Hey Y'all! Long time no see. Life... Amirite?! Anyway, I had some ribs that were needing cooked so I decided to play around a little. I wanted to try a few things. 3 racks of ribs in this Costco Pack so 3 flavors...
1. Traditional Wife Approved Ribs - Salt Lick Rub. 3-2-1 Trigg Style (Butter, Brown Sugar, Honey, and Tiger Sauce in the foil for the 2 hour wrap)
2. A blend of Pitfaced BBQ On Point and Spicy Meat Massage
3. A Spicy and Sweet experiment I've had in my head to try. Sriracha as a binder, combo of rubs (real l with extra Black Pepper and future glaze
Rack 1:
Rack 2:
Rack 3:
Decided to use the Ranch Kettle with the snake method. Pecan Chunks and Cherry Pellets in the smoke tube. Aimed for 225°F-250°F
Pic below goes Rack 2,1,3. I kept moving stuff to avoid hot spots.
Rotation to 3,2,1 and Spritzed with plain water
We were getting hungry and decided that we wanted Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake. Then we decided we were adults and we wanted whipped butter cream for the topping... This stuff never gets old!
Recipe Here
Now came the part to make a finishing Glaze for the Sriracha Rack. I wanted to incorporate some high proof whiskey and decided on 133.7 proof Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof... rolls right off the tongue! I started with equal parts Whiskey, Sriracha, Honey, and Brown Sugar. I only heated for 10 seconds to just combine. I added just a touch more Brown Sugar to thicken. probably a 2:1:1:1 Ratio all said and done
This stuff is amazing! Sweet, heat, and a back end high proof burn! I could've eaten this on shoe leather!
Lack of pics here but here's the gist:
Rack 1 Traditional got double foil wrapped with Butter, Brown Sugar, Honey, and Tiger Sauce. Trigg Style.
Rack 2 got single layer butcher paper wrapped as is. just to slow smoke absorption.
Rack 3 got single butcher paper wrapped as is.
About 2 hours later I pulled all racks and resumed smoking nekkid.
Rack 3 (Spicy) got the above glaze
Rack 2 and 1 got brushed with foil juices from Rack 1
I did the glaze and brushing about 30 minutes after removing from wraps and then again as I pulled them another 15-30 minutes later.
Rack 3, 1, 2
One more time cause I was STOKED with how they tuned out!
Final Thoughts:
Rack 1 - Traditional - These are the ribs that the wife likes and requests. A solid go to in my opinion. Wife was very happy.
Rack 2 - Pitfaced Mix - Nice balance of sweet and little spice. very tame and would be a crowd pleaser for sure
Rack 3 - Sriracha Rack - Wow! Did this ever hit the spot I was aiming for! I didn't want a "wet" rib. I wanted a tacky sticky glaze rib and I think I got it. The looks... Damn I'm proud! I stared at these ribs forever outside. The wife rolled her eyes as usual haha. Upon first bite the sugar and honey are upfront. Tacky and sweet. An amped up Rack 2. Not cloyingly sweet but a good spot. Then the black pepper comes in for an almost Texas style flavor that gets married with some heat. The Sriracha says hello. This is where the wife and I differ. After a few bites she said it was too spicy. Not unbearable or unable to finish hot, but you knew the intention of this rack. I made it 3 bones in and then I developed that cool neck and forehead sweat. Not dominant, but a nice tingle. The smoke flavor mingles in throughout and helps balance the heat with the sugar and honey. There is a slight aftertaste of the whiskey. like a muted high proof burn you get after swallowing some whiskey. It might just be imagination and my mind looking for it, but it may be there on the back end. I ate half this rack now and no regrets.
Overall I was ecstatic with the results of the Sriracha rack and will be doing again! Possibly Sambal for the binder next time. This is what I wanted to use but was out. I had the seed planted so I rolled with Sriracha. I'm not a pepper head or spice chaser but this was a great spot. The wife is definitely not a fan of super spicy but she was a trooper and enjoyed it but in moderation of 1 rib.
I think the real balance here would be to not use Sriracha as a binder and just use the glaze. I'm not sure how much heat came from that or if it was all the glaze but maybe I'll experiment more in the future. All I know is I've got some Pork Belly that is waiting for this glaze soon!
Hope everyone is doing great in these times and if you're looking for something to spice up the rib game, I recommend playing around and seeing what you can come up with.
Cheers Y'all and wash your hands.
