Spare Ribs or Something Else


 
J

Jim Creasy

TVWBB Fan
I am snowed in in Atlanta. Not to be daunted, I am going to force march up to Kroger and pick up something to smoke today. I normally do Pulled Pork but I am getting a late start and that will take too long.

How long on Spare Ribs? Any sage advice for my first time out? I was planning on putting a rub on them, misting with apple vinegar and going for about 5 hours, then basting with my wet sauce and going another hour... Any other method or consideration? I also typically use the Hickory Impregnated Kingsford. Should I consider Mesquite?

Thanks in advance.

JKC
 
What temp are you cooking at?Bump up your temps a bit to 275-300 and you'll get good results and a shorter cook. Mesquite gives a great flavour, if your concerned about to strong a smoke flavour just cut back on the number of chunks you throw in. I'll usually use 1 lump of mesquite and 1-2 lumps of apple. I never mist or foil since I'm to lazy to do it. If you want an apple taste add it to your sauce. I usually don't sauce my ribs either unless companies coming.
On another note if you do find the ribs are over smoked and you have another option for dinner then let them sit in the fridge for a day and they will mellow out. Just warm them up on the grill.
 
Thanks guys. How long should I be expecting to cook these at 275ish? I got a rack of spares...

JKC

PS Bob from Ottawa, I guess I sound wimpy being snowed in in Atlanta... A whopping five inches of snow!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Creasy:PS Bob from Ottawa, I guess I sound wimpy being snowed in in Atlanta... A whopping five inches of snow! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well that's about all I have in my yard right now. For some reason all the winter storms are going around us this year, I usually have 4ft of it by now. Have fun with the ribs.
Time wise at those temps you are looking at 3-41/2 hours depending on the meatiness of the ribs. A little longer if you like fall off the bone. I like the meat to come off my ribs with a bit of a tug with my teeth which isn't done enough for a lot of people.
 
As far as I know Kroger is the same company that owns the Colorado grocery stores King Soopers. King Soopers only sells enhanced pork products.

You might want to double check the labels on the ribs you buy because the "Moist & Tender" brand pork at those stores is gross, imo.
 
I will check and if they are enhanced, they are not unpacked yet. I may return them and go to a butcher when I can get out. Thanks for the heads up. I also bought fresh ground beef so I can do a BBQ Meatloaf if necessary...

Will let you guys know.

JKC
 
They were "... flavor enhanced." Lesson learned. I am going to try them anyways and see what shakes.

I've trimmed the ribs, rubbed them down... I got my chimney lit, the smoker is full of charcoal, my dog is sitting here and I am having a beer at noon on Tuesday. Some moments in life are good.
 
Obviously the flavor enhanced pork products aren't ideal but they're not totally terrible either. I just find that the texture, especially of ribs, is a bit spongy.

But, for example, when my secretary bought a lot of moist & tender ribs for me to smoke for an office party I thought they were weird textured but everyone in the office loved them. So, maybe it's only weird for those of us that are used to high-quality stuff.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Creasy:

I've trimmed the ribs, rubbed them down... I got my chimney lit, the smoker is full of charcoal, my dog is sitting here and I am having a beer at noon on Tuesday. Some moments in life are good. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Amen to that!
 
I would suggest avoiding the 'enhanced' briquettes. I went through a bag of Kingsford Hickory & it seemed synthetic and left a chemical aftertaste. Maybe it's just me but I won't use that stuff again. Check to see if they have wood chunks or chips instead.
 
I am not a certified judge but I am pretty persnicketty when it comes to BBQ (and a few other things). My pallet must not be as sensitive as yours.

I've used Kingsford w/ Hickory for a year now and love it. I am not tasting anything synthetic or chemical. Nevertheless, tell me what you suggest and I'll try that the next time around to see if I can improve on my method...

As always, thanks for the feedback.

JKC
 
I just use kingsford blue or comp along with wood chips & chunks.

I'm not too picky what color the smoke or when you add the smoke wood, but I didn't like the flavored K at all.

JMHO, of course.
 
Jim,

If you like the K briqs, I would use the normal blue bag K and pickup some wood chunks from HD or Lowes. If you use the normal K then you can add different woods to it for different flavors/meats.

There is also a couple guys in Gwinnett & Dekalb selling boxes of apple, oak & hickory for $10. I have been meaning to go by and see how much it is for $10 because the pictures don't show me much.
 
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