Rib Glazing

[B Stone]

Hey folks,

I posted this question in a dormant forum section, so I'm reposting here. I have a question about glazing ribs: most glaze recipes seem pretty good at adding shine (which is what I'm going for), but each has a large amount of sugar, honey, or other sweet ingrediants. I tend to put a layer of honey/brown sugar/etc... on the foil when I wrap my ribs at about the 2 hour mark and then let them cook in foil for about an hour. Do the folks that glaze their ribs skip the layer of sweetness when foiling? I like a bit of sweet rib flavor, but am worried about overkill if the glaze really adds a lot of taste rather than just shine. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Dave Russell]

I think it's more preference than anything, and you just have to experiment until you find what you like. Most comp style recipes I've tried for St. Louis ribs ended up being too sweet for my tastes, and now I only wrap back ribs (with some pineapple juice and other stuff). I've tried using Blues Hog in a glaze since it's so shiny, but the best I've come up with is to thin a good KC type sauce like Cowtown or Weber's with some Carolina red vinegar sauce, and add some honey and maybe light corn syrup. I've used that lately with both my back ribs and St. Louies, and everyone really seems to like it. Not as shiny as when using Blues Hog, but the flavor is much more balanced. Of course, if you just want shine you could try something like Danny Gaulden's mustard glaze.