I have grilling on the brain, so here comes Borrek’s tasty smoked ribs…
Soak a lot of wood chips in a bowl. Make sure they soak for at least 30 minutes so they don’t burn too quickly. This is hickory.
Prepare your rub. Here are my ingredients of choice
-red pepper flakes
-black pepper
-Lawry’s seasoning salt
-brown sugar
-garlic salt
-paprika
Here is a quick summary of the cooking
-prep work
-ribs go on the grill for 30 minutes
-add chips/coals
-cook for 30 more minutes (one hour total)
-flip meat, add more chips/coals
-cook for 30 more minutes (90 minutes total)
-add chips/coals
-cook for 30 more minutes (two hours total)
-pull meat and add sauce
-cook for one more hour (three hours total)
Prepare the rack by cutting off the bluish colored visceral membrane, and then liberally spreading your rub all over
Get a big load of coals going. I like to use a chimney to avoid any lighter fluid taste
Once the coals turn a little ashy on the outmost layer, pour them only on one half of the grill. Put a big aluminum pan in the other half to keep them from spilling over. The pan will also catch rib drippings
Throw a handful of the soaked hickory chips on the coals
Throw the ribs on over the pan, NOT over the coals. They should be fat side down first.
Put the top of the grill on, and leave it on unless flipping or adding more wood/coals. The vents should be only half open, and they should go right over the ribs so that the smoke will travel over the meat.
Cook for 30 minutes, and then open to add about 15 or so more coals, and fresh wood chips
Cook another 30 minutes before adding more coals/chips, and flipping. At the flip I’m adding a pan of beans with lots of holes punched in the foil cover to catch the rib drippings (this pic sucks, sorry)
After the ribs have been on a total of 1 hour, lift the grate and add the beans, flip the meat and add more coals/chips. You can kind of see the beans underneath there
Repeat the same cooking times for this side of the meat
-30 minutes on
-open and add coals/chips
-30 minutes on
-pull meat off the grill and bring it inside to sauce it
To sauce:
-lay a sheet of foil
-put the ribs on the foil
- spread your sauce of choice (my wife is from Kansas City and is all about either Arthur Bryants or Gates)
-put a layer of foil on top, and then wrap it all up
Back on the grill it goes! I leave it on for another hour so that there are some nice burnt ends to put in the beans. No need for more wood chips, because the smoke won’t get through the foil. Total cooking time will be 3 hours.
After the hour, bring the ribs inside, unwrap it and cut off some of the crispy bits to put in your beans.
Add the bits to the beans
Plate it all up, and enjoy!
So, you’re in Michigan, huh? If within driving ditance you better save me some!
cook up some lamb I’m on my way.
OM NOM NOM NOM!