[h3]Fixed Broken links to photos March 20, 2013[/h3][h3] [/h3][h3]Fast and Hot Ribs[/h3]
July 23, 2012
This weekend I decided to give fast and hot Ribs a try.
It all started when watching an episode of Restaurant Impossible, "Pollard's Bar-B-Que", Robert Irvine was bashing this poor guys ribs and I really felt for the guy. I know how bad you can feel as a cook when someone says your food SUCKS! I know it's all for drama and is scripted, but thought, wow! how would I feel if someone said that to me.
Me and my better half were watching this episode and when Robert said, put the ribs on at 450° for an hour, my jaw dropped.
Me being the know-it-all that I am as well as a skeptic, I sat there and said no way this can turn out good, but the restaurant owner also does his ribs fast and hot.
The whole time I keep hearing this voice in my head 3-2-1, 3-2-1, But since I am fairly open minded I thought, wow if this works, I could have a rib dinner in 90 minutes including prep time as opposed to 6 or 7 hours, although I do love the time I spend with my smoker... it's my ME time, it's nice to know there's a quicker way if needed.
So in order for me to form an opinion or pass judgement, and to be fair I had to test this out for myself. So with my lovely assistants, (my better half and my younger daughter) we decided to give it a shot.
Well shortly after we decided on trying this, two guinea pigs stopped by, Mom and Dad, I swear they must have the house bugged.
So I persuaded (yeah right) for them to stay and test out this recipe.
When my better half said your ribs are perfect why even try this... I said, "because I need to know".
I will post the Recipe followed by the results, my suggested tweaks the photos, and some closing notes.
Lets start with Roberts recipe
[h2]http://Ingredients[/h2]
Mop
[h2]http://Directions[/h2]
Prepare a smoker to high heat, 450 degrees F.
To prepare the ribs, remove the silver skin from the back or under rib side. Mix the soy and Worcestershire sauces together. Then on a baking sheet or pan, mop on the basting liquid and sprinkle with the Rib Rub. We used about half of the Rub for 3 racks of ribs. After basting and seasoning, place the ribs on the rack of the smoker and cook for 1 hour. Mop or baste twice during cooking. I basted 3 times during the smoke
Once the ribs have cooked for 1 hour, glaze with BBQ Sauce and finish for a final 10 minutes to allow the sauce to glaze the ribs. Serve and enjoy.
Cook's Note: Ribs may require additional cooking time due to size and tenderness.
My results and thoughts.
[h2]http://Since I was worried about the outcome and fearful that dinner would be ruined, I prepped the trimmings in my usual rub recipe and foiled after 30 minutes, sadly those burnt up because of too much sugar and the high heat, the foil did not help, however the racks were fine.[/h2]
I got the smoker up to 450° and had a nice bed of coals and threw on the ribs, man... Frank was screaming... hissing and popping all over and it was impossible to stand in front of the smoker due to the heat.
I had a bit of a scare when I seen what I thought at first was a ton of smoke billowing out of everywhere, so I ran over and opened the firebox door and inspected the fire, it was a clean fire. Then I opened the smoke chamber to see what was up... it was steam, there was not much of a smoke smell at all, wow was I relieved.
I sure am not used to doing Ribs in under 90 minutes.
The racks got a nice little char from the Worcestershire and soy sauce and smelled wonderful when mopped. I would definitely not recommend this fast and hot if using a high sugar rub.
[h2]http://I was completely shocked, with the results.[/h2]
Lets break it down.
The ribs
The ribs had a nice MEATY density like a tender steak, very moist and extremely tender and stayed in tact when eating. There was a bit of a smoke ring with a hint of smoke flavor and a nice thin crust that gave the ribs an incredible texture as well as flavor. It was nice to eat a rib that was like eating meat.
The rub.
The rub was good and although we cut the cayenne in half it was a bit spicy for most folks. We only used half of the rub mix for the 3 racks.
Mop
Well... you cant get any simpler than equal parts Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. The mop was perfect for high heat it caramelized beautifully, with the little bit of sugar in the rub and mop, it did not char too much, just enough. It really gave it another depth of flavor.
I guess the proper way to describe it was that it gave another layer of flavor deeper in the meat. I would suggest mopping after the first 30, then at 50. I mopped 3 times 20/30/50.
Sauce
This was really good, pretty hard to describe but it was sort of a cross between a sort of sweet but vinegary base with an underling hint of mustard. Although I tweaked the recipe, this sauce was phenomenal. I was a bit concerned with the cayenne and glad I cut back on the cayenne.
The sauce is perfect for someone that likes heat (even with my tweaks), but next time the Cayenne will be cut to a light teaspoon in the rub and in the sauce.
[h2]http://[/h2]
Other things to consider
Remove everything from under the smoker...yes I had a fire.
Move the smoker further away from the fence, melted my rope light.
Keep a spray bottle of water handy.
Make a wire rack with a lip in the front to keep coals from falling out.
Make a better insulated handle or thermal shield.. handle was too hot to touch without gloves.
[h2]http://Here's what I suggest as a starting point for the recipe.[/h2][h2]http://Rib Rub: [/h2]
Pictures are posted below.
Now before everyone panics when they see what appears to be a cloud of smoke IT'S NOT SMOKE!.
It is steam there was almost no smoke at all during this cook. The fire was burning very hot and very clean.
No, No! not the stew... the ribs MAN, C'mon!... lets try that again.
Yeah! that's better.
Closing Notes:
July 23, 2012
This weekend I decided to give fast and hot Ribs a try.
It all started when watching an episode of Restaurant Impossible, "Pollard's Bar-B-Que", Robert Irvine was bashing this poor guys ribs and I really felt for the guy. I know how bad you can feel as a cook when someone says your food SUCKS! I know it's all for drama and is scripted, but thought, wow! how would I feel if someone said that to me.
Me and my better half were watching this episode and when Robert said, put the ribs on at 450° for an hour, my jaw dropped.
Me being the know-it-all that I am as well as a skeptic, I sat there and said no way this can turn out good, but the restaurant owner also does his ribs fast and hot.
The whole time I keep hearing this voice in my head 3-2-1, 3-2-1, But since I am fairly open minded I thought, wow if this works, I could have a rib dinner in 90 minutes including prep time as opposed to 6 or 7 hours, although I do love the time I spend with my smoker... it's my ME time, it's nice to know there's a quicker way if needed.
So in order for me to form an opinion or pass judgement, and to be fair I had to test this out for myself. So with my lovely assistants, (my better half and my younger daughter) we decided to give it a shot.
Well shortly after we decided on trying this, two guinea pigs stopped by, Mom and Dad, I swear they must have the house bugged.
So I persuaded (yeah right) for them to stay and test out this recipe.
When my better half said your ribs are perfect why even try this... I said, "because I need to know".
I will post the Recipe followed by the results, my suggested tweaks the photos, and some closing notes.
Lets start with Roberts recipe
[h2]http://Ingredients[/h2]
- 4 racks baby back ribs I Substituted 3 Spare ribs Trimmed St. Louis style
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Rib Rub, recipe follows
- BBQ Sauce, recipe follows
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cayenne powder "wow", really? I cut this down to 1 Tablespoon
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons white pepper
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard, such as Coleman's
- 1 tablespoon course black pepper
- 5 teaspoons seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
Mop
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 3 cups ketchup
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar Substituted with Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 cup stone ground mustard We substituted with yellow mustard
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper I say again, "wow", really? I cut this down to 1 Tablespoon
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
[h2]http://Directions[/h2]
Prepare a smoker to high heat, 450 degrees F.
To prepare the ribs, remove the silver skin from the back or under rib side. Mix the soy and Worcestershire sauces together. Then on a baking sheet or pan, mop on the basting liquid and sprinkle with the Rib Rub. We used about half of the Rub for 3 racks of ribs. After basting and seasoning, place the ribs on the rack of the smoker and cook for 1 hour. Mop or baste twice during cooking. I basted 3 times during the smoke
Once the ribs have cooked for 1 hour, glaze with BBQ Sauce and finish for a final 10 minutes to allow the sauce to glaze the ribs. Serve and enjoy.
Cook's Note: Ribs may require additional cooking time due to size and tenderness.
My results and thoughts.
[h2]http://Since I was worried about the outcome and fearful that dinner would be ruined, I prepped the trimmings in my usual rub recipe and foiled after 30 minutes, sadly those burnt up because of too much sugar and the high heat, the foil did not help, however the racks were fine.[/h2]
I got the smoker up to 450° and had a nice bed of coals and threw on the ribs, man... Frank was screaming... hissing and popping all over and it was impossible to stand in front of the smoker due to the heat.
I had a bit of a scare when I seen what I thought at first was a ton of smoke billowing out of everywhere, so I ran over and opened the firebox door and inspected the fire, it was a clean fire. Then I opened the smoke chamber to see what was up... it was steam, there was not much of a smoke smell at all, wow was I relieved.
I sure am not used to doing Ribs in under 90 minutes.
The racks got a nice little char from the Worcestershire and soy sauce and smelled wonderful when mopped. I would definitely not recommend this fast and hot if using a high sugar rub.
[h2]http://I was completely shocked, with the results.[/h2]
Lets break it down.
The ribs
The ribs had a nice MEATY density like a tender steak, very moist and extremely tender and stayed in tact when eating. There was a bit of a smoke ring with a hint of smoke flavor and a nice thin crust that gave the ribs an incredible texture as well as flavor. It was nice to eat a rib that was like eating meat.
The rub.
The rub was good and although we cut the cayenne in half it was a bit spicy for most folks. We only used half of the rub mix for the 3 racks.
Mop
Well... you cant get any simpler than equal parts Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. The mop was perfect for high heat it caramelized beautifully, with the little bit of sugar in the rub and mop, it did not char too much, just enough. It really gave it another depth of flavor.
I guess the proper way to describe it was that it gave another layer of flavor deeper in the meat. I would suggest mopping after the first 30, then at 50. I mopped 3 times 20/30/50.
Sauce
This was really good, pretty hard to describe but it was sort of a cross between a sort of sweet but vinegary base with an underling hint of mustard. Although I tweaked the recipe, this sauce was phenomenal. I was a bit concerned with the cayenne and glad I cut back on the cayenne.
The sauce is perfect for someone that likes heat (even with my tweaks), but next time the Cayenne will be cut to a light teaspoon in the rub and in the sauce.
[h2]http://[/h2]
Other things to consider
Remove everything from under the smoker...yes I had a fire.
Move the smoker further away from the fence, melted my rope light.
Keep a spray bottle of water handy.
Make a wire rack with a lip in the front to keep coals from falling out.
Make a better insulated handle or thermal shield.. handle was too hot to touch without gloves.
[h2]http://Here's what I suggest as a starting point for the recipe.[/h2][h2]http://Rib Rub: [/h2]
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoons white pepper
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard, such as Coleman's
- 1 tablespoon course black pepper
- 5 teaspoons seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 3 cups ketchup
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar OK to substitute with Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 cup stone ground mustard OK to substitute with yellow mustard
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
Pictures are posted below.
Now before everyone panics when they see what appears to be a cloud of smoke IT'S NOT SMOKE!.
It is steam there was almost no smoke at all during this cook. The fire was burning very hot and very clean.
- Frank nearly warmed up.
- My lovely assistant Mopping the ribs.
- Applying the rub (Lightly)
- Frank at 450° and ready to go.
- The left side was a bit hotter.
- On the Pit at 450° mopped and rubbed.
- Looking good, ready for the first Mop.
- I panicked when I saw the smoke.
- I decided to open up the cooking chamber to see what was going on, whoa!. Hmmm! no burning eyes, no smokey smell, what gives?
- I figured I 'd better check the fire, Hmmm fire is burning hot and clean. After checking it out a bit and swallowing my heart back down I noticed the top of the cooking chamber lid was saturated and dripping wet. So I came to the conclusion that it was steam so I'm safe.
- Now before any one panicks, the following pictures are not of smoke... it is STEAM! After the steam escapes I am ready to setup the glaze.
- The little bit of char from the mop added a very nice layer of flavor.
- Plating with some corn and a bit of vegetable beef stew.
- Lets have a closer look.
No, No! not the stew... the ribs MAN, C'mon!... lets try that again.
Yeah! that's better.
Closing Notes:
- Cooking at these temps can be a bit humbling, there's no room for mistakes or carelessness.
- It's nice to know that I can grab some ribs on the way home from work and have a rib dinner in about 90 minutes.
- I really think that most folks will like these If they are willing to give it a shot.
- As a 3-2-1 Low and slow subscriber, it's hard to wrap my head around this "Broil" type of smoking.
- Were these the best ribs I ever had? I won't answer that because I hear that expression way too much But...
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