Thread: Ribs, ribs ribs. Beef ribs, pork ribs, spare ribs, asian style ribs. Wet or dry.

I cannot believe there isn't a "Ribs" thread. 'S'go. Get your rib on here.

After years of trying to figure it out I hit the jackpot when someone told me - Montgomery Inn (Cincinnati) style ribs, fast, easy and always just right if you like ribs not too greasy and falling off the bone. There is no one "best" way to prepare ribs but, for me, this is as tasty as they get, fast, foolproof and mess-free.

1. Take a slab (or slabs) of pork ribs and rinse it off. Wash your hands.
2. With some kind of BBQ tool put ribs on a medium-hot grill for 25 minutes then turn and repeat.
3. While the second turn is cooking get two big pieces of heavy duty foil per slab; and
4. cover the rib contact-patch-to-be on one piece of foil with your favorite BBQ sauce or other wet/semi wet seasonings.
5. put the half-cooked, once turned ribs face-down on the foil in the sauce.
6. Apply an identical amount of sauce on the top (bone) side.
7. Wrap the mess up tight and tightly rewrap with the second piece of foil.
8. Return the wrapped ribs to the grill and cook as before - 25 minutes per side.
9. Remove from grill and remove the foil - be careful about steam burns.
10. Put the ribs on a platter and the foil in the recyle bin.
10. Hands still clean, eat perfect falling off the bone ribs.

While the cooking is going on do not mess with the slab - just set a timer and let it be. Do not blanche, par-boil or tenderize/marinate the meat. Been doing exactly this for years. Always just the way I like them. If you want a trial run, go to the Mongomery Inn(s) in Montgomery or Cincinnati, OH, or Ginopolis BBQ, Farmington and Plymouth, MI. Be sure to get a side of Saratoga Chips.

Many ways to do ribs,I used to work at one of the best rib places in silicone valley,Henrys Hi life in San Jose.
Lay your ribs on the counter,with a catfish skinner remove all the fell (the membrane),slit the ribs half thru.
sprinkle heavily with fresh ground pepper,kosher salt, a little MSG
put in garbage bag overnight inthe fridge.
Cook over oakwood,use the sauce of your choice during the last 10 mins on the grill,worst thing you can do is to use yourBBQ sauce to earley
is all tomato based,you burn it your ribs are toast.

Nice!!

These are marinated for a day in Italian Dressing, beer, pickle brine, touch of soy and some special spices. Grill for 2 hours flipping as necessary and basting with the marinate on turns. Sweet Baby Rays applied on the last 4 turns or so. Cover with foil for 15 minutes and then you're ready to make a mess!!

Oh, I'm going to watch this thread!!!

MrMoo that sounds good. I'll have to try that.

My favorite way is to buy a large tin, disposable baking dish. Brown the ribs over charcoal for about twenty minutes each side. Place the tin dish on the grill add one part bbq sauce to four parts water. More bbq sauce if you want it thicker. Cover the top with foil and/add water to keep the ribs covered. Let the ribs cook several hours until the charcoal is done.

Careful!!! It will be very difficult to get the ribs out without them falling apart!

A great way to do it if you have chores to do until lunch or dinner time. The only trick is make sure the ribs stay covered with liquid.

Yum. Ribs.

Some overlooked ribs,we cook a 6 rib prime rib once a year over the holidays.
You cut the ribs off prior to slicing the meat (at least I do) put the ribs in the fridge for a couple days,baste them,put them on the que for about 10 mins, to die for,I call them dinosaur bones

Thanks for this thread. I too will be watching this. I'll take tender pork ribs over a steak any day of the year. Ribs are pretty much my favorite food. Rib purists and rib competitors apparently say falling off the bone tender is not correct. I guess I'm not correct when it comes to ribs because I like them falling off the bone tender.

The cartilage on the end of the rib tips? Mmmmmmmm. Crunch away! Love it.

ChrisL

Ribs, now we're talkin'! I got an Akorn Kamado grill/smoker for Father's Day, and since I have the summer off as a high school teacher, I've been learning to smoke low and slow on it for real southern barbecue. I've smoked/barbecued chicken, boston butt, numerous rib racks, and even a 14-lb. packer beef brisket, and all got rave reviews. If you envy your neighbor's Big Green Egg and want to cook that way, but don't have $800-1000 to drop on one, get a Char-GrillerAkorn from Lowe's, WallyWorld, HomeDepot, or Amazon-they're everywhere now, and usually sell for around $300. MY neighbor with the Egg says my barbecue cooks are better than his!

Anyway, my ribs have been getting rave reviews from family and friends, and here is what I do for the spare rib racks I generally cook:
-Trim and rinse, pat dry
-run hot water over the membrane, then peel off using a butter knife or similar
-slather with oil or mustard (optional-some say it helps the rub stick better)
-rub with a Memphis-style dry rub and let sit in plastic wrap overnight. Google this-the recipes are all over the internet, and can be easily made in a few minutes. Tweak to suit your tastes.
-prep a low-n-slow fire on your smoker (or indirect on your Webber kettle or other charcoal grill). Incidentally, I tried "smoking" on a gas grill for years with mixed results, and not nearly as tasty, but certainly less messy and more convenient. I smoke over Royal Oak lump with a few handfuls of hickory chips and usually a couple of chunks of apple or cherry wood. Wait for that "thin blue/sweet smoke" and for your temps to settle into the 225-250ish range. (This can take some fiddling with vents to get right, but they are usually almost all the way closed, at least on kamado-style smokers).
-Put the ribs on for at least 4 hours while you do yardwork, honey-do list, fritter away time on SRP, whatever. If your temps are right and your grill is settled in, LEAVE IT ALONE! (As hardcore smokers say, "If you're looking, you ain't cooking!"). Non-kamado/ceramic smokers will often spritz/mop/wrap in foil, or have to add charcoal or chips from time to time, but none of that is necessary on an Akorn. I can get over 30 hours of smoking out of 1 full firebowl if I need to, they are so efficient. It is truly almost a "set-it and forget it" deal, and my Maverick T-733 dual-probe remote thermometer helps with that.

-When your ribs have pulled back about half an inch from the bone on the ends, and the bones start to twist easily in their channels, start checking for doneness. They should bend/crack in the middle when you hold one end up with tongs, and a toothpick inserted at multiple points should go in 'like butter."
-Once my ribs are "done," I like to sauce them with a scrumptious red sauce I make that is the perfect combination of tangy, sweet, and heat. Everybody who tries it says it's the best sauce they've ever tried. Here it is:
The Perfect Red Sauce for Ribs and Chicken
I have been tinkering with this sauce for years, and it is a little different every time I make it, but all who try it seem to love it better than any commercial sauce!
Ingredients
• 2 tbsp. corn oil
• 2 fat garlic cloves (more if you like garlic!)
• 1 medium sweet yellow onion, Vidalia or similar
• 2 cups good ketchup (Hunts or Heinz)
• 1 or 2 tbsp. good dark honey*
• 1 or 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar*
• 1 shot of bourbon* (optional)
• 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar*
• Dash of liquid smoke*
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce*
• Red pepper flakes*
• Chili powder*
• Black pepper*
• Cracked sea salt*
• Liquid heat (Texas Pete or whatever you like)*
Directions:
1. In a cast-iron skillet, heat up a couple tablespoons of oil until hot while you finely chop the onions and garlic. Fry up until lightly browned (you could certainly sub in powdered onions/garlic if you want more concentrated flavor and less texture, in which case you could sip the oil). Cover with lid to “sweat/wilt” them for a few minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
2. Add the ketchup and vinegar, and then all the other ingredients as you cook the sauce on low, stirring and scraping frequently with a spatula to keep the sauce from sticking to the pot.
Tips: *All asterisked ingredients are more or less to taste, as I haven’t standardized the measurements. I just keep adding, stirring, and tasting. I like a LOT of chili powder and black pepper, but I just keep all spices near the pan, adding slowly until the sauce is perfect. For me, that’s the perfect balance of tangy and sweet, with some good heat-that “something for everybody” is what makes this sauce such a crowd-pleaser. If it gets too thick or one element seems to overpower (sweet, hot, or tangy), just add water as you keep stirring and adjusting to suit.
This sauce is best if you let it sit overnight in the fridge to develop.
Feel free to add in some paprika, cumin, mustard powder, or whatever else you think will improve this sauce. If you really do something radical that you think makes it better, let me know so I can try it!-

-Let them smoke another half-hour or so to caramelize the sauce. Careful if you're grilling over a hot fire or direct coals, as it will burn right up within a few minutes!

I promise you this recipe will yield tender, juicy ribs with delicious, exploding flavors and a nice smoke ring, like this!


Well,, I gotta go to bed. I've got a 10-pound pok butt rubbed and in the fridge that needs to go on early in the morning, as it will probably take 12-15 hours to smoke!

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Some overlooked ribs,we cook a 6 rib prime rib once a year over the holidays... ...I call them dinosaur bones

That is so funny. I used to do a lot of work with IBP/Dakota City, NE, and that often involved lunch or dinner in town. I was invited to join a bunch going out for ribs one day but, not feeling very hungry and unable to carry anything out for later, I asked how big the slab was and one of the guys said, ""Oh, I dunno... maybe three or four ribs." So I though, "Ah. No problem." and tagged along. The plate at this joint was about like a clearing- or serving tray and the three beef ribs that hung over each end of the platter... wtf, I'd never seen anything like it. I just remember thinking, "I must be in The Flintstones."

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Thanks for this thread. I too will be watching this. I'll take tender pork ribs over a steak any day of the year. Ribs are pretty much my favorite food. Rib purists and rib competitors apparently say falling off the bone tender is not correct. I guess I'm not correct when it comes to ribs because I like them falling off the bone tender.

I came from a dry-rub family and that was the way I always made ribs until I moved to Cincinnati. Living just a five minute walk from The Montgomery Inn I used to go there often and got totally hooked on their style of bone-falling ribs. Fringe bennie for me is, practically no effort to cook or clean up and everybody likes them, especially me.

So many ways to get your rib on. None wrong.