Hey,
So I am practicing for my first Backyard BBQ comp. Been doing chicken for the last couple months, saved ribs for the last minute, cause im not as worried about needing to practice them since I already do quite a bit.
I do however need some advice from anyone who has competed, or is a judge. I am doing St. Louis cut ribs based on what is normally done around here, and I have some trimming questions. So I am just buying the already St. Louis cut ones, but I also hate all of the extra cartilage and mess that you get at the top of the rib. I haven't really noticed one way or another as a judge on this because I usually only take a couple bites of the rib, but do people in comps usually trim all the way down to the actual bone on top, or do you leave those other pieces of cartilage up there??? I fell like if a trim it it will make the ribs real small, and possibly funny looking considering that the meat may shrink up on both ends of the bone???
Anyway, here was my cook from yesterday. Rubbed em down right before the cook (as the comp doesn't allow pre-seasoning) with my special rub. Smoked with a sort of 3-2-1 method. 3 hours on smoker, spraying with butter, and a light application of rub every 45 minutes or so, then only did about 1.5 hours wrapped, with sone butter, Tiger Sauce and turbinado, and about 35 minutes on smoke with sauce (Blues Hog).
Here are pics through the process:
(Before the wrap)
(Finished before rest period)
Let em rest just on the counter for about 5-10 minutes, then cut:
sliced em up an plated a few of them. This was just a rack I got from the grocery store, and didn't pay much attention when picking out. For the comp ill pick ones with straighter more even bones, and obviously do several racks for consistency.
Ended up with a nice solid smoke ring. They were perfect in texture, just pulled right off the bone, leaving it clean, but wouldn't fall off the bone without the pull from your teeth. They were tender, but not extremely juicy, but I think that was just the meat quality.
So I am practicing for my first Backyard BBQ comp. Been doing chicken for the last couple months, saved ribs for the last minute, cause im not as worried about needing to practice them since I already do quite a bit.
I do however need some advice from anyone who has competed, or is a judge. I am doing St. Louis cut ribs based on what is normally done around here, and I have some trimming questions. So I am just buying the already St. Louis cut ones, but I also hate all of the extra cartilage and mess that you get at the top of the rib. I haven't really noticed one way or another as a judge on this because I usually only take a couple bites of the rib, but do people in comps usually trim all the way down to the actual bone on top, or do you leave those other pieces of cartilage up there??? I fell like if a trim it it will make the ribs real small, and possibly funny looking considering that the meat may shrink up on both ends of the bone???
Anyway, here was my cook from yesterday. Rubbed em down right before the cook (as the comp doesn't allow pre-seasoning) with my special rub. Smoked with a sort of 3-2-1 method. 3 hours on smoker, spraying with butter, and a light application of rub every 45 minutes or so, then only did about 1.5 hours wrapped, with sone butter, Tiger Sauce and turbinado, and about 35 minutes on smoke with sauce (Blues Hog).
Here are pics through the process:
(Before the wrap)
(Finished before rest period)
Let em rest just on the counter for about 5-10 minutes, then cut:
sliced em up an plated a few of them. This was just a rack I got from the grocery store, and didn't pay much attention when picking out. For the comp ill pick ones with straighter more even bones, and obviously do several racks for consistency.
Ended up with a nice solid smoke ring. They were perfect in texture, just pulled right off the bone, leaving it clean, but wouldn't fall off the bone without the pull from your teeth. They were tender, but not extremely juicy, but I think that was just the meat quality.
