Ed Mitchell (hot and fast) Spare Ribs


 

jay k.

TVWBB Member
Any one see this episode on throwdown?

he cook his ribs hot an fast in less than 1 hour. they were fall of the bone cooked in less than an hour.

2 questions: can we replicate it? any idea on a rub that is similar to pit seasoning?

i went to the pit's website and no where to order spices.

Carolina style rib recipe
Ed Mitchell, The Pit in Raleigh, N.C.

INGREDIENTS

• Spareribs prepped for The Pit
• Pit season
• Pit season with water
DIRECTIONS
Prepping instructions: Working usually a case at a time, remove ribs from packaging and place in a clean bus tub. With a good knife and cutting board, remove "skirt" on the bone side of the rib. Turn rib over and remove approximately 2 to 2 ½ inches along top of rack. Clean both ends of rack if they are ragged. With a small paring knife lift up membrane on bone side, grab with a kitchen towel and remove from rack. Remove large fat deposits on "meat" side and lightly make several "knife scores" along the rack, parallel with the rib bones. Next cut the rack into 5 bone portions. 4 bone or 6 bone portions are OK, but 5 are ideal. Once all the ribs are portioned, sprinkle Pit Season on both sides of rib and neatly place in a bus tub.

Cooking, holding and serving instructions: Once the Pitmaster has his grill pit hot with charcoal and is ready to grill, seasoned spareribs are neatly arranged, meat side down, on grill. Allow this side to cook uninterrupted for approximately 15 minutes. Using tongs, carefully, quickly turn ribs over (bone side down). Allow to cook for another 15 minutes or so. With a clean kitchen towel blot any blood off the meat side of the rib. Repeat turning over ribs at 10 to 15 minute intervals for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour or until just fully cooked. (A properly cooked sparerib will have a nice seasoned browned color.)

Next, add to deep hotel pan water mixed with Pit Season. This step helps keep the ribs moist and imparts additional flavor. Cover hotel pan with aluminum foil, label and date. Some may go directly onto line steam table. Remaining spare ribs will be placed in a low temperature warmer (150 degrees F) and held until needed for service. Ribs are served per chit instructions and lightly brushed with sweet BBQ prior to serving.
 
Have you tried them yet? I can see with beef ribs that a hot and fast approach could be successful - after all, we all love the steak that was carved out from around the ribs.

The problem I have here is getting ANY beef ribs that have enough meat on them to mess with.

I think I'll take the approach of buying standing rib roasts on sale and then cutting the ribs from the roast myself.

Let us know when you cook these and don't forget the pictures!

Pat
 
I live near Raleigh and have visited the pit once...the ribs are ok but not very much smoke flavor. I wouldn't attempt these at a competition. Don't get me wrong they have a good flavor, but it's hard to pay that kind of money for a slab when I can cook what I like at home for less $$.
The Pit is one of these newfangled bbq spots. Too pretty and too expensive.
Ed himself is a trip and if you hang out long enough you will drink some of his moonshine and you will have a great time.
 
I was a little confused by the title of this post since Ed does Pork spare ribs, not beef. Were you thinking of trying this approach with beef instead?

I live in Raleigh and have been to the Pit several times. One of the complaints from some is that it is overpriced for bbq. I can see where some are coming from, but keep in mind that not everyone has the 'que skills that many on this forum have. Also, while you can find amazing bbq throughout this great state at much lower prices, I think some of what you're paying for at the Pit is the atmosphere and experience. Sure, I love a simple bbq joint as much as the next guy, but it's nice to have the option to go out to a "nice" restaurant, order a good beer (or wine or drink) and get some top shelf bbq.
Ed does it right, and as Chuck said, he's quite a character. I was celebrating my birthday with the wife and in-laws and Ed came over to find out what the occasion was. Upon hearing that it was a birthday, he asked if we would like some ribs just pulled off a pig that had come out of their cooker (on the house, btw). They were some of the best I've ever had.

There are quite a few legendary bbq places in NC, but if you're ever in Raleigh, I'd recommend a visit to see Ed down at The Pit.
 
brice am i wrong and they are pork spare ribs?

not sure I will have to go back and try and watch the episode again.

still any hints on spices to get close to what Ed does?
 
I don't know how he gets them done in an hour, but I cooked three racks this past weekend at 350 - 375 indirect and they were done in 2.5 hours. The meat pulled clean from the bone, but the meat had a different bite to it. By different I don't mean to imply a negative. The ribs were good. I would recommend giving it a try. It is always good to have as another useful approach.

Gary
 
Yep this is NC...no beef bbq here. Ok there are some newfangled joints that are cooking brisket and beefribs, but they moved here from TX. Ed was born and raised in NC and would probably run you off if you asked for beefribs.
Never had the cajones to ask Ed whats in the rub, but I guarantee its' pretty simple. He is from the old school, so if I had to guess... Paprika,garlic pwdr.,onion powder, salt, pepper, and some cayenne.Just a guess.
 
I have also seen a show where Ed shows how he cooks a whole hog. He soaks the smoke wood in vinegar. I imagine that the ribs off of the whole hog would be different than grilled ribs. I saw the show that started this thread too and thats what they were, grilled ribs. Cook'em however you like. For me smoking meat for hours is kind of like meditation. Although a technique to cook up some good bbq fast would be a good tool to have in the arsenal. I think Larry Wolfe grills ribs often. If only he would chime in.
icon_biggrin.gif
 
I saw this throw down again on tv last night and I'm looking to see if anyone has ever tried a hot and fast rib cook like this. It's just really hard for me to believe this works, though I saw it on tv and the meat was pulled back from the bone and they seemed pretty good. Sure would be nice to do good ribs in an hour or so versus six.

Also hoping Larry chimes in. Maybe he didn't see this post a few months ago.
 
I've tried the BBQ at the The Pit but not the ribs. The BBQ was really good so I might try the ribs next time. The Pit is certainly not your typical NC BBQ joint. Very classy and a bit pricey but not a bad place to visit when you want to splurge a little.
 
My dad has a wsm but is horribly impatoent, so he does his ribs on his kettles. He likes baby backs which will make a difference in cook time, but he cooks them for about an hour and they are very good. They are more like roast prok than smoked pork, but still very tasty. he is also old school on rub, just salt, pepp, and garlic powder.
 
i watched that show last night. if im not mistaken, you never really saw him cooking ribs from the raw state. The ones he was putting on the grill always seemed to be cooked or partially cooked. Could he maybe be pre-cooking these maybe in an oven or something them finishing them on the grill? Maybe I'm wrong....just a thought.
 
In the old days at the original Dreamland BBQ in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (well, Jerusalem Heights, actully), Big John seemed to cook and tend his ribs for hours on end, but at the newer, franchised place in Birmingham, I understand they use a hot and fast approach. Hot grill, for about an hour. The ribs CAN be very good, but the results are inconsistent. Very good one trip, mediocare the next.

I will stick with my "2.5-1.5 - until" approach unless I find myself short on time, and then may try the hot and fast and see what kind of results I get. Would hate to waste a good slab of ribs!

Pat
 
FWIW..there's a place here in town that serves good ribs to the masses....the guy advertises that he preps the ribs, seasons em, and roasts/steams them several hours in covered pans with a little water...then finishes them on a grill with sauce prior to serving
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...they're pretty good and taste as good as any mass produced restaurant ribs
icon_cool.gif
 
Originally posted by BriceB:
I was a little confused by the title of this post since Ed does Pork spare ribs, not beef. Were you thinking of trying this approach with beef instead?

I live in Raleigh and have been to the Pit several times. One of the complaints from some is that it is overpriced for bbq. I can see where some are coming from, but keep in mind that not everyone has the 'que skills that many on this forum have. Also, while you can find amazing bbq throughout this great state at much lower prices, I think some of what you're paying for at the Pit is the atmosphere and experience. Sure, I love a simple bbq joint as much as the next guy, but it's nice to have the option to go out to a "nice" restaurant, order a good beer (or wine or drink) and get some top shelf bbq.
Ed does it right, and as Chuck said, he's quite a character. I was celebrating my birthday with the wife and in-laws and Ed came over to find out what the occasion was. Upon hearing that it was a birthday, he asked if we would like some ribs just pulled off a pig that had come out of their cooker (on the house, btw). They were some of the best I've ever had.

There are quite a few legendary bbq places in NC, but if you're ever in Raleigh, I'd recommend a visit to see Ed down at The Pit.

I've visited this restaurant about 4 or 5 times.
I enjoyed it. The purpose of the restaurant is for exactly what you say/describe IMHO. There's not a lot of smoke, no - but that's a style in this case not so much a problem. Ive had all of his Q. Enjoyed all of it. It's North Carolina style using Ed's technique specific breed of hogs and whole hog cooks, not parts. The way he cooks the central point is the flavor of the meat itself, not masked with heavy rubs or smoke. When I had the ribs there, they sure didn't seem like they were fast cooked like he demonstrated on that episode referenced.

Excellent food, loved the sides, and the beers. And had a few drinks with Ed a couple of the times. His style is definitely not heavy smoke and spice if that's what you're used to. Ribs pulled pork and brisket were all good to me.

I've also tried most of the "legacy" Q joints around Raleigh area. Some had a bit more smoke but the NC Q is a little different than other regions. I like it as a change up from what I typically do. Better than the restaurants/chains up around here.

I've also hit a number of Q joints in TX. Holes in the wall, shacks, etc. Excellent. Very different than NC style. So I wouldn't expect that when I go to an NC joint.
 
The past few days I have been cooking some ribs on the grill to give this an experiment.

I have a 22.5 Weber kettle with a thermometer in the lid that I am not sure is accurate at all.
I just bought the grill for super cheap on CL and wanted to give high heat ribs a try.

I have done ribs on the WSM all different ways, unfoiled, foiled, held in a cooler, etc., etc.

I used a full basket of charcoal and heated them up all the way and put them on one half of the grill.

I rubbed and put the small st, louis rack on the other side indirect.

I wanted to cook them between 325-350 deg.

The temperature got really hot over 400 in about 15 minutes so I closed the vents and let them cook another 15 minutes.

The temp went down a little under 300 so I opened up the vents slightly.

After about an hour and 20 minutes I picked up the ribs with my tongs and they bent pretty good so I took them out.

To my surprise they were very tender with a nice crispy bark and not over cooked at all.

Really excellent ribs.

Now it has got me thinking about using higher heat for ribs.
 
Kendall

These were baby backs. I got them at smart and final and they said st. louis but looking at the bones I am pretty sure they were baby backs.

Also remember I am not sure that my thermometer was accurate. I would check them at 1 hr. and 20 and then go from there.
 
Although a technique to cook up some good bbq fast would be a good tool to have in the arsenal. I think Larry Wolfe grills ribs often. If only he would chime in.
icon_biggrin.gif

Larry could cook them on a Smokey Joe and they'd be good.
 

 

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