Pork Ribs - wet with mustard slather. Comments please

[Ben Milano]

I bought and used my first bullet last year and fully enjoyed it; my family loved the food even more! Now I want to step-up a bit and start making REALLY great BBQ pork ribs, specifically baby back ribs and pulled pork too!

I just bought Paul Kirk's Championship BBQ book and noticed that he uses a mustard slather on his ribs prior to placing them in the smoker. He also suggested wetting them while in the smoker, approximately 30-45 minutes before taking them out.

Here is the Mustard Slather recipe:

Cup brown sugar
tsp salt
tsp pepper
One can of beer
32 oz of yellow mustard
2 tablespoons of hot sauce.

I usually apply a rub, somewhat liberally, on my ribs prior to placing them in my smoker. But I NEVER wet them while in the smoker, I just smoked, removed, cut and ate them. They were good but I think the wet and slathering may add some additional moisture that was missing last year.

I'd love to get your thoughts on this method plus any other suggestions for wet ribs would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jim Babek]

While Ive not tried this recipe or technique I have tried several of Kirk's other recipes and have noticed one thing. The man loves his salt. That being said, depending on the amount of salt in your rub, and your taste for it, you may want to cut back on the salt in the slather. We northerners tend to use less salt than our southern brothers and sisters.

 

[Steve Abrams]

I'm assuming you don't foil the ribs. I haven't tried slathering ribs yet. I've used rub, foiling and apple or pineapple juice on my ribs. I add a touch of apple / pineapple juice to the ribs (along with a dusting of rub) as I foil the ribs. I've discovered the ribs are moister and appear to be more flavorful when foiled. I've tried ribs both ways and think foiling is the way to go for moisted ribs. Maybe the mustard slather hold moisture in. Going to have to experiment.

Wet or dry? Either I apply more rub or BBQ sauce after foiling and grill. This works for me.

 

[SteveM.]

I just used a mustard slather on some Ribs on Mothers Day. This was my first time applying it to Ribs. I could tell the amount of Rub that remained after the smoke, it was far greater then when I did not use the mustard. You really have to be careful on the salt when you use mustard, in my opinon. I came real close to over salting this time, and I don't use but a teaspoon full if that much. Also, I think I over rubbed as a whole.By the way I did use a apple vinegar mop