Brining Ribs?

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I'm sure this has been asked before, but do any of you brine your ribs before putting them on the WSM? I have had great luck brining chicken and shrimp before grilling, and was curious if it might make the ribs retain more moisture. Even with a full water pan and basting on the halves, my ribs have occasionally been a tad dry. Thanks. Jim Bob
 
Hi Jim Bob!

I read the CI article and thought it was a little bit of overkill to brine a very fatty cut of meat. Then, my Couzan Billy in Louisiana told me he had tried brining and made the best ribs he ever cooked(he knows how to cook!). That got me to thinking......

So, I did side by side experiments last weekend at the Rib Cook-off I won. I did 6 racks of ribs...3 I prepped and cooked my normal way and 3 brined.

Let me first explain how I prepare ribs....I make a paste and coat them and then let them sit overnight. I then cook for 3 1/2 hours at 225?(grate temp) and baste them twice after the first 2 hours. After 3 1/2 hours I will wrap in foil for the next 2 hours. The last half hour I unwrap and sauce. This is a technique I learned from cooking on an MIM team that has won more trophies for ribs than any other team on the circuit.

The way I cooked the unbrined racks, I simply cooked at 225? for 6 hours, until they were tender, saucing the last half hour. I did baste after the first 2 hours and every hour after that.

The foiled ribs won this contest pretty much hands down. Much more tender and much moister than the brined.

Now, I realize there is much controversy over foiling. But, I decided long ago that I don't really care what it takes to turn out the best ribs and foiling has worked wonders for me.

The biggest risk in foiling is turning the meat mushy, but after 5 years of cooking them this way, I have never had a mushy rib and have a few ribbons and trophies in my collection. If you were to attend and observe an MIM cook-off you will see the vast majority of teams using foil in this way.

I don't think a couple hours in foil will make them too tender. You can experiment with foiling times as I did and come up with your perfect amount of time in foil.

Brining can be a bit of a hassle and I just confirmed, for me, that it is indeed overkill. Now, at this same contest I brined a pork loin and that was the best loin I ever made and I will now brine every loin I cook.

As I and others always say...in the end, whatever method YOU like, is the best one!

Experiment, experiment, experiment!

Good luck and have fun!!
 
Paul Kirk is the foil controversy /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I've watched too many TV shows over the years of folks winning BIG national events and they always are foiling their ribs. I know it's not a scientific double blind study but these folks did win little ole events like JD and the US Championship in Shreveport.
 
Kevin, Thanks for the excellent reply. I have never tried foiling, because the purists seem to oppose it. Of course, if I was a purist myself, I would be using an offset firebox smoker instead of a WSM, so I might as well give it a try.

Like you said, Experiment!

Thanks, Jim Bob
 
Stogie,

Is the 6 hours for baby backs? I thought you cooked like 9 nine hours for spares. Does the paste act like a marinade? Do you then take the paste off and slather mustard and rub or do you just put the paste back on?
 
Kevin, I tried your rib cook method this past Father's Day weekend.

Two racks of fresh BB's purchased from a meat store in Phoenix, overnight rubbed with McKenna's bbq seasoning combined with brown sugar.

Using cherry wood they went 6-1/2 hours total cook, the last 1/2 hour they were sauced and I'm tellin' ya, these were the best bones I have ever turned out. Many compliments from family and friends.

Thanks to your excellent information I'm lookin' good at this que thing.

Experimentation with longer cook times and
seasonings are inevitable.

I love my WSM! /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
 
Jeff....

Good to see you around, it's been a while! Let me further expalin my "paste"...I use a flavored yogurt(I use cherry but apple is very good as well). I use this strictly for flavoring, NOT for tenderizing.....you don't need anything to tenderize ribs. I've developed a pretty good rub that has cherry and brown sugar as it's base. I will apply the cherry rub 1st, then lightly slather on the marinade.....1 serving container of marinade will cover 3 racks of ribs. I then wrap and let sit overnight. Just before cooking I sprinkle on more rub.

I have cooked my baby backs at 225? for 6 hours for many years. Spares will take 9 hours.

I'm not a believer in the mustard approach...if I put something on my ribs I want it to impart some flavor.

Michael E.....

Thanks for trying the technique! I been using it for several years and I have accumulated a few ribbons and trophies. Just got back from Cairo, IL where we were crowned the 4th best rib cookers in the state of Illinois! Not bad for a Yank, eh!!!
 
Stogie, What's in that cherry and brown sugar rub you've developed? Sounds good.
 
I was wondering if you guys that wrap the ribs in foil get any taste from the foil? also would maybe wrapping in parchment paper first help to keep taste of foil off?
The Goof
 
Michael...

Check for the rub recipe in the recipe section. The hardest part of this rub is the cherry powder. I got mine from drying the cherries and then powderizing. I did dry them on the WSM.

Goof....

I been cooking ribs this way for many years and have never had any "foil" taste.

You do have to be careful with wrapping in foil if you are storing them overnight. You can pick up some tastes if you have used an acidic sauce(tomato based). Other than that, no foil tastes whatsoever.
 
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