Attention! I'm wikid close to being 100% ready for the ribs category of my next bbq competition. This Memorial Day Weekend's rib tests were the best I've produced this season. Woohoo! Read on for the low down.

I picked up ribs at Fairway in brooklyn this time around. I originally thought I'd go to the butcher section and hand-pick a few slabs, but the guy behind the counter was giving a customer a hard time about getting more cuts of beef for him to look at, so I figured he was not a guy I wanted to deal with. Instead I opted to look in the packaged meat racks and found just what I was looking for... relatively lean baby backs, with wieghts of 2.03, 2.01, 1.97, 1.71, 1.70, and 1.61 lbs.

Here's what I did:

• Removed membranes, and trimmed excess fat 
• Covered well with a new shake (1 part BBQB rub, 1/2 part granulated brown sugar, 1/2 part white sugar)
• I attempted to inject the smaller ribs with cider, but the injector was too thick so I bailed on it
• Smoked on the WSM
• Used Stubbs natural briquettes (one chimney lit, another chimney tossed on top unlit) & 4 chunks apple wood
• Water pan filled with 1 quart cider, 1 quart water
• Temp range started at 210, was at 240 within an hour, and stayed there perfectly, forever. 
• Smoked the three larger ribs on the bottom rack, three smaller ribs on the top rack
• Bone down, untouched for 3.5 hours
• Sprayed with apple cider, continued cook for 45 minutes
• Sauced with new sauce (below), and a fresh sprinkle of the same shake
• Stacked all on top grate, smoked for 25 more minutes
• Pulled after a total of 4:40
• Ribs internal was 190-195
• Wrapped in plastic, set in cooler (warmer) for 2:30 hours
• Cut, served with new root-beer sauce (below) on the side
• For the basting sauce i went with (note this was a double batch compared to the May 14, 2011 tests):
  • 6 slices bacon, crispy, minced finely
  • 1 cup finely diced yellow onion cooked in bacon fat
  • 2 cups Hunt's ketchup
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 2/3 cup rice vinegar
  • 1 cup cider
  • 4 Tbsp molasses
  • 4 Tbsp wocestershire
  • 2 Tbsp granulated brown sugar
  • 4 tsp yellow mustard
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
• For the Finishing sauce i went with
  • 4 cups of the above sauce
  • 1 cup stewarts root beer

 

My thoughts on the Final Ribs:

• Damn! Best ribs yet
• Ribs themselves were lean (i trimmed some pockets of fat off, but overall they were lean to start)
• Meat was very tender, but didn't pull off the bone
• A nice chomp mark was left right where you bit into the rib
• Smoke level was present, but the most subtle of recent memory
• Really great bark, a nice spice heat was present after eating a few ribs, but there was a good sweetness at first
• The root beer finishing sauce was a great dipping sauce... flavor melded well with the bark
• Smoke ring was the smallest yet

 

What I've learned and what I'll adjust next time:

• 240 seems to be a good temp for me
• Stubb's charcoal maintained temp insanely well... it kept it at 240 for 2-3 more hours after i removed the ribs
• But smoke level was a little light... or at least the visual smoke ring was
• Next time using Stubbs try 6 chunks apple wood
• 2 and down ribs is a great size (Fairway had good meat)
• I couldn't discern a difference in the lighter to heavier ribs (a 0.4 lb difference overall)
• Not sure if the cider spray was hugely impactful, but I liked the end result so will continue
• Want to try Royal Oak briquettes with 4 chunks apple wood to compare smoke levels
• Curious to try the sauce with Muir Glenn ketchup again now that I've thinned it with a hefty vinegar content