Lilly Memphis Dry Ribs - Cook in Progress


 
J

James Harvey

TVWBB Pro
I'm an hour into the above for my first dry rib attempt following Lilly's recipe. I finished a single rack out of 4 with this method once before but the rub wasn't meant for dry ribs so it didn't turn out that well. The 3 remaining sauced racks were fine.
Has anyone else used this method/recipe and what were your thoughts? I followed the recipe with the exception of using Aleppo for Paprika and homemade garlic salt instead of store bought. I'm looking forward to the result as I have a family member that hates sauced ribs (?).

BTW - I wasn't sure where this post should go as it doesn't seem to fit anywhere fully.

JDH
 
I don't know the recipe (not a big fan of Lilly though) so not sure - but I am in total agreement with your family member that dislikes sauced ribs! (Love sauce. Can't stand ribs sauced during cooking.)

This is the appropriate forum.
 
I looked it up. The Aleppo should help it. At over 60% sugar it's not one I'd go for. Hope it works out to your liking though.
 
Each to his own. I like my sauce, if I use some, on the side. I never sauce during the cook. Your family member has good taste.
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My family is split on this. Some like the ribs glazed in the last hour with Birdman BBQ sauce. I prefer just my own rub. I do spritz ribs while cooking with apple cider/cider vinegar but not too much. It gives a nice color too without overpowering the rub.
 
Well. I just ate them with a non partisan guest, meaning he eats what you give him with little real input.

They were enjoyable but not outstanding as some have experienced but that's simply my opinion.
My guest found them a little hot but I liked the late heat finish.

Up front, the rub quantity seemed a little low to reserve 1/3 cup for the final application. I reserved the 1/3 per the recipe and used the balance up front which did give a pretty good covering but these were 2 relatively small racks. The reserve was almost double what was required on the back end but bigger racks might require a revised front/back distribution.

The colour was very dark, which I expected due to the sugar ratio at 250F cook temps. The bark was somewhat chewy, especially at the short end of the rack. I subbed sugar maple for hickory as that's what I had on hand. Also, these racks were a little skinny but that's my own cook issue.

I think I'll play with the rub a bit after going back to saucing. I was raised on sauced ribs so i need to find something with more wow factor to go dry.

Again, just my opinion.
 
Sugar needs 320 to caramelize, 350 to burn. The darkness comes from a couple things: the already dark ingredients and the smoke sticking to the ribs. The high sugar content doesn't help. Already dark (because it's dark brown sugar), the sugar melts and becomes a sticky mass for the smoke to cling to.

Try a simple re-working, cutting the sugar quantity and switching some to white, upping the quantities of most of the other ingredients, adding a couple 'sweet' spices, and eliminating the irrelevant. For example:

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons white sugar
4 tablespoons Aleppo
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoons granulated garlic (not garlic salt)
4 tablespoons granulated onion
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon amchur, if available (optional)

Double all amounts to increase quantity and assemble your ingredients. Place the ribs in front of you. Imagine they are already cooked and were just served to you - unsalted. Sprinkle on kosher salt in the quantity you'd use were you just about to eat these ribs. Flip them and repeat.

Zip outside and start your lit for a Minion start. Return to the kitchen and make the rub. By this time the ribs will be moist from the salt. Good. Apply the rub over the salt. You can use as much or as little as you'd like. Since you've already salted and the rub contains no salt, applying the rub in whatever quantity won't affect the salt level.

I love sauces. I just don't care for the 'meat candy' finish of cooked on sauce, especially when a sweet sauce is further caramelized over a sweet rub, And I prefer the unadulterated texture of the rub and meat's surface, not the thick, sticky cushion of cooked on sauce. YMMV of course.

One way to maintain this texture yet also add the flavor layer possibilities (and shine) of a sauce is to use a glaze at the end. Instead of an opaque Q sauce thickly applied, one instead makes a thick-ish, yet transparent glaze and applies in a thin veneer using a pastry brush, just once or twice near the finish. Something to try if you're interested.
 
Kevin, your salt free rubs have been well documented here but the issue I've had and read from others is the lack of a consistently salted meat pre rub. Trial and error will get you there but I'm more comfortable using salt in the rub to give me one less variable on my cooks.

I'm not sure why we just wouldn't adjust salt in the rub to taste instead of adding that extra step?
 
James, salt is the one thing I like to see exactly how much I am applying so salting first is an easy way to do that and any variation in the amount of rub wont leave meat under or over salted.
 
James, why not determine how much salt you'd like to use (by weight or by volume) per pound of ready-to-cook meat? For example, I like to pre-salt my chicken 6 to 24 hours before cooking it - I use 3/4 teaspoon Diamond kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon Morton's kosher salt) per pound of trimmed bird, whole or cut up. It consistently works well for me.

Then, you can add as much or a little rub as you'd like. For consistency, you could write down how much of a particular rub you used per pound of meat for reference for your next cook.

Rita
 
Thanks Marc, Rita. I understand the reasoning for segregating the salt but it seems to me (and possibly me only) that segregating a single ingredient might lead to segregating others(pepper next?). I don't mean to fault the idea, I'm just not at the point where I can properly guage how much to salt meat separately (and I've tried), per my trial and error note so the addition to a rub gives me a more consistent result. If I find the rub salty, I can adjust. If I add salt to raw meat, I can't safely taste/test until re-adjusting on the next cook.
 
'...lead to segregating others...'? Why? I don't remotely see how this follows.

As for it being an extra step: not to me, as it takes less time to salt the meat than it does to measure and mix it into a rub.

You certainly can do so if you wish. I always salt first. Mixing salt into the rub means making the salt level work with the other rub ingredients. I'm not interested in that. I want the salt level to work with the meat.
 
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