mop, baste & brush?

[llmc]

I'm obviously new to this. What is the difference between mopping, and brushing? I know pretty much what basting is. Is it just in the way it's applied? Can you mop with a thick KC style sauce on ribs, or is that brushing?

Confused in PA

By the way, doing my first rack of ribs today and will post some qview later.

 

[3montes]

While I am certainly no authority on the subject I would say mopping and brushing are similar if not the same technique. However I do not think you mop with a thick style bbq sauce. Most folks here if they use bbq sauce at all on ribs do not apply the sauce to the ribs untill the last half hour or so of cooking. Long enough for the sauce to carmelize. Or serve the sauce on the side. Popular beleif is and mine as well, is good ribs do not need sauce.

Mopping is done with a sauce that is applied several times during the cooking process. Your meat bastes in the sauce during cooking. If you put alot of effort into using a rub mopping somewhat defeats this by removing much of the rub by mopping. I spritz ribs with apple juice during the cooking process. This keeps the rub intact and only the juice comes in contact with the meat.
If you go to Wal Mart and go the the travel or trial size section of the toothpaste area you will find small spray bottles. That is what I use for spritzing.

Hope this helps and I am sure you will hear from others as well. Good luck on your ribs!!

 

[bigsteve]

Agree with pretty much everything 3monte has to say. The baste, or "mop" you use while cooking is generally much thinner than BBQ sauce. Some spritz from a spray bottle, I use a basting brush, but dab the meat with it. If you look at BBQ accessories, you'll actually see a small "mop" that can be used. It looks just like a regular mop you use to clean the floor, except of course, it's only something like 8-12 inches long.

 

[richoso1]

What he said.

 

[llmc]

Thank you for the input. I am going to make a sauce and do as suggested. I think I'll put a little on at about the last hour and then leave the rest for the side. I may even separate out a few bones with no sauce and see what they're like. I've never really had ribs without sauce, so it's not something we do, but then I've never smoked 'em before. Here's a few shots at the start.

Will post more pics in a few hours or so.

 

[bman62526]

One more thought on the subject...

Like mentioned above, mopping (same as spritzing or spraying) is done with something thinner in consistency than brushing, which is typically used to describe putting on a sauce or a glaze.

If your want to mop - and you also like using a dry rub, don't mop for the first 90 minutes and you shouldn't have too much trouble with your rub washing off. After 1 1/2 - 2 hours, the rub is pretty well set.

Also - if you DO want to mop or spritz w/ a bottle....it's a good idea to heat up the mop a tad bit - so it doesn't cool the surface of the meat too much when you apply it...after all - the goal is to cook, not cool

Just my two cents...

 

[meatball]

I would suggest eating at least a few bones (maybe a rack?) with no sauce - you'll probably be won over to the no sauce rib camp! Looks like you have a good rub on those bones. IMO, if you have a good rub and get a good smoke on the ribs, they don't need anything else.

 

[bigsteve]

Absoluetly, try it both ways. Around here, ribs just ain't ribs unless there is enough sauce on them to make a big mess. But that's us........

 

[mballi3011]

I think you mite have just a word problem. Some call it mopping and some call it spritzing it's usually a thin liquid such as apple juice and liquir of some sorts. there are as many spritzs as there are smokers. Sauces are maybe BBq sauce and that I would wait till maybe an hour or less for that. So I hope that helped.