My county fair entry in the pork ribs contest with pics

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shegriller

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Original poster
Jun 18, 2010
17
10
Our fair has offered a contest for grilled ribs for a third year in a row. This is the first time I have competed - not too many chicks at this one! Turn in time was in the middle of the day and on a Wednesday so I am expecting a lot of retired guys and hopefully some gals as my main competition. I don't know if I have won or not, but I have some 'fair spies' to look into the cooler with the award winners selections.

Here is how my ribs began
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This is how it started, I removed the membrane and trimmed some excess fat.

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Here it's brining in a mixture of Kosher salt, water, pickling spice, peppercorns, a couple of squirts of sriracha sauce and cherry wine for about 3 hours. (I wanted to do an overnight brine, but worked all day and still had to shop and put back together

a fridge that experienced a kitchen remodel before I cooked anything.) I put it in a bowl so it was totally submerged.

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It's out of the brine, rinsed and rubbed with a mixture of Chili powder, paprika, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, curry powder, cumin, and a little cayenne

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This is the first flip and after a spray of concentrated apple juice and water on both sides. It grills for2 hours flipping only a couple of times.

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It's done after an hour covered in foil and another 30 minutes just left open. Very tender!

I will let you know how I did!
 
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So you grilled theses ribs??? They look yummO and you should do just fine by the looks of what I'm seeing.
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It cooked a little higher than I would have liked 300-325 on the factory gauge. It's about 10 degrees off after I calibrated it with a digital thermometer. I left off that I mopped it with a honey tomato BBQ sauce before putting in the foil.

I didn't want it to be over sweet or over salty so I made a quick one tomato sauce, paste, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, white vinegar, worsty sauce, shallots, garlic, black pepper, Kosher salt, honey and yellow mustard.
 
they look good,

 Don't know where ya are located but down south, if your ribs ain't sweet you won't even get a second call.
 
Hello again!

My ribs took 3rd place! Not bad for a first contest. I had 25-30 other competitors so I feel pretty good! The next contest will be a less dense rub and a longer brine. They did come out really well and I am glad!

Thanks for all the kudos - except now I have officially caught the 'competitive bug'!
 
Those ribs looked great, and they sounded flavorful.  Congrats on 3rd place at your 1st comp!

RE: smoke box -- I picked up a cast iron one at Wal Mart a while back.
 
 
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