My Team has been working their tails off the past couple weeks and no let up in sight as we are fully into our Fall Banquet Season. We had a group drop in counts the other day and had some ribs laying around. So what to do with them
??????
I put together a bit of my rub, well a bunch of it there are 16 racks of ribs. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127046/jarjar-pork-rub-recipe
I rubbed them down and put them into the smoker we had borrowed from another location. Pitmaster Vault, nice smoker just a little pricey for me. If you are looking for something that is put together very well and designed to be moved around might want to take a look at it. OK back to the food...... I was also planning on making my mac & cheese, I made it once for them for a gathering of some sort and that is all they have talked about, so I figured easy peasy....
Before we go any further. I am sorry for not having a detailed accounting of this adventure. I was at work and still had to do my job. So much of what I did was by taste, feel and or look. If I have missed a detail you would like, please feel free to ask in the thread or if you feel more comfortable asking in a PM please do so. I do not want anyone to be left guessing, but unfortunately it was a bit busier then planned and I was not able to write most things down.
Back to the food.......
Ribs as stated earlier I used my Pork Rub Recipe. I removed the silver skin/membrane from the back of the ribs and rubbed with the rub then back into the cooler while the smoker got up to temp (250 degrees) I was planning on using the 3:2:1 method with them, but ended up being more like 4 - 1 - 45min. The smoker ran a very steady 235 the first 4 hrs. Very pleased with the performance of it.
Foiling Juice: I wanted to try something different, so I made a mixture of apple juice concentrate, apple cider vinegar, sweet Thai chili sauce and water. I do not have any pictures of this step, but I placed 4 racks of ribs into a 4" hotel pan with about 4 cups of this mixture and wrapped with foil. Then back into the smoker at 250 for another hour.
Foiling Juice (approximate measures) These are what I remember using for this batch of 16 racks.
4.5c Apple Juice Concentrate
2.5c Apple Cider Vinegar
2c Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
7c Water
Glazing Sauce: I used my foiling sauce for a base http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/128537/jarjar-pp-foiling-finishing-sauce
I added this to some BBQ sauce we use. I followed the ratio that is in the link of 3:1, finishing sauce to BBQ Sauce. I also added some brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit. You may not need to depending on the BBQ sauce you use.
When I removed the ribs from the pan and put back onto the grates. I used a squirt bottle (like the mustard and ketchup bottles you see in Wally World yellow and red) to coat the top of the ribs generously with the sauce. Put the smoker back to 225 till ready to serve. One thing did happen that I was not happy about. I let my fire die and had to just go with the temp that was held by the smoker, so when I went to pull them it actually at 200 degrees. But they were in great shape, so no loss on the product.
Serving Sauce: I had all of this glazing sauce left and this great juice from the pan. So I mixed the juices in for a ratio of 2:1, glaze to juice. Came out very well and I served it on the side.
Mac & Cheese:
I was planning on making my usual mac & cheese, but when I was talking with a couple of my Team and they asked what I was going to do to kick it up a bit. I was a bit taken back because what I do is waaay more then most do..... So I asked them what they would do, one said bacon and the other said we have some smoked pork belly. Smoked pork belly was the winner!!!!!
I sliced a yellow onion, smashed some garlic and cubed a piece of pork belly we had done for an event the other day.
I slowly rendered down the cubes of pork belly to crisp it up and get to that wonder full fat. I removed the crispy cubes and added the onions and garlic. Slowly sweated them in the pan till I got the sweet cooked garlic smell, added some whole butter and sweat it down a bit more till I got the nutty smell of the butter browning. In went the flour to make the roux. Cooked till the roux was just starting to change to a slight yellow in color. Meanwhile I was heating up some heavy cream (I did not say this was low fat!!!!). When the cream came to a boil I used an immersion blender to mix and blend the onions, garlic and roux. I added some milk and a mixture of cheeses we had laying around (Gouda, American and cheddar are what I remember). I cooked some mini penne, I will usually go past al dente for mac & cheese. After the pasta was drained, into a bowl it went with the sauce and more cheddar cheese. I adjusted the consistency with milk and flavor with salt and pepper. I like it to be soupy. Then they found their way into a pan with the pork belly and topped with more cheddar cheese, to the oven they went with a sheet pan under to catch anything that boiled over. It was at 300 degrees for 25 min, or just till the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown.
This is what I remember from what I used. It is a bit much for at home, unless you are feeding a football team. This ended up with enough for about 60 people. Sorry not many pics, lots of work and did not have time.
1 lb Onion
1/3 c Whole Garlic cloves
3# Smoked pork belly
1 1/2 c AP Flour
1 gal Heavy Cream
9 lb Cheese (1# shredded Gouda, 2# sliced American and 6# Shredded cheddar)
3/4 gal Milk
6# Mini Penne Pasta
So on to the good stuff......... THE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The smoker...... does a great job and put together very well...just a bit on the pricey side.
Start of the pork belly. Rubbed with: brown sugar, kosher salt, granulated onion, granulated garlic and orange zest.
Couple shots of when finished...
Ribs rubbed and ready for the smoker..
Loaded Smoker.....
Ribs Glazed...
Finished Ribs...
The only picture I have of the mac & cheese prep.
Final plates of lunch... Threw some salad together and the bakery added some flan.
Hope you enjoyed it. I am still full 7 hours later.....
I put together a bit of my rub, well a bunch of it there are 16 racks of ribs. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127046/jarjar-pork-rub-recipe
I rubbed them down and put them into the smoker we had borrowed from another location. Pitmaster Vault, nice smoker just a little pricey for me. If you are looking for something that is put together very well and designed to be moved around might want to take a look at it. OK back to the food...... I was also planning on making my mac & cheese, I made it once for them for a gathering of some sort and that is all they have talked about, so I figured easy peasy....
Before we go any further. I am sorry for not having a detailed accounting of this adventure. I was at work and still had to do my job. So much of what I did was by taste, feel and or look. If I have missed a detail you would like, please feel free to ask in the thread or if you feel more comfortable asking in a PM please do so. I do not want anyone to be left guessing, but unfortunately it was a bit busier then planned and I was not able to write most things down.
Back to the food.......
Ribs as stated earlier I used my Pork Rub Recipe. I removed the silver skin/membrane from the back of the ribs and rubbed with the rub then back into the cooler while the smoker got up to temp (250 degrees) I was planning on using the 3:2:1 method with them, but ended up being more like 4 - 1 - 45min. The smoker ran a very steady 235 the first 4 hrs. Very pleased with the performance of it.
Foiling Juice: I wanted to try something different, so I made a mixture of apple juice concentrate, apple cider vinegar, sweet Thai chili sauce and water. I do not have any pictures of this step, but I placed 4 racks of ribs into a 4" hotel pan with about 4 cups of this mixture and wrapped with foil. Then back into the smoker at 250 for another hour.
Foiling Juice (approximate measures) These are what I remember using for this batch of 16 racks.
4.5c Apple Juice Concentrate
2.5c Apple Cider Vinegar
2c Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
7c Water
Glazing Sauce: I used my foiling sauce for a base http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/128537/jarjar-pp-foiling-finishing-sauce
I added this to some BBQ sauce we use. I followed the ratio that is in the link of 3:1, finishing sauce to BBQ Sauce. I also added some brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit. You may not need to depending on the BBQ sauce you use.
When I removed the ribs from the pan and put back onto the grates. I used a squirt bottle (like the mustard and ketchup bottles you see in Wally World yellow and red) to coat the top of the ribs generously with the sauce. Put the smoker back to 225 till ready to serve. One thing did happen that I was not happy about. I let my fire die and had to just go with the temp that was held by the smoker, so when I went to pull them it actually at 200 degrees. But they were in great shape, so no loss on the product.
Serving Sauce: I had all of this glazing sauce left and this great juice from the pan. So I mixed the juices in for a ratio of 2:1, glaze to juice. Came out very well and I served it on the side.
Mac & Cheese:
I was planning on making my usual mac & cheese, but when I was talking with a couple of my Team and they asked what I was going to do to kick it up a bit. I was a bit taken back because what I do is waaay more then most do..... So I asked them what they would do, one said bacon and the other said we have some smoked pork belly. Smoked pork belly was the winner!!!!!
I sliced a yellow onion, smashed some garlic and cubed a piece of pork belly we had done for an event the other day.
I slowly rendered down the cubes of pork belly to crisp it up and get to that wonder full fat. I removed the crispy cubes and added the onions and garlic. Slowly sweated them in the pan till I got the sweet cooked garlic smell, added some whole butter and sweat it down a bit more till I got the nutty smell of the butter browning. In went the flour to make the roux. Cooked till the roux was just starting to change to a slight yellow in color. Meanwhile I was heating up some heavy cream (I did not say this was low fat!!!!). When the cream came to a boil I used an immersion blender to mix and blend the onions, garlic and roux. I added some milk and a mixture of cheeses we had laying around (Gouda, American and cheddar are what I remember). I cooked some mini penne, I will usually go past al dente for mac & cheese. After the pasta was drained, into a bowl it went with the sauce and more cheddar cheese. I adjusted the consistency with milk and flavor with salt and pepper. I like it to be soupy. Then they found their way into a pan with the pork belly and topped with more cheddar cheese, to the oven they went with a sheet pan under to catch anything that boiled over. It was at 300 degrees for 25 min, or just till the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown.
This is what I remember from what I used. It is a bit much for at home, unless you are feeding a football team. This ended up with enough for about 60 people. Sorry not many pics, lots of work and did not have time.
1 lb Onion
1/3 c Whole Garlic cloves
3# Smoked pork belly
1 1/2 c AP Flour
1 gal Heavy Cream
9 lb Cheese (1# shredded Gouda, 2# sliced American and 6# Shredded cheddar)
3/4 gal Milk
6# Mini Penne Pasta
So on to the good stuff......... THE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The smoker...... does a great job and put together very well...just a bit on the pricey side.
Start of the pork belly. Rubbed with: brown sugar, kosher salt, granulated onion, granulated garlic and orange zest.
Couple shots of when finished...
Ribs rubbed and ready for the smoker..
Loaded Smoker.....
Ribs Glazed...
Finished Ribs...
The only picture I have of the mac & cheese prep.
Final plates of lunch... Threw some salad together and the bakery added some flan.
Hope you enjoyed it. I am still full 7 hours later.....
