How long to leave rub on ribs before smoking?

[dtj16]

Thx for passing it on Fly. And Thx JJ for giving us great things to use on our Q.

 

[wade]

Wish I had the ability to vac PAC things. How much are those Wade?

I started off with a kitchen vac packer and these can be picked up for between £50-£100 pounds over here. Probably the same over with you but in $. 

eiffel-vac-packer.jpg

• wade
• Oct 3, 2014

The main issue with this type is that they require special textured bags to allow the air to be sucked out and there is often a bag width constraint.

A few years ago I moved to a chamber vacuum packer - Henkelman Jumbo 42. This takes both standard and sous vide vacuum bags/pouches which are less expensive and come in a wider range of sizes. Over here though these will set you back about £2K for this model but others are a little cheaper.

Henkelman-J42-2T.jpg

• wade
• Oct 3, 2014

There are several reviews of different chamber vac pac machines on here.

 

[daveomak]

Overnight rub.... wrapped in plastic wrap..... moist and juicy.... good bark..... Smoked nekkid.... no foil...

Ribs zoom in.jpg

• daveomak
• Oct 3, 2014

 

[wade]

Great looking ribs Dave 

 

[poltergeezer]

Thank you all! I didn't get the rub on the ribs last night so just did it this morning.  They'll go in the smoker in an hour or so. Next time, I'm doing the "overnight".  

Again, thank you guys. I'm old but very new to smoking meat, and I'm lovin' it!

 

[noboundaries]

I'm a last minute rub guy. When I put the rub on the night before then smoke the ribs all I can taste is rub. So I lightly dust with rub while the smoker is coming up to temp then on they go. That way I taste meat, smoke, rub. Personal preference developed from 34 years of marriage to a super taster.

 

[poltergeezer]

Thanks, Noboundries.  You make a good point too!

 

[donr]

Please correct me if I am wrong on this.

The overnight, or days long, dry brining is really dependent on having the meat tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or my preference of vacuum packed.  Unless the brine (juices & rub) have contact with the meat it will not be reabsorbed well.

If you just rub the meat, set it in a sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap, the only parts to have the flavor reabsorbed well are those at the bottom of the pan where the juices are.  This would just essentially draw moisture out of the meat and leave half spent rub on the meat.  Wrapping the meat tightly in plastic wrap increases this contact, and vacuum packing is as good as it will get.

When I buy enough qty of meat, I will add rub to the meat, vacuum pack then immediately freeze.  The freezing stops the reaction.  When I pull the meat from the freezer and let is thaw for 3-4 days, there is very little moisture in the bag and the flavor can be tasted throughout the meat.

If this isn't the science behind it, my taste buds are fooled, which is good enough for me.

Don

 

[wade]

 
The overnight, or days long, dry brining is really dependent on having the meat tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or my preference of vacuum packed.  Unless the brine (juices & rub) have contact with the meat it will not be reabsorbed well.

If you just rub the meat, set it in a sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap, the only parts to have the flavor reabsorbed well are those at the bottom of the pan where the juices are.  This would just essentially draw moisture out of the meat and leave half spent rub on the meat.  Wrapping the meat tightly in plastic wrap increases this contact, and vacuum packing is as good as it will get.

When I buy enough qty of meat, I will add rub to the meat, vacuum pack then immediately freeze.  The freezing stops the reaction.  When I pull the meat from the freezer and let is thaw for 3-4 days, there is very little moisture in the bag and the flavor can be tasted throughout the meat.

If this isn't the science behind it, my taste buds are fooled, which is good enough for me.

Don

Hi Don

You do not have to vacuum pack it. You can just wrap it in plastic wrap. The advantage of the vac pac is that it does keep the brine and rub in intimate contact with the ribs and also stops the liquid from leaking out - which it can do even with tightly wound plastic wrap.

Because the brine is not allowed to drain away, when vac packed it should keep more of the flavour from the rub in direct contact with the meat. I am not sure what you mean when you talk about the juices being re-absorbed as once it has been drawn out of the meat cells and has formed the brine it will stay out - although the act of vac packing may result in more of the free brine being retained within the meat structure itself rather than being allowed to drain away.

What I prefer to do when I buy a quantity is to apply the rub, vac pack, leave overnight (or longer) and then freeze. That way you can take the ribs straight from the freezer, thaw and immediately cook,

Don't think that applying a rub the ribs is exactly the same as dry brining bacon. It all depends on the amount of salt (and sugar) that you have in the rub. The amount of salt used in a bacon cure will usually be much greater than used in a rib rub (unless you like VERY salty ribs). This will result in a lot more brine being formed around the bacon than the ribs. I usually put the rub on my ribs and then vac-pack in pairs of rib racks. The amount of brine that I get out the next day is probably less than 1/4 of a small wine glass. Next time I do ribs I will measure it and post the results

 

[poltergeezer]

Even a blind hog'll pick up an acorn every now and then. 

The ribs turned out great. (Wife says "delicious!")

IMG_0379.JPG

• poltergeezer
• Oct 3, 2014

Probably over-done for some of you; when I took the rack of ribs out of the smoker, one of the rib bones fell out!

I'm learning that with my Cookshack 25 smoker I need to figure on a shorter cooking time than most recipes call for.  I was intending to use the 3-2-1 method on these, but at the end of the 2 hour foil-wrapped period, they were done! I left them in the smoker for another 15 min. then, not being able to stand it any longer, took them out.

 

[wade]

Great looking ribs Poltergeezer. All of the last hour is often not needed and you also may have had the smoker a little warmer than you thought. Different batches of ribs cook differently too. Cant wait to see your next batch 

 

[b-one]

Nice ribs! I salt my ribs the night before and rub early the next day, I also rub a little on the heavy side as I like mine dry or just a little sauce on the side. Practice makes perfect experiment with and without foil it's what makes it fun!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Vac-Pac is nice if you have the equipment, but for Dry Brining and Curing is not necessary. One of the most common uses of Dry Brining in restaurants is Turkeys, often 26-30 Lb birds. Ain't no way you are going to Vac-Pac one of them. You don't need Gallons or even Ounces of liquid for the process to work. The moisture that comes to the surface only has to " Liquefy " the salt, the Rub may only look moist and pasty, and the salt and other flavors will diffuse into the meat doing the Brining job. Some are worried that the Salt in the Rub will dry the meat. The reality is far more moisture is removed during cooking and even resting compared to the tiny amount that comes to the surface from the osmosis that the Rub initiates. Additionally,  Just like the liquified salt ions move from high concentration to lower concentration through diffusion, water will behave in a similar manner through osmosis, moving back into the meat until the system is pretty much in balance...JJ

 

[Jason Sheroan]

Wow that Vac packing seems legit. Does it really help tho? I would think Saran Wrap may be just as good. Tho I wish I had a Vac for other things.

Thanks all! Happy Fathers Day!

By leaving the rub on overnight and vac packing it I find the salt/sugar in the rub acts a little like a dry cure on bacon and you end up the next morning with a small amount of natural brine formed around the ribs.

Ribs 3.jpg

• wade
• Oct 3, 2014

Ribs 4.jpg

• wade
• Oct 3, 2014

Both methods are fine and it is really down to personal preference and the time you have available.

 

[gnarlykaw]

Im an overnight guy as well. the rub will pull water, and also go right back in, BUT, if im pushed for time, then MOP! light seasoning first, then mop during the smoke, that way, you know you got a flavor your shooting for!

 

[wade]

Wow that Vac packing seems legit. Does it really help tho? I would think Saran Wrap may be just as good. Tho I wish I had a Vac for other things.

I am an overnighter too. Yes, Saran wrap will work fine but the main reason I vac pack my ribs is to prevent potential mess in the fridge. I am usually preparing 3 or 4 racks of ribs at a time and by vac packing them it allows me to stack them in the fridge without the risk of any brine leaking out. It also keeps the rub/brine more intimately in contact with the meat.

 

[texomakid]

Man the things you find in the archives! I've going to smoke 4 racks of St. Louis cut ribs tomorrow. I typically just rub prior to throwing them on the smoker but since I'm doing 4 racks and wondering if the longer rub time vs 30 minutes makes any difference it appears doing 2 with overnight rubs & 2 with 30 minutes will be my course. Nothing better than a straight up comparison of the 2 at the same time? WE shall see.

 

[Hawging It]

Most of the time I rub down the racks while I wait on the stick burner to come up to temp. Sometimes I rub them down and let them sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. Very rarely do I let them rest overnight. Over the last 2 years I have used Malcolm Reed's Killer Hogs THE BBQ RUB 100% of the time. We love it.

 

[texomakid]

I keep seeing several that recommend the Killer Hogs rub so that's going on my "to do" short list since I cook ribs almost weekly. For this experiment I'm gonna use MeatChurch Holy Gospel on all 4 of the racks and I plan to dust 2 racks about 12 hours prior and I may wrap them in plastic wrap for that 12 hours in the fridge? The other 2 I will do as I normally do and they will get at least 1/2 hour prior to putting in the Yoder.

I don't plan to wrap unless I get in a time issue but I am planning to have plenty of time. I've had a lot of success and consistency with unwrapped ribs this summer. The only thing I'm doing out of the box for me is the 12 hour rub. It's a great opportunity to get a side by side comparison of the 2 different rub applications.

 

[texomakid]

UPDATE: I did the 2 racks with the rub, wrapped them in plastic wrap and into the fridge. They got around 12 hours with the rub and I did 2 just like I've always done with about 1/2 hour prior to putting into the cooker. The ones that I let sit for 12 hours were not good. While researching this subject I read where someone described the taste as "hammy" and now I know what that taste is. The 2 racks I did just prior were solid. I'm sure the type of rub influences this a lot and Meatchurch rubs are bold.

Just more fuel for thought - I will stick to applying my rub 30 minutes prior to putting into the smoker. For me, this works