Super Best BBQ

Discussion in 'Food and Drink' started by Mshenay, Jun 19, 2017.

  1. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Awesome ribs @Jeb!

    The 250f @ 4 hours is what I found to give the most consistent results. But the real guideline is to go by feel and pull them out when they just tender enough. There are a bunch of other factors like humidity and where you take the temp that influences cook time.

    I would go with a full rack for the if you can find them. I've heard people going 8-12 hours with short ribs, but 203f sounds like a good place to stop. Since it's pretty thick I would allow proper resting like with brisket.
     
  2. Jeb

    Jeb Friend

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    Cool. Yeah, there seemed to be some similarities with the brisket. I think maybe a whole rack would offer a bit more protection from drying out and perhaps allow the rendered fat and juices to distribute more evenly through the meat. As you see in the pic, they kind of flopped apart a bit. I should have rested them for longer, for sure.

    Anyway, I appreciate all the advice. It was nice to have at least some ballpark idea of cooking time and 4 hours for the pork ribs was pretty spot on. So, yeah.. thanks!
     
  3. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    @Jeb did you spray your ribs during the cooking process at all? Beef needs to be spritzed just as much as pork does, yet everyone (well not everyone) seems to forget that. I like to spray anything with a combo of apple cider vinegar and juice, but even water helps...

    Also, you could consider wrapping the meat after the bark forms with foil or butcher's paper, and let it do the last couple of hours covered (spray it before your wrap it).

    But even a slightly dry rib beats most anything else...
     
  4. Jeb

    Jeb Friend

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    I didn't spray or wrap them this time. I'll try both next time, I reckon. Thanks for the tips!
     
  5. Pilsnerpunk

    Pilsnerpunk Friend

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    Those ribs look amazing. Nice work.
     
  6. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    [QUOTE=" did you spray your ribs during the cooking process at all? Beef needs to be spritzed just as much as pork does, yet everyone (well not everyone) seems to forget that. I like to spray anything with a combo of apple cider vinegar and juice, but even water helps...

    [/QUOTE]

    solid advice there fo shure, yet I've always been conflicted about lifting the smoker lid too often for spraying, which results in losing heat and smoke in the process and lengthening the cooking duration.

    so spray like once every 30-60min or ?
     
  7. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    It depends on the meat and the weather (and I bet altitude too) but I never do more then a few times a cook. And my unscientific evaluation says the most important spray down is the one you do while you wrap it.

    But I get the conflict after all "If you're lookin', you ain't cookin'"...

    If I'm not lazy maybe I could take some photos, of my next long cook.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
  8. BillOhio

    BillOhio Friend

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    What are you guys doing for side dishes? I'm in a 1 bedroom apartment and I'm hosting next weekend and am looking at recipes for for corn on the cob, potatoes and baked beans all done in crock pots. I figure it might be good to not have the oven going and with crock pots I can get everything prepped well ahead of time and then just switch the pots to 'warm' once stuff has cooked.

    Actually, tonight I did 5 foil wrapped ears of corn in a crock pot brushed with olive oil and with cumin, chili powder, sea salt and some fresh lime juice and thought it turned out pretty awesome.

    I have navy beans soaking in water overnight to take a trial run at the baked beans.

    I took a shot the other day at baking chicken legs ahead of time and then finishing them on the grill the next day and thought it turned out pretty respectably.

    My aim is to have 5 or 6 different things coming together at the same time without anything sucking.
     
  9. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    I think the right mise en place and getting all the dishes ready at the same time is really the biggest challenge when preparing food. As for side dishes if I have something with a nice sauce I have couscous with it. It goes well with any sauce and you cannot get it wrong. Same volume of couscous and water with a pinch of salt in a bowl 2 min microwave full blast done. It is the only thing I prepare using the microwave.

    Good luck
     
  10. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    I like coleslaw. Trying to do keto eliminates most of the baked beans, potato, corn sides that are common with BBQ for me.

    But I think I've had more bad slaw than good. I usually avoid it unless I make it myself. Usually going for the creamy coarse cut styles rather that the sweet stuff. Locally the sweet stuff is the common style and I don't care for it at all. I probably need to expand into some of the vinegar based stuff a little but those usually have some sugar added to make them edible.

    On a completely different topic.....Last Winter I was all set to invest in a Weber Smokey Mountain but decided against it until I could become more masterful on just the basic Weber Kettle that I had. My first accessory this year was a Thermpro remote thermometer and that has completely taken the guesswork out of cooking temp/times. I also started implementing rest times in a cooler which I hadn't done before. The outcomes have been spectacular. I've done ribs, whole chicken, and pork butt roasts which have all been perfect.

    It probably is common sense to the BBQ veterans to have a decent thermometer so no great revelation. But I should have spent a few bucks on a decent thermometer a long time ago.
     
  11. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    Another good option for sides... I like to cut up peppers, summer squash , asparagus, even cabbage wedges and let them marinate in some italian dressing for a bit, or use olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some seasoning. Then i use a slotted sheet on my gas grill to roast/stir fry them up. It's easy and pretty healthy at the same time.
     
  12. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    Cole slaw is a good one to make the day before. Its just shredded cabbage (and I add a little shredded carrot), and the sauce is usually some kind of mayo/vinegar combo (I like adding a bit of honey) Might be even better the next day, so that begs being made the day before.

    Corn bread is awesome, and can be baked the day before. I like making corn bread in cupcake paper cups makes for better storage and portioning. Pleanty of easy recipes to be found, no need for box mixes.

    Tomato/cucumber salad is a winner, as is caprese salad.

    So many sides, so little time...
     
  13. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    Yeah I try to make slaw at least a half day before, and I like it on the "drier" side as moisture comes out of the cabbage and contributes to the liquidity.

    Mine is pretty simple. I do chopped cabbage with a little onion (white , green, or red) and then my sauce is simple. Just Mayo, a little yellow or dijon mustard. celery salt, coarse pepper, and then either a shot or two of balsamic vinegar of some Franks Red Hot. Sometimes I'll throw a little paprika and cayenne in there as well.
     
  14. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    I am not particularly fond of eggplant. One recipe I like is put the eggplant on the grill while getting the grill to temperature, keep it there turning it over now and then, the skin should rip open and the eggplant starts to whistle because the juice starts cooking, prepare seasoning in a bowl by adding lemon or lime juice to olive oil crush garlic together with salt and add pepper. When the skin of the eggplant is more or less burnt take it off the grill, slice it open and scrape the flesh out of the eggplant and put it in the bowl with the seasoning, stir, should look a little like ugly pulp but the smokey flavour of the burnt skin gives a bit of punch to the eggplant which may taste a little bland otherwise, you may add some herbs to your liking.
     
  15. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Nice! One thing I used to do is make small slits all over it and jam in quarter pieces of garlic to cook along with the eggplant. As you do I add seasoning, inc smoked paprika and lemon at the end. serve with Pita
     
  16. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Just be really careful with those beans. You have to cook them entirely and til quite soft otherwise your guests could be in for a rough day/night. They have lectin and it has happened to me twice, once with undercooked lentils and once with kidney beans. Not a good feeling. http://wildoats.com/blog-posts/undercooked-beans-dangerous/
     
  17. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Here's some sides I like on the grill

    -skewered vegetables seasoned and oiled
    -sliced eggplant, zucchini and squash. Olive oil, salt, pepper and other seasoning. Make sure grill is as hot as you can get it because you want grill marks.
    -asparagus also with oil/salt/pepper. Then toss with a mustard vinaigrette before serving

    I never eat mayonnaise based coleslaw so I usually make my own with apple cider vinegar and oil. I only really do it when I make fatty pork dishes.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2020
  18. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    So for Father's Day I got a couple of tri-tip steaks. I'm going to try to do something similar to Santa Maria BBQ with my Weber. However I don't have red oak so I'll be using wood chunks with charcoal.

    Pics to come!
     
  19. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    Gabby's Grills Santa Maria mod?
     
  20. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    Ima gonna get me a new grill. Do you guys recommend the pellet grills? I've got my eye on a REC TEC.
     

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