Six Adults, Five Kids, Eight Slabs of Ribs, and No Leftovers...


 
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Alan Bosch

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My five year old has been bugging me, for the last two weeks, to make some ribs. By all accounts, they're his favorites.

Watching the weather, I deceided to construct a shelter for my WSM using a tarp and two six-foot ladders. The forecast for Sunday was for rain and wind. Only the wind showed up but the lean-to worked well.

Friday night, after work, I hurried off to the local Barns and Nobel and picked up a copy of John Willingham's excellant book on BBQ. If you do not have a copy in your cookbook library, make the investment today. If nothing else, it's great bathroom reading.

Dan, my five-year-old, and I started to prep the ribs Saturday. I wanted to do something other than BRITU so I chose Willingham's recipe for our ribs. Dan helped mix up the spices for the rub and marinade, and later helped make the Sweet Sauce Willingham has in his book (with modifications). There was a little incident in the kitchen involving a gallon of cider vinigar, some ketchup, about a pound of garlic powder, and an angry three-year-old brother, but nothing a mop, a roll of paper towels, and a shower didn't fix.

To cut to the chase, the eight slabs of ribs went on the WSM Sunday morning about 10:30. I used cherry for the smoke wood and a about two-thirds of a ring of Kingsford. After tuning the ribs at the three hour mark, I just let them go until 3:00 pm, when I inserted a Polder probe into the thickest part of the ribs and got a reading of 183 degrees. They were pulled from the WSM, wrapped in foil and allowed to set for a spell. I cut up six of the eight slabs and served them with Willingham's Sweet sauce and some doctored KC Masterpiece slatherin' sauces on the side.

The origional six slabs were devoured and I cut up the remaining two, which were also gobbeled down in a hurry. There were, sadly, no leftovers.

All in all, a very successful cook. The Willingham ribs are, without question in my mind, the best. The inlaws and outlaws at the table liked them better than the BRITU's of previous cooks. If you haven't tried them, do yourself a favor - give'em a whirl. You will not be disappointed.

Peace. And good smokin'.

Out.

Alan Bosch
 
Hi Alan,
It's good to hear such a success story! Did you use the vinegar mixture or the All-Purpose Marinade before applying the rub? I assume you used the Mild Seasoning Mix for the rub.

I tried the rub one time, long before I become enlightened at Chris's site and my notes say that the ribs were too salty, but in those days my notes weren't as good, so other factors might have influenced the results. Next rib cook, I'll try it again, hopefully without the little kitchen incident /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif !
Rita
 
Hi, Rita!

First of all, thanks for the p-mail with Willingham's recipe. While I didn't use it - I bought the book before seeing the note - it was a very nice and greatly appreciated gesture.

We used the All Purpose Marinade, the Mild Rub, and the Sweet BBQ Sauce, all from Willingham's book.

Your comments about the saltiness of this combination got me to thinking. Neither my guests not myself found the salt excessive. Indeed, my wife said it needed more salt. Then I wondered what would cause this difference. And it hit me: I used 2 tablespoons of salt, as called for, but I use Kosher salt for all my cookin/smoking, not common table salt. Try these ribs again and use Kosher salt - big difference!

Oh, and you need little ones in the kitchen to 'help'. That's the secret ingredient /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Peace. Out.

Alan
 
Yup! That was probably the difference. I usually use kosher salt too, but didn't want to monkey with the rub recipe the first time I tried it. I'll try 2 tablespoons kosher salt next time and add more the time after that if the ribs need more. Better to undersalt.

Been there, done that with the little ones. It was fun while it lasted -- enjoy it while you can!

Peace back at 'cha. At least you say "out" and not "over and out!" /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
Rita
 
Joe O'Connell, Vice President of the CBBQA, wrote a great article concerning salts. It is great reading, and should be bookmarked, by anyone who works with their own rubs.
Not all Kosher salts, are equal.

CBBQA

Jim
 
Jim, that's a great article. Also, it agrees with, and expands, the information from a Cook's Illustrated (Nov. 2001) article on salt (or Cook's agrees with Mr. O'Connell) as follows:

"Both table salt and kosher salt can be used to make a brine. We prefer kosher salt because it has a cleaner flavor than table salt (which usually contains iodine and anti-caking agents that can affect flavor) and because it has an airier structure, which gives it a higher propensity to dissolve. Essentially, kosher salt is less salty than table salt. A cup of table salt weighs about 10 ounces, while a cup of kosher salt (depending on the precise crystalline structure of the brand purchased) weighs between 5 and 8 ounces. To simplify the math, we use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, which weighs 5 ounces per cup, making it exactly half as strong as table salt. If you buy another brand of kosher salt, you may need to adjust the amount called for in the chart. For instance, Morton Kosher Salt weighs 7.7 ounces per cup. Use 11/2 cups of this kosher salt (not 2 cups) to replace 1 cup of table salt." -- Cook's Illustrated, November 2001

A coincidence....I was just looking into Shake's Honey Brine and I noticed that Shake calls for 1 cup of pickling salt per gallon and Chris, in the Honey-Brined Turkey, calls for 1 cup of kosher salt per gallon.

--Rita
 
Rita,
I have adusted all of my brine concentrations, to 3/4 cup of Morton Kosher Salt per one gallon of water. Then again, I have a low tolerance of salt tastes. Just a personal preference.

Jim
 
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