Enhanced ribs

[Dennis T.]

I'm new ... and I'm lazy. I purchased two racks of loin back ribs ... and ... (whisper) ... they're "enhanced".

I searched the forums and discovered that enhanced ribs can be salty, so I should either use a rub that contains no salt or, at least, cut back on the amount of rub I use.

Are there any other concerns? Might enhanced ribs cook faster than non-enhanced ribs? Meaning, do they arrive at a given state of tenderness sooner than other ribs?

This will be my virgin smoke tomorrow. I was planning on following the approach detailed by Kevin Taylor as much as possible.

Thanks.

 

[Doug D]

All your suppositions are correct. Cut back on or eliminate the salt in your pre-rub, and figure on a slightly shorter cooking time.

 

[Jeff T Miller]

I suppose everybody has their opinions. The following is mine.

A couple of weeks ago I was smokin some baby backs that I got at sams. My brother got wind of it and called. He said he was at kroger and they were having a sale on ribs. I forget what the price was but sams regular price was still cheaper than kroger.

He bought them anyhow and brought them over for me to smoke. Turns out the krogers were enhanced. I use premade rub so I just cut back on how much I put on and cooked just like the ones I just took off. I always foil my ribs with some pineapple juice in the foil. Usually I have a hard time putting back on the smoker to firm up. They tend to come apart easily after the foil.

Maybe it was just the batch he got but when they were done about 5 hours or so I tried them out. I thought I might have to go get my chain saw out.

Of course they weren't that tough but compared to the ones I got at sams which seperated from the bone easily. The enhanced didn't want to seperate from the bone. Even when I took them out of the foil.

I was really unhappy with the enhanced. That was my first and last experience with them. Personally I won't ever buy them again or cook them for someone else. Maybe I didn't do enought adjusting. I don't know. I could definately taste a big difference. To me that is what counts.

Since this is your first cook I hope they come out good for you. If not don't be disappointed just try regular ones next time.

 

[Dennis T.]

Ahhhh Jeff,

You outted me! (I got my ribs at Kroger.)

Thanks for the advice ... we'll see how the smoke goes ... I'll report the results!