Spare Ribs, Twice Smoked Potato and Smoked Bacon Wrapped Corn
Ok... probably going to be a long post. Thanks in advance for making it all the way through.
First.. the money shot..
I prefer Spare Ribs to begin with and with the crazy prices happening all around I picked up a rack for $1.94 a pound at the Walmart.
Lots of posts and questions about wrapping the ribs and people using Beef Tallow on the butcher paper.
My first task was triming the ribs, seasoning them with 2 to 1 Black Pepper and Kosher Salt, with Granulated Garlic, Granulated Onion, Chili Powder and for color some Paprika.
While the ribs got started in the smoker, I pulled out a sheet pan and wire rack and put on some thick cut bacon and also put that in the smoker.
After the bacon was in for around an hour I pulled the pan and drained the bacon grease out of the pan into a bowl.
I cut a few pieces of the bacon in half to use in a side project for lunch (Bacon Wrapped Scallops-but that's a different story)
At the 2 hour mark I broke out the butcher paper and poured the bacon grease on the paper and put the ribs on the paper and wrapped it up tight and back in the smoker for 2 more hours (more on this in a bit)
Meanwhile, a couple of Russet Potatoes were cleaned, coated in Oilve Oil and sprinkled with Kosher Salt and a metal skewer inserted through them.
(My theory is the metal skewer helps the potatoes cook a little faster in the smoker because of the lower temps).
At the 4 hour total mark I pulled the ribs... I knew right away they were over done just because of how limp the butcher paper was.
Now here's my problem with adding bacon grease or tallow to the butcher paper.. it literally soaker up all the fat from the ribs and the bacon grease that I added and it was drenched. This made a freaking mess. I was wearing gloves of course and put the ribs on a sheet pan but it was still messy as heck.
The bark looked good.. they were just falling apart.
The other issue is the bacon grease basically crisped up the bark so much that any attempt to cut it just resulted in it tearing the bark all to heck..
Back to the good stuff.. the potatoes were pulled and hollowed out .. the inside were put in a bowl and some Ranch Dip Mixed Sour Cream, butter, chopped up bacon, cheese and a bit of left over rub were all mixed together.
The potato mixture was put in a Ziploc bag and with the corner cut off the potato mixture was piped back into the potato skins.
I thought this cheese was interesting so I used it in the potatoes.
The corn was easy... just a fresh ear, shucked, wrapped in bacon with a few sliced Jalapeños under the bacon and put in the smoker ... I didn't grab any real pictures of that process.
Anyway.. the verdict.. I won't be adding bacon grease or beef tallow to wrap ribs in.
Ok... probably going to be a long post. Thanks in advance for making it all the way through.
First.. the money shot..
I prefer Spare Ribs to begin with and with the crazy prices happening all around I picked up a rack for $1.94 a pound at the Walmart.
Lots of posts and questions about wrapping the ribs and people using Beef Tallow on the butcher paper.
My first task was triming the ribs, seasoning them with 2 to 1 Black Pepper and Kosher Salt, with Granulated Garlic, Granulated Onion, Chili Powder and for color some Paprika.
While the ribs got started in the smoker, I pulled out a sheet pan and wire rack and put on some thick cut bacon and also put that in the smoker.
After the bacon was in for around an hour I pulled the pan and drained the bacon grease out of the pan into a bowl.
I cut a few pieces of the bacon in half to use in a side project for lunch (Bacon Wrapped Scallops-but that's a different story)
At the 2 hour mark I broke out the butcher paper and poured the bacon grease on the paper and put the ribs on the paper and wrapped it up tight and back in the smoker for 2 more hours (more on this in a bit)
Meanwhile, a couple of Russet Potatoes were cleaned, coated in Oilve Oil and sprinkled with Kosher Salt and a metal skewer inserted through them.
(My theory is the metal skewer helps the potatoes cook a little faster in the smoker because of the lower temps).
At the 4 hour total mark I pulled the ribs... I knew right away they were over done just because of how limp the butcher paper was.
Now here's my problem with adding bacon grease or tallow to the butcher paper.. it literally soaker up all the fat from the ribs and the bacon grease that I added and it was drenched. This made a freaking mess. I was wearing gloves of course and put the ribs on a sheet pan but it was still messy as heck.
The bark looked good.. they were just falling apart.
The other issue is the bacon grease basically crisped up the bark so much that any attempt to cut it just resulted in it tearing the bark all to heck..
Back to the good stuff.. the potatoes were pulled and hollowed out .. the inside were put in a bowl and some Ranch Dip Mixed Sour Cream, butter, chopped up bacon, cheese and a bit of left over rub were all mixed together.
The potato mixture was put in a Ziploc bag and with the corner cut off the potato mixture was piped back into the potato skins.
I thought this cheese was interesting so I used it in the potatoes.
The corn was easy... just a fresh ear, shucked, wrapped in bacon with a few sliced Jalapeños under the bacon and put in the smoker ... I didn't grab any real pictures of that process.
Anyway.. the verdict.. I won't be adding bacon grease or beef tallow to wrap ribs in.
