Barbecue
My old gas grill was wearing out this summer and the shiny, stainless steel wonders at Sam’s Club seemed tinny as replacements. I also could not imagine how that faux wood would look after a Montana winter.
Almost by accident, I ended up at a local establishment looking at Traeger Grills. For the uninitiated, these grills simulate the real barbecue effect by burning small wood pellets for a slow, smoky heat. There is no direct flame, instead the heat is transmitted through the smoke, with a drip pan intercepting the natural oils to prevent any flare ups.
I settled on the Longhorn (mine’s black) because I figured the cuteness-factor would appease the spouse who was expecting the stainless steel outdoor kitchen. It did.
While these grills are fairly pricey, they are well worth it. Mine has an electronic thermostat; just plug it in and go.
Oh, but were it only so simple.
I quickly learned that there is a difference between “grilling” and “barbecue.” I used to grill. After 5 months, I am learning to barbecue.
I cooked 4 beef briskets before the 4th of July when I finally got one right. My ribs, while very tasty, still don’t fall off the bone.
I love to barbecue. I need help learning to barbecue. Can someone, anyone, please tell me how to get my ribs falling off the bone tender without being burnt black on the outside?
GeeGuy,
I’ve been smoking BBQ for several years and there are a few tricks to getting that “fall off the bone” goodness with ribs.
First, I don’t know if you use a dry rub or a “mop” but I have always had better luck with a rub and I never add sauce until the end. If you add a sugar based sauce too early it will caramelize.
Secondly, I never use heat above 220 degrees f. But I assume you know that if you got a brisket right. For fish I use about 190 degrees.
So here’s the issue: if you let the ribs smoke long enough they will eventually get fall-off-the-bone tender – but in order to keep the from turning black you have to reduce the smoke and lower the temperature – which can add hours to the cooking time. But there’s a neat trick (and some smoking purist would call it cheating but I only worry about the taste so I’m not above that.)
For ribs, after about 6 hours of smoking, seal the ribs in tinfoil and add about 3 tbs of liquid in the package. I use apple juice since it goes so well with pork. Put the wrapped ribs back on the heat – still 220 +/- – and let cook for another two hours. The steam from the juice will melt all of that connective tissue and you’ll get the effect you’re looking for.
Then, for the final touch, take the ribs out of the foil and baste with your sauce over the heat for about 1/2 hour – or until the sauce “dries” to a “gooey” constancy.
I’ve never been able to make ribs that fall off the bone in less than about 8 hours.
Let me know if you need a recipe for a good dry rub. I won’t give out my secret “something something” but I can get you pretty close.
It’s good to find someone else whose search for the perfect barbeque has them jumping through hoops.
Dave said every thing I would have. I only will add that ribs take a lot of patience!
Dave: Do you have an opinion about briefly using a pressure cooker to tenderize the ribs before grilling/smoking? Rachel’s been known to do it from time to time to speed up the process a bit (or a lot as the case may be), and it seems to work.
Yes, it works just like boiling will work as well. But it tends to make the meat stringy, especially beef, and it also can make the meat dry by prematurely releasing the fat (which your cardiologist would like but tends to reduce flavor.)
If your going to use a grill rather than a smoker it’s not a bad tack in a pinch, but if you have the time your patience will be rewarded.