No more Trigg'n. Accidentally Simple Ribs!


 
PeterD

PeterD

TVWBB Super Fan
I started down the road to Amazing Barbecue about 8 years ago with the BRITU method. After Season 1 of BBQ Pitmasters I made it a point of trying to reverse-engineer Johnny Trigg's recipe and process and my ribs have been out of this world.

Until now.

A few weeks back, when it was still quite cool and the days shorter I wanted to do a couple of slabs of loin backs for the missus and me. I had all my usual accoutrements ready for foiling until I realized I was out of fole--er--foil after the 3 hour mark. I cook loin backs for 3 hours at 225-240, 45 minutes in foil with squeeze butter, brown sugar, apple juice, honey, Tiger Sauce and more rub, then back out of the foil and on for 30 minutes at high heat, with sauce painted on for about 15. But for this cook I went simple. 5 hours at 225. That's it. No foil, no nothing. 5 hours at 225.

They were some of the best back ribs I've ever cooked.

Yesterday I repeated this deliberately. De-membrained 3 racks (cut each rack in half to fit on my 18" WSM more easily), mustard slather, Butcher's Premium Rub applied thick, and straight on the smoker as soon as it was assembled, with 5 nice chunks of apple wood. About 5 hours and 15 or 20 minutes later (the last 20 with sauce painted on), I was feasting on Porcine Perfection. Now maybe I won't win any comps like this, but hot-DAMN, that was some spectacular 'Que. No work, didn't even have to mess with the WSM much. It likes to wobble between 220 and 250, usually staying close to 225 (all temps measured 1" above the top grate with my ancient ET-73).

There was far less "sweet" but the finishing sauce is a few ounces of Outlaw's honey-hot, into which I added a teaspoon or so of clover honey and another teaspoon of dark amber maple syrup, and that was just enough sweet+heat to do the job. No more foil here on my ribs. Ever. KISS. Keep it simple, stupid! Unless you're cooking for competition judges, just try this process. Save yourself a ton of frustration and work. You'll be glad you did. I'm still looking for the perfect rub (something with a little more heat on the back end), but otherwise I'm happier than a pig-in-a-Weber with this method.
 
Congrats on finding another method. The proof is always in the final product so it sounds like you have a winner
Mike
 
I think both methods have their place. I sometimes wrap. I never do the margarine and honey thing. It's probably not a bad idea to have it in your arsenal.
 
You always see competition teams doing some elaborate foil ritual; adding butter or margarine, honey, sugar, eye of newt or some such thing. I tried that once and honestly the ribs came out like greasy candy. Nowadays, I only foil if I need to (I'm in a hurry), but my usual approach is spicy brown mustard base, Memphis dust (I add some extra hot paprika for a little more zing), and spritz with straight apple juice about every 30 minutes. On the WSM, they take about 6 hours at 225-235 (I only cook SLC spares); on the kettle they're done in about 4 at 275-300.
 
Sometimes I am in a mood to experiment and tinker, but other times I want to just keep it simple. The results either way are delicious.
 
PeterD said:
Unless you're cooking for competition judges, just try this process. Save yourself a ton of frustration and work. You'll be glad you did. I'm still looking for the perfect rub (something with a little more heat on the back end), but otherwise I'm happier than a pig-in-a-Weber with this method.
Click to expand...

I'm in the KISS fold with you, Peter. I was at a comp here in Texas a few weeks ago and was watching the elaborate ritual of one of the contestants (he finished top 3) in finishing his ribs. He cut up 3 racks and chose the best 6 ribs to go in the box. I was standing there drooling, so he offered me a couple of the leftovers. They were good and had that distinct sweet/hot flavor that judges seem to like, but I have to admit -- they didn't make my knees knock.

As far as rub is concerned, a light dusting seems to work better than a rub bath. Also, too much salt in the rub can make them hammy. I wrap in foil after the ribs are done and let them rest until serving, cutting them only at the last minute. The WSM does a great and easy job on ribs.

Jeff
 
"As far as rub is concerned, a light dusting seems to work better than a rub bath."

Amen to that Jeff.
BBQ cook shows (comp type or not) would have you believe that an inch coating is about right.
I just put a still frozen, rolled up, slab of spares on the 14.5 with no rub yet, will add a little once they thaw enough to unroll.
Never tried cooking them from frozen before, we shall see..................
 
Bob Correll said:
"As far as rub is concerned, a light dusting seems to work better than a rub bath."

Amen to that Jeff.
BBQ cook shows (comp type or not) would have you believe that an inch coating is about right.
I just put a still frozen, rolled up, slab of spares on the 14.5 with no rub yet, will add a little once they thaw enough to unroll.
Never tried cooking them from frozen before, we shall see..................
Click to expand...

Agree with you and Jeff never could understand putting rub on like you're stuccoing a wall, just hides the true flavor of the meat.
So putting frozen ribs on the 14.5, are those called ribsicles:rolleyes:
 
I use a fairly heavy hand with my rubs since I like the taste combination of the pork and the seasonings. I find commercial rubs are much more finely pulverized during their manufacture than would be the case of mixing common grocery store spices from my own kitchen, however, lending themselves to a heavier application.
 
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