Joe's Rib diary:

[dewetha]

let the spice wars begin!

Spice barn really packs the jars full to the top !

now to go buy some ribs and mix up my first rub! I already made a new version of my rib glaze#4. have to do at least one or 2 trial runs later this week.

1 st rub idea(need a cool name)

8 TBS brown sugar

3 TBS kosher salt

3 TBS paprika

1 TBS cayenne

2 tsp cocoa

1 tsp garlic

2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp ground clove

1/2 tsp white pepper

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks like a great rub recipe! I like the cocoa. Never used it in a rub before.

 

[dewetha]

thanks AL,

 I researched all the rubs here and bought Jeff's. Lots of way of slicing and dicing spices. i trying to stay close to the 8:3:1:1. more like 8:3:3:1:1. the cayenne i have is rated at 60k though that would be good middle ground

I notice that most have the basics, 1 *special* ingredient and  a one more exotic(or less common to us backyard BBQ types).

this will be my first stab of many,many variations. may try a few more later,one will be cinnamon. just a touch not to offset heat but to give it some complexity

 

[owlcreeksmoker4]

Looks great. making me get even closer to smoking ribs lol

 

[jmonty580]

Man this thread is making me extremely hungry. Now i want to get some ribs an experiment too.  Can anyone point me to a rib 101 smoking thread?

 

[dewetha]

@Jmonty. do a search for ribs on here. you will get tones of pages to read. there are 2 good ways of doing them. search for ribs  + 3-2-1 or 321 or 3 2 1 and I started a thread asking about doing ribs without the 3-2-1 method and it's full of great advice: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/111883/how-to-ribs-without-the-3-2-1.

so I mixed up my rub sans brown sugar. I don't like the moisture content of brown sugar mixed in so I will add it to the ribs first like I do now.

the whole point is to get all the flavors to balance out and not necessarly stand up on there own. so far the mix seam to have some heat. I think i need to play with portion to find that balance. this could take a while.

I may start on a more robust and balance rub recipe that will stand on it's own for some Memphis style ribs.

so many ribs so little time 

. I look forward to many wonderful rub recipe trials!

 

[SmokinAl]

@Jmonty. do a search for ribs on here. you will get tones of pages to read. there are 2 good ways of doing them. search for ribs  + 3-2-1 or 321 or 3 2 1 and I started a thread asking about doing ribs without the 3-2-1 method and it's full of great advice: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/111883/how-to-ribs-without-the-3-2-1.

so I mixed up my rub sans brown sugar. I don't like the moisture content of brown sugar mixed in so I will add it to the ribs first like I do now.

the whole point is to get all the flavors to balance out and not necessarly stand up on there own. so far the mix seam to have some heat. I think i need to play with portion to find that balance. this could take a while.

I may start on a more robust and balance rub recipe that will stand on it's own for some Memphis style ribs.

so many ribs so little time 

. I look forward to many wonderful rub recipe trials!

You may want to try turbinado sugar, it won't clump up like brown sugar. Also I found that using a spicy rub & a sweet sauce really make a good combo.

 

[frosty]

I think you can find it in most grocery stores as "Sugar in the Raw".

 

[dewetha]

I actually have some turbindaro sugar and used it on my last rib trial. I'm not sure i liked it as much. it was harder to control the rub coating

the thing with brown sugar is that it "melts" on the rib. i place brown sugar on the rib and let it setup so to speak and then add rub. I get a nice bark. the thing is the molasses in the brown sugar is what turn liquid like and really makes the rub stick.

one thought I had last night was to use the turbinado in the rub but use a coating. go back to a mustard rub or use something else like olive oil or molasses itself to help the rub stick.

I don't know if I want to do that yet. that might be a good idea when i do some Memphis style rub. 

can't wait to get this in a smoker soon. the raw taste test (a little on my finger says the heat will be there. my latest rib glaze #4 is very sweet. however it's not extremely flavorful. but I may be getting close to the flavor profile I want. most people in my area are use to the sauce being the big factor.

so I want to set them up with that sweetness, then let there taste buts get a burst of flavor from teh bark. then savor the smokey pork. then hopefully the heat from the cayenne will finsh off with a tingle. than they can enjoy the sweetness of the second bite all over.

that also part of the reason I am adding the sugar separately this time. I want the same amount of sugar but will use a different amount of rub on each half of the rack just to test how much heat is needed so rub test 2 can be more about balancing flavor and not heat.

it's like being 10yrs old and having my chemistry sets again :)

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds like your just having tooooo much fun!!!

 

[dewetha]

My first trial run with my spicy rub #1.

I used 2 racks cut in half. 2 halfs were a light dose of rub and two received a heavy dose. 1 light and 1 heavy are getting the foil. The other two are getting smoked longer and no foil. So I will have 4 separate taste tests J. The un-foiled ones will not get any bbq sauce. I want to see the rub flavor in each and compare to the two that have sauce. This will give me some idea of the flavors and where I want to take them next.

Rubbed and ready to go on the smoker in 10min or so:

Mopped every 30 mins, all 4 racks these two 2 ready for foil. Will be in for 90 mins

sauced:

Completed racks. Left to right (mopped with #2)

1.      Heavy rub ,mopped, no sauce

2.      Light rub, mopped, no sauce

3.      Heavy rub, mopped, sauce #4

4.      Light rub, mopped, sauce #5

Taste results:

               For this round number 1 is my winner. The heat was strong but I liked it. #2 was ok.

#3 and 4 were ok but I think my sauce #4 was too tangy and not sweet enough. Overall the sweet over heat flavor balance is almost there. The flavors didn’t work. # 1 has me thinking re-thinking some things I was looking at try to balance the rub,mop and glaze.

 I am now thinking that maybe with some tweaks to my mop sauce and no foil is the way to go.

Instead of a rib glaze, I can change my goal to have a dipping sauce on the side. Maybe I will now concentrate on a rib rub that stands alone and make my mop sauce a finished idea and my glaze into a sauce.

Or I make my mop more generic like some oil and apple juice. Not sure what to do but I think 3 complex things may be too much. 

back to the drawing board!

 

[bignick]

Gonna have to try some of these, nice job and thanks for sharing!

 

[dewetha]

another round of ribs to make this Sunday.

the plan:

heat at 225, chucks of hickory,apple,cherry for 2 hours

I am going to rub the rib down with EVO. add rub and let sit 1 hr or so while the smoker get warmed up and smoking.

let sit for about an hours. mop the ribs, take a pic and add more wood :)

mop every 30 min until they are about done then add finish sauce and smoke another 30 -60 mins.

wrap and let sit for 30-60mins.

the recipes:

		JD rib rub #2`
3	TBS	raw Sugar
3	TBS	kosher salt
3	TBS	paprika
1	TBS	cocoa
1	tsp	Chiplotle
1	tsp	cayenne 60k
1	tsp	ancho chile
1	tsp	ground mustard
2	tsp	garlic
2	tsp	black pepper
1	tsp	ground clove
1	tsp	white pepper

JD foil sauce #2

1/4  1/4 cup Jack Daniels

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup Honey

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 stick of butter

2 tbs Worcestershire

1 tbs vinegar

JD glaze sauce #5

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

1/4 cup JD

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup molasses

1oz soy

1 cup ketchup

3 tbs worchestershire

1 tbs apple Cider vinegar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

so far the mop sauce and finish sauce are in the ball park. probably will tweak this or that here and there over time but hoping the rub works out as a good baseline. do to one of my main guest having an allergy to onions, I made these without. however i think adding some onion to rub would be good.

the mop sauce seams to work ok. the glaze sauce may close enough to serve as is for a dipping sauce. still looking to get each part to stand on it's own but still blend together well.

Q-view and taste test results will follow tomorrow evening.

 

[sprky]

I am following this with great interest, as I love a good rib, and any thing with JD in it has got to be good. 

 awaiting the results

 

[dewetha]

Q'ing we will go a Q'ing we will go......

rub applied and ready for the smoker.

second application of mop about 2 hrs in.

2nd time sauced and back in for 30 more min

 

[dewetha]

taste test results are in. overall it's a keeper. a little tinkering here or there but nothing major.

The sauce is very sweet, would like to tone it down a little bit, but if you like Sweet it's good. So maybe I cut the cinnamon back a little to ¼ tsp an maybe just a little less honey. maybe add some vinegar back in.

The rub has a little heat that accumulates after a min. so a few ribs in and you really are getting the Sweet then a very low heat. Over all it’s the combo I am looking for. I would like it to be a little sooner and a pich stronger, so maybe a pinch more cayenne, But not too much. As the rub batch 1 was too much for an everyday RIB.

I can certainly make the rub spicy and the glaze more complex for even richer tastes. Overall this will be my baseline for my family and friends. Most don’t like too much spice so you have to cater to the guests J

So if anyone has nothing better to do try it and see if you like it. if you do and tweak it feel free to post back the recipe so I can try it.

 

[JckDanls 07]

ok.. so I have been following but got lost on what the final recipes are gonna be... could you post a final product please.. thanks.. this look totally sumptuous

 

[dewetha]

ok.. so I have been following but got lost on what the final recipes are gonna be... could you post a final product please.. thanks.. this look totally sumptuous

no problem. I ramble :) just go back 4 replies. 

 

[dewetha]

to day may be final test run. at some point good enough is good enough.

rub:

• 3 TBS sea salt -fine
• 3 TBS Hungarian paprika
• 1 TBS cocoa
• 1 tsp Chiplotle
• 1 tsp cayenne 60k
• 1 tsp ancho chile
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 2 tsp granulated garlic powder
• 2 tsp granulated onion powder
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground clove
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• added 8 table spoons of semi ground raw turbinado sugar

mop:

• 1/4 cup Jack Daniels
• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 3 tbs Worcestershire
• 1 tbs vinegar
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 2 tsp rub

glazing sauce:

• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/4 cup JD
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1oz soy
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 tbs worchestershire
• 1 tbs apple Cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

so here is the ribs getting ready. the stuff:

mix up sugar and rub.

on both sides, coat with oil

the put a good coat of rub over it all

here they are just before going into the smoker

smoked at 225 with apple mostly, a chunk of cherry and a little hickory. additional chunks will all be apple.

mopped as needed.

first coat of glaze. 30-60 mins left. the way these are trimmed, the pull back kind of comes off the bone length. very lean ribs from my butcher. from the top the pull back is like 1/8 inch but there is more happening underneath. 

i think i need to work on some techniques but it's about as good as it will get for this recipe. i will still tinker like maybe reduced the honey in the the glaze.and butter back in my mop. if i ever find a spray bottle that work worth the darn, i will be so happy!!

to tell if the ribs are done, I followed the Johnny Trigger tooth pick method. it is  much easier that the bend method when cooking a lot of racks at once.

just more tools and  experience under my belt. 10 months of trails and errors and the help of this board has produced some good Q. the next couple of years should be very interesting as i settle this down and produce consistent Q.

happy Smoking every one!

 

[dewetha]

succinct list of what I learned on cooking ribs

·         Preparation

o   Prepare meat

§  Trim excess meat/fat

§  Remove skin

o   Apply rub

§  Use a sticking agent

·        Over night? Maybe none

·        An hour before

o   none

o   Yellow mustard

o   Thinned out yellow mustard

o   EVO

o   Molasses

o   Brown sugar that has melted(about 10 mins)

§  apply rub over  sticky  agents.

·        If sticky agent sprinkle rub evenly

·        No agents, rub in

§  Multi layer applications

·        Apply sticky agent like evo or thin mustard

·        Apply low or no sugar rub

o   Let sit for 30 -60 min or overnight

·        Optional apply sticky agent like mustard

·        Add brown sugar             

·        Cooking methods

o   Foil methods. 3-2-1(spare) or 2-2-1(baby back) variable times to taste temperature and rib type.

§  1[sup]st[/sup] digit time in smoke

·        Thin blue smoke

·        Mopping/spritzing as required

·        Look for good pull back to determine next step.

§  2[sup]nd[/sup] digit time in foil

·        Add foil juice

§  3rd digit time in heat to firm

·        Can reduce to 5 min on a high heat grill

·        Apply sauce /glaze as required by taste

§  Time variance.

·        Let the meat tell you when it’s ready for each step

o   Lower fat ribs need less time in the smoke and less time in foil.

o   Higher tempo mean less time.

o   No foil

§  Mop frequently as needed

·        Using evo seams to allow 2 hrs before peaking at 225

§  when is it done?

·        Bend method

o   Id the rack flexes to 90 deg when picked up at 1/3 rd of the rack

·        Resistance(toothpick) method

o   Purely feel. Poke a tooth pick between ribs near the middle

§  Check after 2 hrs.

§  Smooth little resistance = sauce time.

§  No resistance = done.

·        Experience- a few trial and you will have it done

§  Apply and sauce as needed