BBQ Ribs 1-3-09

[Shawn Woerlein]

Well, gonna break the new WSM in tomorrow with a couple slabs of ribs. My wife and I were trying to compromise on a rub / sauce for tomorrow so I decided to try something a little different. When I normally make ribs, she wins and they are pretty much sweet on sweet. I decided to use CA's Sugarless Texas Sprinkle rub, but fix it up a slightly different way. My edits:

Hair shy of 1/8 C. Table Salt
¼ C. Paprika
3T Chili Powder
1 ¾ T. Ground Black Pepper
¾ T. Garlic Powder
1T. Ground Red Pepper
½ t. Celery Salt
1 t. Dry Mustard
2 ½ T. Brown Sugar

Since the only ribs I could get this evening were packers, I wanted to cut the sodium down (I hate injected ribs...but it's better than no Q tomorrow). The rub actually tastes quite well. Nice heat, and still sweet.

This will be over hickory.

Going to go against CA's recipe and actually let a light coat of brown sugar melt on the ribs before going on the smoker tomorrow to keep the little lady happy.

Sauce of the day will be a cheater (sorry, I'm lazy during the holidays): Sticky Fingers Memphis Style. She loves that stuff. I have a bottle of Memphis Habanero in the fridge I use for my BBQ Chicken Nachos, so I might cheat on mine for the added heat

Anyways, hope to have a great write up with pics tomorrow. Winds will be OK but C O L D. Should make for a fun day!

 

[Mike N]

Good luck on the smoke today! If you don't have a lot of wind, the cold won't hurt you. The rub looks good. After your tweaks, you can probably now call it your own! IMO, you can save the mustard as it won't add much, but I'm with you (or is that your wife), I like sweet (i.e. brown sugar) in the rub.

Go easy on the hickory. That's a strong wood. Are you going to foil them or go naked?

Look forward to hearing and seeing the results.

Mike

 

[Robert Oleksak]

Yeah I agree go easy on the hickory and the salt.

 

[Shawn Woerlein]

They are naked, and will foil for the rest. I only used 2 chunks of hickory. That will be total for the smoke. I like hickory and agree it is a powerful wood.

I cut the salt WAY back. IT was calling for 1/3 cup...I'm hoping with the packers that the amt. I used should be OK. You really couldn't taste too much salt in the rub. More spice and sweet.

I put the ribs on at 1015hrs. Gonna slide some beans in there around 1230hrs. I'm figuring the ribs will cook for 4-5 hrs at 235, then rest in foil for the remainder. Should allow for a good glaze on the beans

 

[Shawn Woerlein]

Well a successful day of smoking for sure. Had some problems midway through the smoke, but worked them out OK. The coals built up a good layer of ash that didn't seem to want to fall. After a good "mix" the smoker fired back up and finished out the smoke. Had some temp problems toward the end though. Had been in the shade all day, but mid afternoon the smoker was in full sun and I couldn't keep the temps under 250 with the dampers closed. Eventually I cried uncle, wrapped in foil and placed in a 200F oven for about 30 mins. The end 1/3's of each slab had bones falling out, but the centers were not fully pullable. They were juicy tender, but not fall off the bone as I like them. They needed another 45 mins on the smoker....but I was tired of fighting with it

Anyways, I really enjoyed this rub. Didn't turn out salty at all. Next time I'll likely use some cherry and apple woods instead of Hickory. I love hickory ribs, but I still think the rub I mixed up will fare better with the fruit woods. Now for some pics

1/2 Slab of Ribs

The "Goods" Shot

The finished plate complete with Collards, Smoked Beans, and Mac Salad

 

[Bill Hays]

Well, there you have it!

Shawn not only posted pics of his cook on his 8th post, he posted the "money" shot!

Great job, Shawn. All around!!

Bill

Now, for the rest of you guys..... lol

 

[Brandon A]

That is a very nice shot! Makes me want to pull something out of the freezer, I gotta have SOMETHING smokey in there

Great job Shawn, even if it didnt go exactly as planned they look great.

 

[Shawn Woerlein]

Brandon....no complaints here

Not a lot of heat in the rub, but just enough to offset the sweetness to give it a nice balance.