I've been out of town for two weeks and couldn't wait to get home to fire up the smoker! For some of you ol' timers, this is going to just be another rib posting but I thought might help some of us still searching for the answers.
I've done ribs almost every weekend for about 3 months and I've been struggling each time trying to find just what has been missing. I've basically used a modified 3-2-1 since the beginning of this journey but I haven't attempted to use a glaze yet. Well, after much reading and putting together a combination of idea's others have posted I put one together and POW, we're almost there! These were some of the best tasting I've made to date!
My modification of the 3-2-1 was 3.5 - 1 hr 10 min - 1, with no spritzing. The ribs had a little toughness to them (which I do like a little tug), but I'm not sure if it was from not spritzing or going 3 1/2 hours in the first phase, overall not spritzing didn't seem to have any negative appearance effect with a chamber temp near a constant 225*. The primary reason I didn't spritz was because I didn't have time to run to the store for some additional apple juice and needed what I had for the foiling phase. The wife ask that I go back to the falling off the bone type, although between her and my son we scarffed down these 2 racks in a matter of minutes! lol
I trimmed the ribs St Louis style and I slathered them up with mustard and Jeff's Rib Rub. Then topped them off with brown sugar and let set on the counter until everything was melted (about 45 minutes).
Again, maintained a pretty steady chamber temp of 225* along with some hickory chunks and honey with apple juice in the water pan. At the 3 1/2 hour mark I pulled the ribs and foiled for 1 hour and 10 minutes. When I foiled I pulled off about 6 feet of heavy duty foil and folded it in half creating a boat to keep the apple juice in. After placing a slab in the foil I poured just over a 1/2 cup of apple juice in the foil and wrapped the foil up tight. Back into the smoker for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
After pulling and unwrapping the foil it was back into the smoker for another hour to firm the ribs back up. After almost 45 minutes I went ahead and applied my glaze with a brush (think I'm going to buy a mopped) and closed the smoker up for another 15 minutes to fire the glaze.
Glaze Recipe
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup of Jeff's BBQ Sauce Recipe
8 oz of honey (about 1 cup)
1/4 teaspoon plus a little extra cayenne pepper
Initially I put the butter in the pan to melt, then added the honey. Once I got that blended/heated nicely I added Jeff's BBQ Sauce and the cayenne pepper. Bringing things to a slight boil, whisk, pulled from heat, covered and let set until it was time to heat back up before applying.
When applying the glaze I flipped the ribs over bone side up and covered lightly, flipped them back over and put a nice light coating of the glaze on the meat side and closed the smoker up for about 15 minutes. Once I pulled the ribs, I placed them in a foil pan and covered tightly with foil to let the ribs rest 1/2 hour before slicing.
The glaze had a slight sweetness but the cayenne pepper and combination of Jeff's BBQ Sauce Recipe gave it a nice flavor that wasn't hot but complimented the taste nicely. The wife loved them so they were not spicy hot or she'd have not touched them. lol
Next time I think I'll cut the phase 1 time back to 3 hours, foil for 1 1/2 hours and then an additional 1 hour or until they ribs pass the bend test (lift with tongs from one end and if the meat splits they're done). (Sorry I broke the LED screen on my camera so I wasn't able to get any good close ups.)
Got up at 4 this morning to get this butt going for some pulled pork later today. Hope you all have a great Labor Day holiday!
I've done ribs almost every weekend for about 3 months and I've been struggling each time trying to find just what has been missing. I've basically used a modified 3-2-1 since the beginning of this journey but I haven't attempted to use a glaze yet. Well, after much reading and putting together a combination of idea's others have posted I put one together and POW, we're almost there! These were some of the best tasting I've made to date!
My modification of the 3-2-1 was 3.5 - 1 hr 10 min - 1, with no spritzing. The ribs had a little toughness to them (which I do like a little tug), but I'm not sure if it was from not spritzing or going 3 1/2 hours in the first phase, overall not spritzing didn't seem to have any negative appearance effect with a chamber temp near a constant 225*. The primary reason I didn't spritz was because I didn't have time to run to the store for some additional apple juice and needed what I had for the foiling phase. The wife ask that I go back to the falling off the bone type, although between her and my son we scarffed down these 2 racks in a matter of minutes! lol
I trimmed the ribs St Louis style and I slathered them up with mustard and Jeff's Rib Rub. Then topped them off with brown sugar and let set on the counter until everything was melted (about 45 minutes).
Again, maintained a pretty steady chamber temp of 225* along with some hickory chunks and honey with apple juice in the water pan. At the 3 1/2 hour mark I pulled the ribs and foiled for 1 hour and 10 minutes. When I foiled I pulled off about 6 feet of heavy duty foil and folded it in half creating a boat to keep the apple juice in. After placing a slab in the foil I poured just over a 1/2 cup of apple juice in the foil and wrapped the foil up tight. Back into the smoker for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
After pulling and unwrapping the foil it was back into the smoker for another hour to firm the ribs back up. After almost 45 minutes I went ahead and applied my glaze with a brush (think I'm going to buy a mopped) and closed the smoker up for another 15 minutes to fire the glaze.
Glaze Recipe
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup of Jeff's BBQ Sauce Recipe
8 oz of honey (about 1 cup)
1/4 teaspoon plus a little extra cayenne pepper
Initially I put the butter in the pan to melt, then added the honey. Once I got that blended/heated nicely I added Jeff's BBQ Sauce and the cayenne pepper. Bringing things to a slight boil, whisk, pulled from heat, covered and let set until it was time to heat back up before applying.
When applying the glaze I flipped the ribs over bone side up and covered lightly, flipped them back over and put a nice light coating of the glaze on the meat side and closed the smoker up for about 15 minutes. Once I pulled the ribs, I placed them in a foil pan and covered tightly with foil to let the ribs rest 1/2 hour before slicing.
The glaze had a slight sweetness but the cayenne pepper and combination of Jeff's BBQ Sauce Recipe gave it a nice flavor that wasn't hot but complimented the taste nicely. The wife loved them so they were not spicy hot or she'd have not touched them. lol
Next time I think I'll cut the phase 1 time back to 3 hours, foil for 1 1/2 hours and then an additional 1 hour or until they ribs pass the bend test (lift with tongs from one end and if the meat splits they're done). (Sorry I broke the LED screen on my camera so I wasn't able to get any good close ups.)
Got up at 4 this morning to get this butt going for some pulled pork later today. Hope you all have a great Labor Day holiday!
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