Family Ribfest Smoke Off


 
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Dan Crafton

TVWBB Member
Next month all of my family and friends will gather with the main course being ribs smoked by my Brother-in-law, my Uncle & myself. It's tuned into a rib fest competition of sorts with friends/family voting for their favorite ribs.

Recently my Sister mentioned how she and my B-in-law had been practicing their ribs and that the last ones they made were the best they've made. She said they but them in a SLOW COOKER (CROCKPOT) for five hours and then only put them on their smokeer for about an hour "just to get that smoked flavor"!!!!!

It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. Pure sacrilege! She kept saying all they just fell off the bone. Anyway I just said "I bet they were good" and left it at that.

I don't mind not having the favored ribs as I've only been smoking for a year or so BUT I don't want to lose to some crockpot cooked/steamed ribs!!!! They may be more tender than mine but mine will be true bbq smoke ribs and hopefully be more flavorful. God.....please don't let me lose to crockpot ribs (lol).

Thanks for letting me vent,
Dan
 
I may get tarred and feathered for saying this, but I have(in the past) pressure cooked ribs. then used the oven to glaze a sauce on them. they were pretty good.
 
I tried that years ago and they were decent, must admit. But the texture is not of a smoked rib in my opinion. And now I vacillate between foiling and not foiling liking both a lot.
But the truth be told most of my friends and family far and away love the foiled ribs, smoked for approx two hours and then foiled meat side down in AJ and brown sugar/spice mix. Then I remove from foil and finish till toothpick tender on the grate. Sometimes I put a sauce on them but to be honest most seem to like them without a sauce.
They are as tender as a rib can possibly be and taste like ribs not stew like meat.
I say go for it and you will be very happy with your ribs.
 
Bill Schultz said:
I tried that years ago and they were decent, must admit. But the texture is not of a smoked rib in my opinion. And now I vacillate between foiling and not foiling liking both a lot.
But the truth be told most of my friends and family far and away love the foiled ribs, smoked for approx two hours and then foiled meat side down in AJ and brown sugar/spice mix. Then I remove from foil and finish till toothpick tender on the grate. Sometimes I put a sauce on them but to be honest most seem to like them without a sauce.
They are as tender as a rib can possibly be and taste like ribs not stew like meat.
I say go for it and you will be very happy with your ribs.
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I'm in about the same situation as Bill. I love my ribs dry rubbed and smoked right through to finish. I do St. Louis style spares. I much prefer them to the back ribs. My family on the other hand seems to prefer when I foil so I do my own version of the 3-2-1 method but they are never in foil for 2 hours nor are they back on for an hour. I don't think any method compares to actually smoking them. Other methods work but just not the same.
Good luck
 
Dan, look at it this way. At least your sister and brother in law did not just pull the ribs from the crock pot,
add liquid smoke and call it a day. See it could be worse. Wow them with your best, that should convert them.
 
If they like "falling off the bone" ribs you may be hosed anyway. Sounds like they're looking for overcooked pork with BBQ sauce.

If you lose, just take comfort in the fact that your family has no taste. :)

Of course if you win, take comfort in the fact that your family has incredible taste. :)
 
Dave's right. It took years of work to retrain my wife's palate towards what a good rib should be, and even at that, she was hesitant to say I was right until she watched all those BBQ competition shows on TV with me. To J. Random Individual, "fall off the bone" mushy ribs are what is expected because that's what every restaurant menu says and every waiter proclaims is a good thing. It's to the point now that I just don't order ribs because there's a >75% chance they're gonna be mush.

When I attend friends' cookouts and they do ribs (we're in NJ and traditional BBQ hasn't hit most people's radar yet) most of 'em boast about par-boiling the racks or slow-cooking in a crock pot, saturated with hot sauce.
 
PeterD said:
Dave's right. It took years of work to retrain my wife's palate towards what a good rib should be, and even at that, she was hesitant to say I was right until she watched all those BBQ competition shows on TV with me. To J. Random Individual, "fall off the bone" mushy ribs are what is expected because that's what every restaurant menu says and every waiter proclaims is a good thing. It's to the point now that I just don't order ribs because there's a >75% chance they're gonna be mush.

When I attend friends' cookouts and they do ribs (we're in NJ and traditional BBQ hasn't hit most people's radar yet) most of 'em boast about par-boiling the racks or slow-cooking in a crock pot, saturated with hot sauce.
Click to expand...

You are so correct. I havn't ordered ribs at a restaurant since I started making them on my smoker.
 
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