Did 15 slabs yesterday

[Joe Preiser]

Well, I smoked 15 slabs of loin backs in one WSM yesterday. Was at a picnic for my homebrew club which has popular vote rib, chili, and salsa competitions.

Picked the ribs up at Sam's Club. They were 3 slab cryovac packs at around 6#s per pack. Removed the membrane and applied rub early in the morning while the charcoal (Kingsford) was getting ready.

It was a bit of work getting the ribs rolled and stacked so they'd sit pretty. I did have them touching in some places so didn't get the nice smoke coloring in a couple spots.

Used the Minion method and cooked at 230 dome temp (bottom grill temp was around 167) for just over 4 hours. In fact, I couldn't get the temp over 235 even with the vents wide open, probably due to all the meat as a heat sink.

I think they came out pretty good though one person said the sample they tried was a little dry. Hey, it was only my second time with the WSM and never with that many ribs before. Also, it was easy to get distracted with all that beer, chili and salsa around and left them on too long.

Quite a few folks at the picnic liked mine over the others, but, sadly, I didn't make the top three. /infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif I still had a great time, though.

Now just to decide what to do for a family bonfire next weekend. Leaning towards some pulled pork as I can make that ahead of time and reheat when I get there. Beats dragging the WSM to the relatives' house.

Joe

 

[Jim C]

Joe,

Sounds like a great homebrew club.
I wonder if Stout would make a good marinade.
What sort of rub did you put on your ribs ?

Jim

 

[Joe Preiser]

Yeah, the club is pretty great. However, I'm a little biased as one of the board members. Anyone in the Chicago area who's interested in great beer and food events can check out our web site at www.chibeer.org.

The rub was a homegrown concoction starting with a spice blend I threw together that was mixed as follows (all measurements are in parts):

1 Onion Powder (Granulated)
1 Black Pepper
1 Ancho Chile Powder
1/2 Mustart Powder (Coleman's)
1/2 Garlic Powder (Granulated)
1/4 Jalapeno Powder
1/4 Celery Seed (or 1/2 Celery Salt)
1/4 Lemon Pepper Blend (McCormick)
1/4 Powdered Ginger
1/4 Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Powdered Mace
1/8 Cinnamon (I might skip this next time)
Pinch of Accent

I then made the rub from 1 part of the spice blend, 4 parts Sugar (Lt Brown or Turbinado), and 2 parts salt (I prefer kosher). If you use table or fine sea salt, you may need to adjust the salt ratio as it has finer granules than kosher salt.

I'm also thinking I'll tweak things in the spice blend a bit more, but I don't think I'll ever keep it identical between batches. I just make a small batch with the same ratios (like 1tsp=1 part) and step it up when I get something I think tastes good.

Joe

 

[Jim C]

Joe,

Thanks for the recipe.
I'm gonna give it a try.
I checked out your home brewing club link.
They call you the sour guy.
I guess that means you are really into brewing Lambic style beers?
I brewed a few beers last year. Both came out great. one was a Pale Ale the other was a porter I made from kits.
Dealing with all those bottles though is just too much to handle.
When I get enough bucks for a kegging system I'll get into it more.

Jim