Barbecue…Two

I posted earlier about my efforts to learn to barbecue. I do well with some things, but I continue to struggle with ribs.

Dave gave me a hint, so I decided to try it out this weekend. First, I applied some over the counter rib rub the night before and put the babybacks in the fridge.

The next morning, I put the ribs in a rib rack for about 30 minutes at 325 deg.

I then turned it down to about 190 deg. on a smoke setting for six hours. I pulled the ribs off, so far so good, they looked delicious. I wrapped them in tin foil with 3 tablespoons of apple juice and put them back on at about 200-240 (my barbecue will not settle in at 220, which is Dave’s preferred temperature).

After two hours, I remove the ribs from the foil. They were black. I painted on some barbecue sauce and gave them another 20 minutes on low heat.

The results were mixed. First, they were really black. I didn’t think they were burned, but my wife did. She was concerned about carcinogens.

The first little slabs we pulled off were good. As Dave promised, the meat fell off the bones and was quite tender. The ’skin’ had really toughened up, though, and was chewy to the point of almost being hard to eat.

The second helping, after sitting for a couple minutes, had really dried out. They were dry and tough.

While I made progress, I am still a long ways from a final product. Anyone?

Posted in Pork, Smoked Food | 5 Comments »

Pitmaster’s Dry Rub

Every barbequer has secrets that they are reluctant to let out. I’m no exception and I understand how insane one can get trying to figure out what the “best” of any approach can be.

GeeGuy had asked me what my “secret” rub recipe was in an email over the weekend. Unfortunately I was out of town and couldn’t get him a recipe. And no that I’m going to let the cat out of the bag either, but when I started smoking ribs I was looking for a “Memphis style” end product. So here is the recipe for the dry rub I began with.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon ground basil
• 1 1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon red pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

The red pepper was a little too much for what I was looking for so I reduced it to 1 teaspoon. Also, I didn’t like the basil so I eliminated that all together. Still, the rub wasn’t quite what I was looking for so I experimented with brown sugar and eventually added just 1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar – more than that and the ribs caramelized too much in the smoking process. Since then I’ve added two additional ingredients that, unless you’re helping me smoke some ribs (and I invite you all to that task) I’m going to withhold. Thus, my base recipe is this:

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons good Hungarian paprika
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon red pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

The above recipe is good for about two racks of back ribs or one rack of spare ribs. I use it often enough that I make a 5X batch every time I make it. If I’m making brisket I use the same recipe and add 1 tbs of chili powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin. But you’ll have to fiddle with it to taste (try a dash of freshly ground nutmeg.)

I still am looking to get a rub for pork shoulder that doesn’t conflict with a vinegar based sauce for pulled pork. Anyone out there have any ideas?

Posted in Pork, Recipes, Smoked Food | 3 Comments »

Made in Montana– Meat

The Sysco food show is coming up here in Billings in a week or so. I get to go as part of my job. Its great to go around and talk to all the reps and try new food products. I thought I’d put in a plug for Montana companies that manufacture meat products as an “eat Local” option. There has been a lot of buzz lately about eating local food, carbon footprints, food miles and all that jazz.
Anyway, Daily’s from Missoula has an applewood smoked bacon that is tasty. Their peppered bacon is good too.

Stampede Packing Company from Kalispell will be there also. T.S. Laurens and his wife are nice people who put out a very good product under the “Redneck” label. I’ve used Prairie Fire (jalapeno), Chedder Dawg, Linguica, Sports Dawg, Reggiano Italiano, Andouille, Hot Hen, Bockwurst, Swiss Bockwurst, Polish, Garlic and Old Fashioned franks at work. I use Redneck breakfast links at home and find them milder that other brands. Less sage I think. Their hot Italian bulk sausage is great in spaghetti and lasagna. For home I get their products at Albertsons.

Montana Range Brand is an outfit from Forsyth MT that uses Piedmontese cattle. They can be found on the internet.

Miles City Packing has a good variety of beef cuts, also on-line.

When you are in the grocery store look for Cloverdale brand. Even though they are based in Mandan ND they could be considered local for eastern Montana.

Pat Seder at Seder Ridge Turkey Farms in the Huntley/Ballentine area east of Billings has some good products that are sold in the local IGA stores. I don’t know if they are state wide or not. The fresh turkey is a lot more flavorfull that frozen.

Local options make sense to me.

Posted in Beef, Chicken, Ingredients, Pork | 3 Comments »