Been so busy the last couple weeks smoking other peoples food I nearly forgot what it's like to sit back toss a few beers back and smoke some treats for myself and good friends. Not to say I didn't eat good, I did a turkey and 48 brats for my bro's graduation, and 10 slabs of spare's for a friends aunt's birthday. But it doesn't feel the same when it's "other peoples food". Since we had five extra racks of spares left that we couldn't finish in time for the party it seemed like a perfect time to re-hone my skills. Good thing too since only half the people invited to the party showed up, that would have been a bit of a waste!
My roommate picked up a couple racks of Baby Backs and I cherry picked the two best slabs out of the five we had left from the previous smoke. They may be the smallest weighing in at 4.9 and 4.98 but they look too symmetrical to pass up or even trim! Membrane came off easy and I dusted the bottom with kosher salt, CBP and a Spicecraft BBQ rub I get from my butcher. The top got a similar treatment of kosher and CBP and lots of dark brown sugar instead of the rub. My roommate went with straight Apple Hickory Rub that his fiance got from the Boy Scouts.
I actually applied the brown sugar and everything to one of the racks before I went to bed the previous night. You can see it here in the middle where all the sugar has vanished into it's new pork resting place.
I kept it going right on 225 the first hour before spritzing started, we used equal parts of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. I figured after doing 10 racks right on the grill at 225 for five hours recently I'd change it up and do the BBs 2-2-1 and the spares 3-2-1. Here they are just before the foil.
We're pretty big apple cider vinegar fans here so I thought that the same mix we used for a spritz would make a good mop. Equal parts and 1 cup poured over all racks before returning to the smoker.
The Baby Backs nearly didn't make it back onto the smoker as they were getting very tender from the time spent in the foil.
Hence the missing pictures of them, I was a bit more concerned about getting them back on in one piece rather than documenting their tenderness, you'll just have to take my word on that...
After a short rest I pulled the BBs out of the cooler and pulled the spares to rest as they were done after 25 minutes on the hot side of the smoker. The Baby Backs pretty much were demolished immediately and gave us time to let the Spares rest, after 15 minutes I thought I might get maimed if I didn't pull those suckers out and start cutting!
Again no pictures of the elusive Baby Back during cutting, but you can see a couple on the pan here. They were tasty!
Overall, probably the best ribs I've ever had. I think letting one rack rest overnight with the sugar on it was the way to go, as they had a light sweetness all the way through with a little vinegar bite and a perfect amount of pepper! They were sweet and savory for sure!
Thanks for looking! There's always more coming! I'm just running out of ideas to smoke! I'm thinking brisket next!
My roommate picked up a couple racks of Baby Backs and I cherry picked the two best slabs out of the five we had left from the previous smoke. They may be the smallest weighing in at 4.9 and 4.98 but they look too symmetrical to pass up or even trim! Membrane came off easy and I dusted the bottom with kosher salt, CBP and a Spicecraft BBQ rub I get from my butcher. The top got a similar treatment of kosher and CBP and lots of dark brown sugar instead of the rub. My roommate went with straight Apple Hickory Rub that his fiance got from the Boy Scouts.
I actually applied the brown sugar and everything to one of the racks before I went to bed the previous night. You can see it here in the middle where all the sugar has vanished into it's new pork resting place.
I kept it going right on 225 the first hour before spritzing started, we used equal parts of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. I figured after doing 10 racks right on the grill at 225 for five hours recently I'd change it up and do the BBs 2-2-1 and the spares 3-2-1. Here they are just before the foil.
We're pretty big apple cider vinegar fans here so I thought that the same mix we used for a spritz would make a good mop. Equal parts and 1 cup poured over all racks before returning to the smoker.
The Baby Backs nearly didn't make it back onto the smoker as they were getting very tender from the time spent in the foil.
Hence the missing pictures of them, I was a bit more concerned about getting them back on in one piece rather than documenting their tenderness, you'll just have to take my word on that...
After a short rest I pulled the BBs out of the cooler and pulled the spares to rest as they were done after 25 minutes on the hot side of the smoker. The Baby Backs pretty much were demolished immediately and gave us time to let the Spares rest, after 15 minutes I thought I might get maimed if I didn't pull those suckers out and start cutting!
Overall, probably the best ribs I've ever had. I think letting one rack rest overnight with the sugar on it was the way to go, as they had a light sweetness all the way through with a little vinegar bite and a perfect amount of pepper! They were sweet and savory for sure!
Thanks for looking! There's always more coming! I'm just running out of ideas to smoke! I'm thinking brisket next!
