Smoked Spare Ribs Experiment

[SGMan]

Today I am doing a couple of racks of pork spare ribs.

Normally when I do these I use the 3-2-1 (or maybe even the 2-2-1) method for cooking them. They were both hit with some Cosmos dirty bird and cow cover (because I was lazy and it was what I had on hand)

Now, here comes the 'experimentation' part. Normally when I wrap my ribs for the (2) they go into foil with apple juice or apple cider vinegar and brown sugar etc... This time I was inspired by a brisket hack that Mad Scientist BBQ did where he applied (smoked wagyu) tallow to the butcher paper and placed it meat side down before wrapping and putting back in the smoker.

I happen to have come across a jar of rendered bacon (or some pork) fat from my local grocery store.
I plan to try this method on my spares when I wrap and I will be interested to see what sort of difference it will make on the cook.

Ill keep you all posted (and try to remember to get some pics up!)

Happy smoking!

 

[kilo charlie]

Remember that pork fat has a lower melting point than beef fat and while it may help the ribs... there will be more fat to leak out when you open the foil.

Instead of buying bacon fat, you can make your own by cooking bacon in the oven on a wire rack in a sheet pan. Let the bacon fat fall into the pan below then remove it and filter it and pour it into a far for uses in all sorts of things. I recommend a wide mouth short mason jar so you can scoop it out when needed.

 

[SGMan]

Thanks for the tips - TbH when I do my bacon, I throw it in the oven on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. This allows the bacon to 'fry in its own fat' as its being cooked by the oven. It also makes clean up a breeze.
As much as I *should* save my bacon grease I have a confession to make... I haven't been...
From this next bacon batch forward, I plan to :D

And for this cook, I plan to use pink butcher paper as opposed to foil for the wrap. Im prepared for the juiciness of the meat when I pull it - hopefully I prepare adequately!

 

[kilo charlie]

I run my bacon fat through a coffee filter to keep all the unwanted bits out of it.. when it cools down and solidifies it will be pure white. You can use it in place of lard such as frying potatoes or in this case you'll have a good supply for using on the wrapped ribs.

I'm curious if the butcher paper will actually pull fat away from the meat since it's kinda sorta absorbent? Something you can report back about?

 

[SGMan]

Indeed, going to be interesting to say the least LOL.

Laid out the paper and put down a generous portion of fat, then put the ribs meat side down on the paper/fat and drizzled some more fat on the bone side.

Wrapped them up and put them in meat side down this time for the next couple of hours. Ill report back when I pull and unwrap to sauce them for the final hour :)

 

[SGMan]

Still in the wrap for at least another 30.

Just 'doctored' up my BBQ glaze that will be going on them for the final hour.

Started off by reducing some rye whiskey that has been in my cabinet for a good long while now. Once it was reduced enough, I added some of my wife's favorite hot sauce, and a little bit of apple cider vinegar - before I added my sugar free BBQ sauce (keto) and cooked it over low heat for a couple more minutes.

I will admit that I had to lick the spoon more than once 'just to be sure'. But I think its going to be delicious!

 

[SGMan]

Just pulled them from the paper wrap, and yes they were greasy/juicy but that was expected (not too bad though)

They have been glazed and are in there waiting to hit the finish line before I get to sample them.

Guess this is going to be tonights 'snack' as I have already eaten dinner :p

 

[Winterrider]

They sure look tasty.

 

[Hamdrew]

i have been using some coconut oil in addition to fake butter (and then flavorings). Really seems to help absorb all that goodness, and leave me with more drippings to glaze with and save for future cooks requiring bacon fat

 

[SGMan]

They sure look tasty.

And they were.

Taste test complete and while they were 'delicious' - I think I am going to chalk this up to one of the 'experiments' category. The end pieces were noticeably more juicy (and less dry-ish) The rest of it was juicy(ish) but nothing like I had expected. The meat was still pullish and not fall of the bone like we normally like.

I attribute this to the fact that I ran this smoke at 225 - 235. I could have easily gotten away with a higher temp in seeing that I used pork fat to help with moisture.

There were many variables here, but I feel that the consensus was adding more pork fat didn't really enhance the overall experience like I had hoped.

At least it wasn't botched and we will have meals for the next few days! :D