There are a lot of folks who love the genuine taste of smoked ribs, but not too many people actually know how easy it is to make smoked pork ribs. And of those who do know, few of them know how to do it the right way. Most all of us can guess that making smoked ribs involves actual smoke, but you might be surprised to learn that a good portion of cooks prepare them completely indoors, void of all smoking. While this method does serve a single purpose - that of providing a meal, it really leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the outstanding taste that can be achieved by really smoking the ribs.
It is this same reason that when you visit various restaurants there seems to be a lack of interest in barbecue places. When we go out to eat, the smoked ribs places are usually easy to get into because there is plenty of parking and not too many crowds. The Mexican food places are packed. The Italian food places are packed. Waiting room only at the family menu style restaurants as well. Go figure. Not too many at the bbq joints, hmm wonder why? Could it be that they are cooking their barbecue pork ribs recipes in an oven? Of course they are .. you cannot really run a franchised restaurant successfully and have an open fire in the middle of the place. Just think of the liability insurance costs. Oh, sure, you can find the occasional ma and pa shop bbq place but they are rare. They have a tough time making a go of it because of the health and food safety laws that restaurants have to adhere to. Consequently, there are very few venues that provide you the ability to enjoy a quality smoked rib dinner. You could go to the bbq competitions (which are fun, by the way) but few of us have time to travel cross-country just for barbecued ribs. We need to reorganize our priorities if you ask me.
So what is the point of this line of reasoning? Well, the basic point is that, since it nearly impossible to find quality bbq ribs places, then that is all the more reason why you should learn the proper ways to make them yourself. And, given the current economy and the relatively inexpensive cost of the raw ribs, you just might find it to be not only fun and tasty, but also a money saver as well. Where we live, a single rack of good spare ribs can be purchased for under $12.00. Usually I buy at least two racks, sometimes three or four, depending on the price that day. Look for rib rack that are under $15.00 as a rule of thumb.
Potatoes or baked beans make an excellent side dish (even french fries are very good) and so all in all, we usually can get by feeding our family of six for under 30 bucks. Not too bad given how good smoked ribs are. If we go out to eat, the best deal we can find is usually a pizza buffet at Mazio's, which runs us about $48.00, but we do get all the drink refills for free and I love the all-you-can-eat types of places. Other than the pizza choice, a normal restaurant normally costs us about $75 to $90 for the six of us, including tip. That is high for us, so smoking ribs and brisket and chicken and the like is an excellent diversion and a cost effective one as well.
I will admit that it does take several hours or days to prepare smoked ribs so it is not an option if you are pressed for time, but smoking ribs can be not only a fun event but also a nice diversion from the ordinary. Put in your meal plan and check out some of my other posts if you would and learn some good techniques about smoking ribs. Eat well and enjoy:)
Smoky BBQ Sauce
This sauce will be a bit spicy and will have a nice smoky flavoring. It will work best for your barbecued smoked ribs that are coated only with a dry rub. This sauce also is very tasty when used on your leftover ribs because it gives them a fresh warm flavoring and restores some of that "right off the grill" smokiness.
It is best to prepare this sauce when you are smoking ribs or something else because we will be using the smoke from the grill to cook this sauce. I usually put any leftover sauce in a bottle and store it in the refrigerator, although the sauce does not contain any preservatives so it will not last more than a week.
Now this is enough for either one batch of smoked ribs or one brisket (when I see other bbq sauce recipes I often wonder why they have you make 3 gallons. Who uses 3 gallons?) Here are the ingredients you will need for your smoky bbq sauce:
2 cups tomato sauce
3 tablespoons mustard
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons syrup
1/2 cup cola
2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dill
Mix all these ingredients together and place in all metal saucepan. Choose a cooking pan that will withstand the fire of the grill and you may even want to wrap the outside of it in foil to protect against fire burns. Make sure that you don't choose a pan with plastic handles or one that is teflon coated.
Cook sauce along with your other smoked ribs during the last hour or two. Make sure that you stir it frequently as the sugar in it tends to make it stick to the pan.
It is best to prepare this sauce when you are smoking ribs or something else because we will be using the smoke from the grill to cook this sauce. I usually put any leftover sauce in a bottle and store it in the refrigerator, although the sauce does not contain any preservatives so it will not last more than a week.
Now this is enough for either one batch of smoked ribs or one brisket (when I see other bbq sauce recipes I often wonder why they have you make 3 gallons. Who uses 3 gallons?) Here are the ingredients you will need for your smoky bbq sauce:
2 cups tomato sauce
3 tablespoons mustard
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons syrup
1/2 cup cola
2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dill
Mix all these ingredients together and place in all metal saucepan. Choose a cooking pan that will withstand the fire of the grill and you may even want to wrap the outside of it in foil to protect against fire burns. Make sure that you don't choose a pan with plastic handles or one that is teflon coated.
Cook sauce along with your other smoked ribs during the last hour or two. Make sure that you stir it frequently as the sugar in it tends to make it stick to the pan.
Smokehouse BBQ | How to
The key to achieving real smokehouse barbecue taste is in two things: the quality of the meat and the method of preparation. Simple as that. This article is not going to be overly wordy so just a warning to not get comfortable.
Key One to Smoke House BBQ : Quality of Ribs
Spend the extra time or money on a good rack of ribs. Do not buy packaged ribs because then you will be getting undesirable parts that the store has hidden by folding the ribs or turning then face down. Ask the store butcher to cut your ribs and to let you pick them out. Price should be the same because they always price by the pound. You will want to choose your racks of ribs based on thickness and marbling. Do not let a thicker membrane discourage you from picking that rack; just choose them based on meatiness and and even distribution of fat marble and you should do fine. Another tip is to always buy the ribs fresh. Do not buy and freeze and I would not recommend purchasing the ribs more than 2 days prior to when you plan on doing your rib smoking.
Key Two to Smoke House BBQ : Preparation Method
I have read hundreds and hundreds of recipes for preparing good smokehouse bbq ribs and I always laugh whenever I see that the preparation is done completely indoors in the oven or a slow cooker. My fellow barbecue ribs lovers: this is not Smokehouse BBQ ! This is against bbq code and all that is right and decent in this world. If you are snowed in by a twenty foot high snowdrift and cannot escape for 7 and half weeks but you have 2 racks of ribs that you could slow cook in the crockpot, Don't Do IT!
You must always use real wood and real smoke (not the liquid kind!, by the way, isn't 'liquid smoke' a oxymoron?) if you want to have a genuine smokehouse barbecue taste. Smoke your spare ribs using indirect heat but keeping the smoker hot enough for safe cooking (250). You can soak the wood if you like but if you are using a large smoker and the barbecue ribs are far from your heat source then it won't make much difference. Soaking the wood in advance is a method to ensure that the heat won't be too intense and that instead it will only smolder instead of burning; but this 'hotness' of the fire can also be controlled by the airflow and the placement of the ribs. If you do this method then you will most likely have a great barbecue experience as the meat will tenderize as you smoke it. The final stage of cooking can be done either outdoors on your grill or inside in the oven. This is the part where you really get the barbecue ribs tender.
Key One to Smoke House BBQ : Quality of Ribs
Spend the extra time or money on a good rack of ribs. Do not buy packaged ribs because then you will be getting undesirable parts that the store has hidden by folding the ribs or turning then face down. Ask the store butcher to cut your ribs and to let you pick them out. Price should be the same because they always price by the pound. You will want to choose your racks of ribs based on thickness and marbling. Do not let a thicker membrane discourage you from picking that rack; just choose them based on meatiness and and even distribution of fat marble and you should do fine. Another tip is to always buy the ribs fresh. Do not buy and freeze and I would not recommend purchasing the ribs more than 2 days prior to when you plan on doing your rib smoking.
Key Two to Smoke House BBQ : Preparation Method
I have read hundreds and hundreds of recipes for preparing good smokehouse bbq ribs and I always laugh whenever I see that the preparation is done completely indoors in the oven or a slow cooker. My fellow barbecue ribs lovers: this is not Smokehouse BBQ ! This is against bbq code and all that is right and decent in this world. If you are snowed in by a twenty foot high snowdrift and cannot escape for 7 and half weeks but you have 2 racks of ribs that you could slow cook in the crockpot, Don't Do IT!
You must always use real wood and real smoke (not the liquid kind!, by the way, isn't 'liquid smoke' a oxymoron?) if you want to have a genuine smokehouse barbecue taste. Smoke your spare ribs using indirect heat but keeping the smoker hot enough for safe cooking (250). You can soak the wood if you like but if you are using a large smoker and the barbecue ribs are far from your heat source then it won't make much difference. Soaking the wood in advance is a method to ensure that the heat won't be too intense and that instead it will only smolder instead of burning; but this 'hotness' of the fire can also be controlled by the airflow and the placement of the ribs. If you do this method then you will most likely have a great barbecue experience as the meat will tenderize as you smoke it. The final stage of cooking can be done either outdoors on your grill or inside in the oven. This is the part where you really get the barbecue ribs tender.
How to Make BBQ Beans | Smoked Barbecue Beans
I had mentioned this in another post about smoking baby back ribs but I wanted to dedicate an entire post to it because I received some positive feedback.
Smoking BBQ Beans
You will need 4 cans of your favorite types of beans. Mix and match and almost any combination will taste good. I prefer a combination of baked beans, northern or pinto beans, and kidney beans. You can use pork & beans but I find that they easily turn to mush.. so try to use a more firm bean.
Drain bean juice out and set aside. Take meat off of the 3 or 4 ribs that you set aside earlier from one of your smoked rib racks and set aside. Take a pound of bacon and cut it into 1" to 2" sections. I find that it easier to just leave the bacon in the packaging and just start slicing it up, that way I can slice from one side of the package to the other and it stays together while I am doing it. You are on your own for food safety.
Fry bacon until it is almost done; don't get it too crispy since we don't want to be replacing teeth. Add a cut up onion to the bacon about three-fourths of the way through. Throw some garlic in there too or whatever else you like. Once in a while I will put diced bell pepper. Don't crisp bacon all the way and don't burn onions.. you want the soft and just starting to turn black around the edges. Don't add oil as the bacon's grease will suffice. Drain and return to pan. Add about one cup of your favorite barbecue sauce and a couple spoonfuls of grape jelly; add the beans in too and the chopped up smoked rib pieces as well.
Key: do not over-stir; If you do then the whole thing will turn to mush. I like to wrap the bottom of the pan in foil so that I do not ruin it because next we are going to put the bbq beans on the grill. Wait until about a half hour before the ribs are done and then put the all-metal pan of beans on (notice that I sneaked in "all metal" -- guys don't put a pan with a plastic handle on the grill. Don't use teflon coated one either as the coating may flake off when heated and during stirring). Stir occasionally to keep bbq beans from sticking to bottom. Do not over stir the beans because if you do then the whole dish will turn to mush. Just lift and turn. Sounds like good modeling advice now eh? Do not cover bbq beans as we want the smoke to get to them.
For the final stage: if the barbecue beans are not warm enough you can throw into the oven with the ribs for about the last 45 minutes or you can heat on the cook top prior to serving. Make sure that the beans are not runny.. the dryer the better. Enjoy eating the smoked beans.
Smoking BBQ Beans
You will need 4 cans of your favorite types of beans. Mix and match and almost any combination will taste good. I prefer a combination of baked beans, northern or pinto beans, and kidney beans. You can use pork & beans but I find that they easily turn to mush.. so try to use a more firm bean.
Drain bean juice out and set aside. Take meat off of the 3 or 4 ribs that you set aside earlier from one of your smoked rib racks and set aside. Take a pound of bacon and cut it into 1" to 2" sections. I find that it easier to just leave the bacon in the packaging and just start slicing it up, that way I can slice from one side of the package to the other and it stays together while I am doing it. You are on your own for food safety.
Fry bacon until it is almost done; don't get it too crispy since we don't want to be replacing teeth. Add a cut up onion to the bacon about three-fourths of the way through. Throw some garlic in there too or whatever else you like. Once in a while I will put diced bell pepper. Don't crisp bacon all the way and don't burn onions.. you want the soft and just starting to turn black around the edges. Don't add oil as the bacon's grease will suffice. Drain and return to pan. Add about one cup of your favorite barbecue sauce and a couple spoonfuls of grape jelly; add the beans in too and the chopped up smoked rib pieces as well.
Key: do not over-stir; If you do then the whole thing will turn to mush. I like to wrap the bottom of the pan in foil so that I do not ruin it because next we are going to put the bbq beans on the grill. Wait until about a half hour before the ribs are done and then put the all-metal pan of beans on (notice that I sneaked in "all metal" -- guys don't put a pan with a plastic handle on the grill. Don't use teflon coated one either as the coating may flake off when heated and during stirring). Stir occasionally to keep bbq beans from sticking to bottom. Do not over stir the beans because if you do then the whole dish will turn to mush. Just lift and turn. Sounds like good modeling advice now eh? Do not cover bbq beans as we want the smoke to get to them.
For the final stage: if the barbecue beans are not warm enough you can throw into the oven with the ribs for about the last 45 minutes or you can heat on the cook top prior to serving. Make sure that the beans are not runny.. the dryer the better. Enjoy eating the smoked beans.
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