweiser or Shiner Light. The Shiner dark gets me tipsy too fast. I got to shooting my mouth off last night and tole the warden I would cook two 3.5 chuck roasts on the gas grill today. Dang..they looking purty good. Gave em about 3 hours in the smoke at 250'ish and just wrapped em up with in the Okiehoma Crutch (Reynolds Wrap) with of my special secret Grandprize Winning brisket sop. Figger I let em continueth till when I stick em with the insta read Wally World temp gauge it accidentally pass through both sides and bump the bottom of the pit. That should be a clue as to whether they tender enough for old widder ladies. Whutcha think?

bigwheel


bigwheel


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## muskyhopeful (Jun 16, 2006)

Seems like a reasonable test for tenderness. Chili is also your thing, I see. I take a run at that once in a while, too. I make a paste from dry chilis. No powders used at all. I've entered a few local contests with it, but it was a little too authentic. I think the last one I was in was won by a chicken chili. Not much to say about that.

Enjoy those chucks. I'll have to try that some time.

Kevin


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## bigwheel (May 26, 2006)

Well I got about zero expurience in grinding dry chilis..cept I have done a few anchos for comp beans a few times. Found out quick a food processor cant cut the mustard. The little coffee bean/spice grinder will do just fine. Most of us old lazy chili cooks buy a lot of pregound stuff from a place called Penderys located in Foat Wuth and Dallas. They got some off the charts super high quality chili fixins. You aint never whiffed Cumin till you sniffed some from Penderys. Smells like a bouquet of edible flowers. Maybe that is why I am getting the urge to eat flowers all of a sudden. I have even got the hispanic folks trained to buy it here in Cowtown. They tend to formerly buy that cheap stuff from San Antone called Bolners and or Fiesta. Penderys will knock that stuff into the nickle seats. Now we did have a nice little eye doctor come over and kick all our coolas at the TCA Hobby Lobby cookoff a few months back..and he was using all ho made pastes. That was his first comp cookoff too. Dang little smart aleck Penderys got a real strong mail order program if you get tired of grinding that stuff. It about as cheap to have it shipped as to buy the gas to drive over and buy it..and I live in the same town with em. It bound to be cheaper to have it shipped than driving down here from Wisconsin or wherever other godforsaken place from which your from

bigwheel


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## muskyhopeful (Jun 16, 2006)

I don't grind the chiles, I rehydrate and puree them, then run them through a food mill to lose the bitter skins. Then fry them until reduced to a thick paste. That cooks out the raw flavor. Roast and puree garlic , too. I puree saute'd onions. I run those through the food mill too. The paste needs to be seasoned with cumin, sugar, pepper, salt. Add it to a beef or chicken broth with the garlic and onion, and some tomato puree, and reduce. Diced Tri-tip for the meat. Simmer to the right thickness. I squeeze in a little lime juice at the end. If everything works out you get a silky, spicey, red broth. No grittiness and a nice bite to the meat.

The problem in Wisconsin is the dried chiles are very inconsistent as to flavor and spiciness, so you don't know until about two hours in if the final product is going to be bland or blazing hot. So you take your chances in a competition. I'm not sure you can bring a paste that has already been cooked to an International Chili Society cookoff. I've never entered one.

Kevin


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Kevin, you may have to grow your own. Are there any farmers who produce chilis in your area? Any good farmers' markets near you (like the Dane County one in Madison)?

Your paste sounds divine!


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## muskyhopeful (Jun 16, 2006)

Hi Mezzaluna,

Good fresh chiles are available at Mexican grocery stores. I'm in a Milwaukee suburb, and the El Rey stores are great for chiles, fresh masa, all kinds of stuff. You need the dried chiles for the paste. I think I've done things the same way each time I've gone through the paste process, so instead of blaming myself for the blandness or overspiciness of the paste, I blame the chiles, LOL. Penzey's sells some great looking dried chiles for about five times the price of El Rey, so I've never tried those. I could spice things up with chili powders, but I like to try and do it with only salt, pepper, and cumin as dry ingredients.

It may be possible to dry your own, but I've seen it on the Food Network, and it was being done on the roofs of buildings in New Mexico in blazing heat. I have to give credit to a Rick Bayless cookbook on this idea. It's basically an adapted guajillo sauce. The dry chiles have a whole different flavor. It's the frying that really makes them zing, and takes out the bitterness that you'll sometimes come across in a Mexican restaurant.

I love the Madison farmer's market. I have a pastry chef friend from Sun Prairie that sold her organic creations there. Now she's back in school, so I think that's on hold.

By the way, it's only been a few days, but I've really enjoyed this site. Bigwheel and I would get along just fine, that I can tell. My posts can sometimes ramble, so I ask forgiveness in advance until I learn the language of a food forum. I apologize if I hijacked the original poster's thread.

Kevin


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## bigwheel (May 26, 2006)

Ahhh ok..now I am with ya on the plan. Must be how the little eye doctor who whupped us does it too cuz he showed me his food mill. Sounds a little too labor intensive for lazy fat boys who sweat a lot Sure ICS be just fine with bringing your own pastes. Know it aint agin TCA or CASI rules. If it were they would nearly have to outlaw canned tomater sauce and broth too..which they dont. The major thrust of the prohibitions involve pre-contest manipulation of the meat..pre-seasoning...marinading etc. Pre chopping onyawns and slinging chili paste be just fine I ghuarontee. 

bigwheel


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