Ed Mitchell's Rib Recipe


 

Mike_G

TVWBB Member
This is not "low and slow" but Ed Mitchell cooks some decent ribs at his BBQ joint in Raleigh, "The Pit". He recently shared this recipe on local TV.

Recipe: Ed Mitchell's Ribs at The Pit

What you need:

8 whole racks of spare ribs
2 cups of your favorite rub seasoning
2 cups of your favorite eastern North Carolina-style barbecue sauce (with vinegar)
About 2 quarts of your favorite sweet and spicy barbecue sauce

Prepping Instructions: 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 about 2 to 2 ½ inches along top of rack. Clean both ends of the rack if they are ragged. With a small paring knife lift up the 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 five bone portions. Four bone or six bone portions are OK, but five is ideal. Once all the ribs are portioned, sprinkle with rub on both sides of rib.

Cooking 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 about 15 minutes. Using tongs, carefully and 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 about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until just fully cooked. A properly cooked spare rib will have a nice seasoned browned color.

Next, put ribs in a deep hotel pan and baste with eastern North Carolina style BBQ sauce. This step helps keep the ribs moist and impart additional flavor. Cover hotel pan with aluminum foil until ready to serve. When ready to serve, lightly brush ribs with sweet and spicy barbecue sauce just before serving.
 
Raichlen did an episode with this technique but I have not tried it. I would reckon that your average backyard commando does this and gets an OK but not great product.
 
I live in Raleigh and the ribs served at the Pit are accurately described as "decent". Nothing great by any means and it is more of a white tablecloth BBQ restaurant than anything. Flavor is nice, but not the most tender.

Ed Mitchell isn't actually associated with the restaurant anymore, but apparently he is in the works to open a new restaurant.
 
This raises an interesting question though... to what extent would "cooking for an hour and sitting in the warming pan for 5 hours waiting for a customer to order" accomplish the same as low & slow cooking for 6 hours ?

I realize the wait wouldn't normally be that long... but I've always wondered how much the meat keeps cooking if you pull it off the smoker/grill but keep it warm ?
 
For a 1 hour cook, gotta be a minimum 325o IMO.
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John, I took my ribs off one day at 5 hr and they sat (covered/wrapped in a blanket in the microwave) for another 2 hr. Very tender. Not quite fall-off but not firm either.

Next cook was 5 hr also (I didn't do the pull test) and ate 'em after no sitting time save 1/2 hr while everything else got put together.

Not nearly as tender this time.

Now, I start it at 10 am, take out at 3 and let 'em sit wrapped up for 2 hr till supper. Much better method IMO. And BTW, they were still plenty hot to eat after the 2 hr set time.
 
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I've had the ribs at his restaurant and saw the show on TV. On the show is where the 1 hour ribs came from. Can pretty much guarantee that it is not how he does them at the restaurant. But who knows without asking him.

JMHO

I actually sat with him one time at the bar for a good hour chatting. Before that I heard him in the back breaking down whole cooked hogs. Figured it was him since the sound stopped as he walked around to sit down and was wiping his hands as he came out.

He's not cooking on grills there. Has his own whole hog cookers and there are smokers out back.
 
Haven't eaten there, but many times in other bbq restaurants. Some of them so called famous, best ribs, celeb's pictures on the wall, rave reviews in the paper yadda, yadda, yadda, and have yet to eat any as good as my back yard, and I suspect it is the same for most of us.........................david
 
1 hour ribs

Anyone actually try this?

One hour ribs??

I have and it works ok, problem is you need a 350 degree F cooking temp and the ribs need to be a couple of feet, preferably 3 feet, above the fire. I do that by stacking middle sections and raisng the top rack to wehre the ribs are with 4 inches of the inside of the lid. The cook is also over direct heat and I keep a pressurized tank of 50/50 apple cider and apple juice and spray often through the top vents to keep the heat in. The spraying really does help tenderize the ribs as I have done the non spray and the spray techniqes often, and the sprayed ribs are always more tender. I have fed these to people that think Chili's had the best ribs on earth and they liked these much better. The fat that drips over the hot coals adds a great flavor and eliminates the need for smoke wood.
 
There are two ways to cook ribs...low and slow or hot and fast. Both turn out good ribs but they are different in taste and texture. Many of my buddies do their ribs on the grill hot and fast while I prefer mine cooked low and slow. When you're cooking for a lot of people for say an outdoor party and have limited cooking space Hot and Fast works best.
 
Ahh - Carolina Cooker (UDS) method/mod. Nice thought. I like the idea of pressurized spray with the lid left on. I get it - thanks for sharing. I often do the roadside chicken this way, open flame high heat. I just might try this with that recipe with a single tray toward the top of the stacker and spray the marinade through the vents. You gave me a bunch of ideas :)

For me - since I have a WSM (for a bunch of years) and know how to use it a lot of different ways. I prefer to speed up the cook to medium high modified 1-2-3 method than doing 350 degree quick ribs on the performer. Just my preferences. I can get ribs done in about 3 hours modifying temp and timing of the 1-2-3 with a touch of foil here or there to help speed things up. I end up with the not quite falling off the bone good bite, flavor.

But that said I like fast ribs if they are tender. They often have nice crisp to them. If they aren't leatherized I'm all good with that.

I have to say - since I've had the ribs at the Pit 4 times - that the ribs there are probably not cooked the same way as on the TV episode. Unless they are in fact high heat then held in a bath. But they didn't seem that wet to me when I had them. Not a lot of smoke flavor which is OK, and not a lot of pink. They really
did give the impression that they were cooked as part of a bigger hunk or whole hog/half/quarter rather than separate, but who knows. The Eastern NC whole hog Q that he is trying to replicate at the PIT is VERY different and unique to what most of us usually have or prepare.

I have and it works OK, problem is you need a 350 degree F cooking temp and the ribs need to be a couple of feet, preferably 3 feet, above the fire. I do that by stacking middle sections and raising the top rack to where the ribs are with 4 inches of the inside of the lid. The cook is also over direct heat and I keep a pressurized tank of 50/50 apple cider and apple juice and spray often through the top vents to keep the heat in. The spraying really does help tenderize the ribs as I have done the non spray and the spray techniques often, and the sprayed ribs are always more tender. I have fed these to people that think Chili's had the best ribs on earth and they liked these much better. The fat that drips over the hot coals adds a great flavor and eliminates the need for smoke wood.
 
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