Post Thanksgiving Ribs

[tmartin]

Thanksgiving was a little disappointing this year.  Turkey was very dry and to make matters worse the host doesn't like gravy so there was none on the table.  As I was politely choking down the bird and trying to figure out if I could discretely soak the meat in my glass of water without anyone noticing I started thinking about how good a rack of ribs would taste.  Pulled a rack out of the freezer that night and it was defrosted by Sunday.

While the WSM was heating up I prepped the ribs.  I prefer spares but there were multiple buy one get one free sales on baby backs this summer that I got a little carried away with so we have quite a stockpile in freezer.  Rubbed it with my version of Memphis Dust.  I'm usually pretty good at removing the membrane in one large piece but for some reason I couldn't get it off with this rack.  Gave up and just scored it, figured it would be good enough since most restaurants don't bother removing it anyway.



Ran the 14.5 WSM with a mix of Pecan and Cherry wood.  Usually I don't bother with the PartyQ for short daytime cooks but since I was managing the 1 year old alone I decided to let it manage the cooker this time.



I don't bother with wrapping and the ribs were about done after 5 hours at 250, sauced them up for the last 30 minutes. 



Meanwhile fired up the crimson for some potatoes and asparagus. 



Not the best picture but the end results were great.  Ribs were just the way I like them, tender and juicy but not quite fall off the bone.  Didn't really notice the membrane that much and only because I was looking for it.  I'll still always try to remove it but it's good to know it really doesn't make much of a difference if I have another troublesome rack.  Simple meal but it sure made up for thanksgiving!

[HoosierKettle]

Those look super juicy. I'm in the minority but I prefer to leave membrane on. My best ribs have always been with membrane.


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[Travis]

Thanksgiving without gravy?? Blasphemy!!!!

Ribs looks good man.


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[BBQ Jack]

Ribs for Thanksgiving should be a part of the tradition. Turkey without gravy would make me bring my own jar of gravy next year.

[addicted-to-smoke]

...
Ran the 14.5 WSM with a mix of Pecan and Cherry wood.  ...

Was that what's sold as "cooking chunks" wood, or did you mean it was used for smoke flavor but still cooked with charcoal? Maybe it's the same stuff, I don't know.

[tmartin]

Cooked with charcoal and a couple chunks of wood.

[Meathook]

Nice! You can never go wrong with a rack of ribs.
I seem to always have trouble removing the membrane.
I have never been able to get the majority of it off.
I can get it started then it separates and I only get a small section. Trying to get under it in the middle of the rack once it has torn has not worked for me either.

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[kettlebb]

Keep buying ribs and doing them. You'll get better each time with the membrane.


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[mhiszem]

Looks great! I'm doing ribs this weekend.


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[Meathook]

Keep buying ribs and doing them. You'll get better each time with the membrane.


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Challenge accepted!

[GoAnywhereJeep]

Cool. We skipped turkey on thanksgiving altogether as well. No matter how well i can cook it, we just can't choke down any more turkey than we have to. I did 4 racks of ribs on the Saturday after t-day and 3 more racks on Sunday. We went out for dinner on the big day. Did not want to hassle the cook and mess for one night. Still have ribs left over today and no turkey whatsoever.

The trick to the membrane is to use a paper towel to grab it and use a somewhat dull butter knife to get under it. I find that St. Louis cut or spares are a little easier to work with than the baby backs. YMMV.

[mick]

It really isn't that hard to provide some gravy for guests. I was having rib withdrawals too and had to make some and I used pecan for the first time, a small piece,  with two tiny cherry pieces and my ribs were so much more smoke ringed than yours. I'm not sure which one did it. I would guess the cherry but I barely used any. Had a really clean smoke, and they tasted amazing but i wanted them to look more like yours lol.