My first attempt at spare ribs

[Chuck]

These are pretty much my raw notes from my first cooking of spare ribs. Therefore I hope you are forgiving of spelling and grammar mistakes.

The ribs used were from a 2 pack of St. Louis cut ribs from Costco. The rub I made was from the recipe for Meathead's Memphis Dust. The back of the rack had been trimmed, but discovered there was a membrane and some extra fat to be removed. All of the temps referenced here are in fahrenheit.

== Preparing the spare ribs

. Rinsed the ribs
. Took the membrane off. Took a moment to figure it out if it was actually on as it is so thin.
. Trimmed the fat from the ribs. Might have over done it a bit. (After the cook: I think I did okay)

. Made the rub. Should have done this before hand.
. When applying the rub I applied it on the cutting board. Next time I'm just going to apply it on the pan I use to put it in the fridge to dry marinate for a couple of hours. The rub was applied by hand and patted on, perhaps a little heavily. As these are intended to be dry ribs, I think I'm ok. (After the cook: Wife was happy with the taste)

. Total Prep time was about 1 hour. Should be shorter, probably under 30 minutes, the next time considering lessons learned and I don't need to make the rub at the same time.

== Preparing the grill

. Planning to run the grill at 225-250 for the cook. I'll be monitoring with a Maverick ET-733.
. Using the fuse method for laying out the Stubbs charcoal.

. Lit the starter coals, about 10, in the chimney upside down.
. Placing an aluminum pan with 6 cups of warm water inside the coal fuse.
. Placing a piece of aluminum foil at one end near the coals to prevent burning. Not sure if its needed, but saw that as a tip somewhere.
. Loading up the smoker box with about 4 oz of Mesquite wood (by mistake, meant to use Hickory but didn't notice until it was done) to start with.
. Getting everything situated took a little bit of time. Arranging the probe, getting used to the thermometer, and getting the kettle up to temp took a bit longer than expected.

== The Cook

. And so it begins. The grill is at about 225, put the ribs on at 12:45. Placed the lid with the vent oppisite the chips. The bottom vets are almost completely closed and the top is wide open.


. 1:15 Keeping an eye on the temp, mostly in the 226-228 range, currently at 232.
. 1:45 Temp got up to 245 slowly over the half hour. Just checked the ribs and they look good. Sprinkled a little apple cider vinegar for moisture. Covered and the temp went to 245 within 5 minutes. Keeping an eye on it.
. 2:15 Temp has been hovering around 250 for the last half hour or so.
. 2:45 Noticed the temp at 260 about 2:35. Took out the smoker box and cut the top vent to about 1/2 open. Spritzed the ribs a bit with apple cider vinegar. Watching for the temp to hopefully stabilize a little lower.
. 3:15 Temp had dropped and held at 217. Opened the bottom vent a touch after having reopened the top vent about 3:05. The meat has just started to pull back where its noticeable.

. 3:45 Temp has been holding around 230. Ribs are looking good, added a bit of sptritz and we'll see how things go.
. 4:15 Temp is holding arond 235. Not going to look this time, just trusting its all good.
. 4:45 Temp is still in the mid 230's. More pullback from the bone, looking very tasty.
. 5:15 Temp started dropping a bit in the 10 minutes or so before I went out to check down to 217. When I looked the coals were starting to go out. I opened the bottom vent a bit to get the temp back up. The ribs look great though, nice pullback from the bone.
. 5:45 Temp dropped about 15 minutes ago to 210. Played with the coals a bit and opened the bottom vent a bit more. Now up to 216. Going to open the vent to about 1/3  or so to get more oxygen and hopefully up the temp. Ribs are looking good.
. 6:15 Temp up to about 240, ribs are looking about done. Maybe another 30 minutes.
. 6:45 The ribs are done and taken off the grill to rest before the meal.


== The Meal

After resting, I cut into the ribs. There was something of a smoke ring there so I was happy with that considering the problem I had and pulling the smoker box sooner than I had expected to.



The bites were good and pretty clean. For a first attempt I think they came out rather well.

But to quote my wife "Oh my gosh, these are awesome!"

She also said she can now see the need for having more than one grill.


== Random thoughts

* I forgot use oil or mustard as a rub binder. Not sure if this would alter the taste, but I didn't find it was really needed.
* I forgot to rub with salt before applying the rub.
* Should probably use the water pan to season the rib in for less waste and cleanup.
* I'm not going to wrap them ('Texas crutch') part way through as seen in the competition shows and many videos. (After the cook: Having the ribs as I did, not sure what it would do for them, if anything.)
* Just after the 1 hour point i was over 250. Wondering if its the cast iron wood chip smoking box holding the temp up. I'll try simply wrapping them in foil next time and poke holes and watch to see if the temp spikes at about that time.

[1buckie]

For a first run....those are great !!!

For a fiftieth run, those would be just peachy !!!

Multiple extra points garnered here :

"But to quote my wife "Oh my gosh, these are awesome!"

She also said she can now see the need for having more than one grill. "


You can try out the wrapping....they cook a bit faster than what you're seeing as normal progression here when in the foil with liquids, butter, etc. as they're braising at that point, so when you go to do that ask a few questions & take care not to go too, too long in foil.....they can turn mushy if overdone....it's mostly for tenderizing & to start a glazing effect (butter, brown sugar, apple juice, honey, etc.)
I like 'em dry rub & go !!!!

Extra nice step-by-step write up !!!
that's really helpful now for the next person wanting to test the waters for the first time (or idiots like me that forget how !!)

you can use straight chips mixed into the coal line if you'd like, or small chunks....



When they bend nice & deep, that's a good indicator of rendered out &  done....



Extra things on the Random thoughts....

If it didn't seem to need the salt, leave it out....same with the mustard / oil.....mostly just to get the rub to stick & the vinegar in the mustard will help tenderize a bit.....


Grate Cookup !!!!!

[unl1mtd]

How did you like that Dead Rise? I've heard some mixed reviews.

Looks like a successful cook. Getting the ribs precut in the St. Louis style is a big help for first timers. I know it's where I always screw up my spare ribs.

I personally always try to halve or reduce the salt I put in rubs for pork. I just don't think it needs much.

[argentflame]

Awesome cook. Thanks for the step by step documentation.

[jcnaz]

They look perfect!

[Chuck]

Thanks for the kind words. I am really happy with the way they came out.

About the documentation, happy to do it for both my future tries at this and for others to use if they find it useful.

I forgot to mention the burn rate of the coals. At the end of the six hour cook I had gone through the starting coals and about half of the pictured fuse of coals.

About the salt. I may try a small bit of it next time before the rub goes on and not adding it to the rub itself. My wife did try putting a some table salt on the done ribs and it added a neat sweet and salty contrast with the rub used.

@1buckie Thanks for the tips and advice. I didn't get quite the bend you show in your pic, but it was rather close. My worry about putting chips into the coals without a box or wrapping is flareups and raising the temp. Maybe I'm worried about nothing. Like you, I like a dry rub so will likely avoid the foil wrapping for the most part (maybe as an experiment sometime).

@unl1mtd The Dead Rise is good (caveat, having been born and raised in MD I had Old Bay in my baby bottle:)) and not overpowering with the OB flavoring. I liken it to having eaten crabs or something else cooked in OB and then taking a swig of beer.  A taste of the seasoning and beer. I wouldn't special order this beer at any significant price premium, but if its on the shelf for a fair price try it out. The beer in the glass is my wife's stout; DR is a lighter colored beer. I was happy to get the ribs pretrimmed as it was an aspect I wasn't looking forward to.

[VAis4BBQers]

Chuck, Nice cook up! Dead Rise is money! Glad that beer finally made it to where I'm at in VA. Flying Dog is one of my favorite breweries.

[Chuck]

OT, but here's a recent article about the surprising demand Flying Dog had for Dead Rise. http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/blog/charm-city-flavor/2014/07/old-bay-flavored-beer-sales-went-berserk-causing.html?page=all

[Tim in PA]

I love Flying Dog brews and never heard of Dead Rise until now. I love anything Old Bay so I gotta find that!

Ribs look great too. Lol

[wyd]

Looks like a great job on the first attempt.  I normally use Mesquite when I do my ribs as I like the good smokey taste it adds to my cooks.  I know most use Hickory a lot but I have always used the Mesquite.  Never had any complaints so I just keep using it as one of main woods for grilling.

[Metal Mike]

I love the copper kettle!

Excellent documenting & I'll use the tip of foil under the rib end(s) (prevent burning &  to help direct any dripping)

About the flare ups or any heat increase from wood on the coals;
the low/reduced oxygen in the kettle will generally handle that.

When I use smk box I just dump & use the charred chips later in the cook. but personally I can smell & taste the foil burning when it is placed directly on coals