USVI-On-Line

Ok Ron L and all you food porn lovers (you know who you are!)I need your best spare rib recipe. How you cook them, how many hours, favorite sauce-I want it all.

To everyone a very, happy memorial day weekend. Time to remember, reflect and honor those who risked their lives to protect us and our country.

Hey Naturegirl - I agree about remembering the reason for Memorial day - lets not forget our men and women overseas -whether we agree with the war or not. I help lead a group that sends care packages overseas and we just packed 53 boxes last night in appreciation.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

(I'll take those rib recipes too!)

and let's remember all the families of our soldiers who must sacrafice every day without there loved ones. Missing them and praying that there husband/wife/child will come home safely.

We should all have a moment of silence on Memorial Day for them. Say 12:00pm?

oops (their).

Tracy I thing that is wonderful of you to take the time and effort to send to the troops. Where do you get the info on that?

I take the spare ribs and remove the membrane on the back side, then trim any excess pieces of fat away.

I also cut the slabs in half so that they will fit on my water smoker.

Then I apply a nice thick coat of a homemade rub. The one I used most recently is this one:

1/3 cup salt
1/4 cup paprika
3 TBSP chili powder
2 TBSP black pepper 1 TBSP ground cumin
1 TBSP granulated garlic
1 TBSP cayenne

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Makes about 1 cup.

After the ribs are rubbed I let them sit at room temperature for about an hour while I prepare the grill.

I have a bullet style water smoker and for this cook I use Kingsford charcoal briquets, and a few fist sized chunks of fruit wood (apple or cherry most often) to give them a nice smoky flavor.

After the charcoal chamber was full of grey glowing coals I assembled the smoker and filled the water pan with cold tap water.

I gave it time for the temperature to stabilize then added the wood chunks and put the ribs on.

Cooking at a temperature of around 225-250 it should take 5 or 6 hours for the ribs to be ready. After three hours I baste them with apple juice from a spray bottle and rotate them top to bottom and end to end. I repeat that step again in 90 minutes, and again 45 minutes after that.

During these basting and turning sessions I will also check to make sure the water pan doesn't run dry or close to empty and top it off with hot tap water if needed.

During the third basting I begin checking to see if they are done. I like them when the meat has pulled down from the ends of the bone a little bit, and you can pull the ribs apart fairly easily (use heat resitsnt gloves when you test them).

Once they come off of the smoker I brush them with my favorite BBQ sauce (which is whatever I have on hand!), cut them into serving size portions, and enjoy!

Okay, I've sent this to a few forum members already, but I'll post here. These are the easiest ribs ever, and the results are fabulous.

Here's mine:

I only use babybacks. I generally buy 2-3 full slabs.

First thing you have to do is peel that thin layer of skin off the back of each slab. Simply run the tip of a fork along one of the bones to get a small tab to grab onto. Peel that layer of thin skin completely off.

Using a baking pan lined with tin foil, lay the slabs out, and season with your favorite rub, or whatever seasonings you have. I like Garlic powder, garlic pepper, seasoned salt, etc.

Bake on high heat (450 degrees) uncovered for about 25-30 minutes to brown the meat. Remove from the oven, and lower the oven temp to 325. Now wrap each baking pan very tightly with tin foil. Make sure it is wrapped so no air can penetrate.

Put them back into the oven at 325, and slow roast for 3 hours. After 3 hours, take them out, and unwrap the foil cover. Slather on your favorite BBQ sauce. My personal favorite is Sweet Baby Rays (Honey). Don't be shy, put LOTS of sauce on!!

Back into the oven they go, and bake uncovered for about 20-25 minutes, or until sauce starts to bake on. Serve imediately after. You will not believe how good these will be. Don't expect to pick them up without the meat falling off everywhere.

Enjoy!!

Here's a super simple way to make ribs that has been a big hit when I've served them. The true foodies may not go for it, but I love spending just a few minutes in the a.m. and then having fall-off-the-bone, tender ribs for dinner!

I use a slow cooker (mine is from Costco so of course it's huge like everything else they sell). I can fit 2+ racks of ribs in it.

Spray the inside of the cooker with cooking spray. Stick the ribs in the slow cooker so that the ribs are vertical (I kind of make an oval with the ribs and you can really pack them in there.) Pour about 1/2 to 2/3 a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce over them. (I like Sweet Baby Rays.) Turn the cooker on low at about 11am for ribs done by 5:30pm; if you're getting a later start you can turn the cooker on high.

Go out and do something else all day!!

At dinner time, these will be tender and tasty. The meat literally falls off the bone. I use the pork baby back ribs (I think that's what they're called.) I tried the country style once and they were more fatty.

I’m a meat scientist, so in case anyone ever wondered:

Spare ribs come from the belly of the hog, where bacon comes from. They are large in size, are very meaty, and are somewhat less tender than back ribs. Spare ribs tend to have more fat, more flavor, and cost less per pound than back ribs.

Back ribs come from the loin of the hog, where pork chops come from. You'll sometimes see them called baby back ribs or loin ribs in the grocery store. They are smaller in size and are less meaty, less fatty, and more tender than spare ribs. They are one of the most expensive pork cuts due to high consumer demand.

Country-style ribs are taken from the blade end of the loin closest to the shoulder. Country-style ribs are meatier than other ribs but they are not as easy to eat due to their bone structure and fat running through the meat (though you can find them boneless).

Very interesting stuff Teresa_Rae I'm a carnivore when it comes to my eating habits so we would get along well are you really a meat scientist or just know alot about meat cuts . I have a feeling were going to have some serious food porn after this weekend looking foward to a foodgasm.

Yep, my degree is in animal/meat science and I work in the meat business

Here's what I do. I buy 3 slabs of baby back ribs. Cut them into 3 rib pieces. Boil them for ~1 - 1/2 hours until tender. Cool, Rinse (go get the crud off) and finish on the grill with lots Famous Dave's Rich and Sassy sauce. YUMMMMM

I vary mine every once in a while because i like to try different rubs and sauces, but here's the basics...

1. When you buy spares, look closely at the package and make sure that they are not "enhanced" in any way. A lot of meat packers are adding an X% solution to pork to keep it form drying out. This is generally a salt water solution that brines the meat for you, but with ribs (spares or loin backs) there really isn't a lot of meat there, so they cure instead of brining and the resulting ribs taste more like ham than ribs. Teresa Rae... Do you know why the meat packers do this? I'd much rather brine my own pork and cook it properly to get the moisture and tenderness that I want.

2. Anyway... Trim the spares St. Louis Style (here's a good site that shows how to do this).

3. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. let the ribs get close to room temp.

4. Rub with your favorite rub. Here's one of my favorite rubs...

Sweet And Spicy Rub

8 tablespoons butter; or margarine
4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 tablespoon sugar

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in all ingredients EXCEPT sugar. Remove from heat and then add sugar. Cool and rub onto meat. Makes 1 cup.

This is a paste and if the ribs are too cold the butter will try to harden and make it hard to get the rub on evenly.

5. Let the ribs sit while you prepare the fire. I cook in either a large offset smoker or my Weber Smokey Mountain bullet cooker (similar to the one that augie uses). It takes about an hour to get he fire going and the temps stable.

6. Cook the ribs at 225 - 240 degrees until the meat has pulled back from the ends of the bone by 1/4 - 1/2 inch. If you gently lift the rack it should bend easily without breaking. For spares i generally cook then 6-7 hours depending on the size of the ribs and where the temps in the cooker have been. If the cooker is hotter (closer to 240) then they will be done sooner.

7. When you think they are getting close to being done, you can glaze them with your favorite sauce. Two of my favorites are Blues Hog (thick, sweet and spicy. I thin it with some apple or cranberry juice) or Spicewine Ironworks Sweet Heat Sauce. BTW, Spicewine Hen and Hog dust is a great rub for ribs and chicken.

After the first three hours of cooking (to let the bark set) I will spray the ribs with juice (apple, cranberry and cherry work great) hourly to keep them moist and give them a nice flavor and color.

BTW, you don't need a smoker to do ribs this way. If you have a gas grill with multiple burners you can light one burner and put the ribs at the opposite end of the grill. You may have to cut them to get them to fit, but that's ok. You can also cook indirect on a kettle grill like a Weber. Just build a small fire on one side and cook on the other. In both cases, to get a smokey flavor just get some wood chips at Wally World or Home depot (or wherever). Soak the wood chips in water, juice, whiskey, beer, etc.) for an hour and then put the in a packet made from heavy duty foil and poke a couple of holes in the foil to let the smoke out and toss the packet on the fire.

I know that this seems like a lot of work, but the results are wonderful. BTW... When you trim the spares you will have the rib tips and the ribs. Cook the rib tips, too. They will cook faster so they are done sooner and they are the chef's snacks while the ribs are cooking!

Yes, let's remember our boys who are eating MREs without their wives and children. I don't think they will be eating ribs where my son-in-lay is. My son-in-law has just left for Afghanistan for 15 months....no electricity....no running water...only MREs to eat. Pray for their safe return.

My nephew is on his second tour in Iraq - he went for a year then returned to the states. His enlistment was up in April, but in March his unit was sent back for another tour, and he will have to stay in for the duration of this tour, no matter how long it gets extended to, no matter that he was supposed to be a civilian by now.

He said he'd kick my butt when he gets back if I don't BBQ this weekend, the way we always have.

I just had to promise that we'd do it up bigtime when he comes home.

RonL-Just rubbed some baby backs with onion/garlic powder, hungarian paprika, salt and pepper and make a mash by adding some worchestershire. Run on like a crust and sit.

Gonna put them on for two hours since using my grill. Ribs on one side and fire on other side. Quicker than the smoker.

Chibatta heavy with garlic and olive oil grilled. Corn and some salad with chipoltle / mayo dressing.

Check this site out www.redhotfoods.com We were at a cajun creole festival and loaded up on their hot sauces.

And last but not least bless any and all of you who have relatives and/or know of those deployed. They allow me to enjoy these creature comforts.

And now I'm going to raise a Margarita in their honor.