Blues, Ribs and a Summers Day (long)

Gator Bait

 
Thanks to my friend Molly this turned into a Blues and Ribs weekend.

First a little Blues . . .

The sky is cryin', look at the tears roll down the street
The sky is cryin', look at the tears roll down the street
I been lookin' for my baby, yeah, an' I wonder where can she be

I saw my baby early one mornin', an' she was walkin' on down the street
I saw my baby early one mornin', an' she was walkin' on down the street
You know it hurt me so bad, yeah, it made my poor heart skip a beat

I got a bad feelin', my baby don't love me no more
I got a real bad, bad feelin', my baby don't love me no more
You know the sky is cryin', yeah, the tears rollin' down my nose

The sky is cryin', look at the tears roll down the street

Hahahaha, gotta love them Blues!

OK, Now some Ribs . . .

Eight thirty Sunday morning I headed out to get the egg ready. It was a beautiful sunny morning but as I stepped out the door there was an ominous rumble from a short distance away . . .



Fortunately as the sun rose it burned off the storm before it got here.

Saturday I had cleaned the egg and loaded it with a good supply of lump and oak chips mixed in.


My usual rib set up . . .


Saturday I also removed the membrane from the ribs so they were ready for rub. Sam's had baby back ribs on sale that had been repackaged 3 half racks to a package so I had grabbed 3 packages or 9 half racks and crossed my fingers that I could fit them on my medium egg.

The ribs prepped and loaded . . .


. . . they fit!!!


Two hours into the cook and they needed to be rearranged, that done I let them go another hour. Here they are after three hours at 250º . . .

. . . that's a full egg!

In that time I had sprayed them with a 50/50 mix of apple juice concentrate and apple cider vinegar, I'm not sure if it helps but I don't see any harm in it and it might add a little flavor.
I decided to try foiling my ribs, I had never foiled before. I thought that if I was going to foil I may as well try to maximize on it so I borrowed some goodies from Johnny Trigg and added squeezable Parkay margarine, brown sugar and honey and placed the ribs meat side down in that wonderful concoction.




Once again I had to work to get them to fit the egg, they were even bigger with foil. :laugh:


Here is where I made my mistake for the day, I had intended to give them another hour at the most in the foil at 250º . . . I closed my eyes for a seconded and next I knew it was an hour and a half later. Fortunately they were foiled, if not they would have dried out. I intended to sauce them on the egg and started to unwrap them. Here is the first one I opened . . .

. . . lookin good!

This long in the foil and the ribs were done, they were better than done, they were falling off the bone done. The margarine, brown sugar and honey had combined with any pork fat still in them and had made an incredible sauce of itself that had been soaked up by the ribs although it was not overly sweet. There was no way I was going to put them back on for another hour to sauce them so I decided to sauce at the table. I like to sauce on the egg but this was good enough. I'm still learning.

Round two of thunderstorms was knocking at the door again . . .

. . . good time to quit.

The ribs are good and saucing at the table lets me indulge in a couple different sauces from one rib to the next. Thanks to Molly I have some Blues Hog that I have never tried and my usual go to sauce Sonny's Sweet.

The Blues Hogs Sauce was a pleasant surprise, they pack a lot of flavor in a jar and it was not what I expected. I am delighted to have the chance to try it. Thanks again Cookn Hiker . . . err . . . Biker! :cheer:

Blair
 

cookn biker

Looks terrific Blair!! What a load of racks man!!
I've heard alot of people thin that sauce out, including competition teams.
Is that your back up camera?
Be well my friend!

thechief96

Those look like they came out perfect. Thanks for sharing.

Village Idiot

Blair,

If you're gonna sing the blues, there's a few rules you need to abide by. Go by the following instructions and you will be sure of a hit.

---

1. Most blues songs begin "woke up this mornin'" - either on the wrong side of bed, or the wrong bed.

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the blues unless you stick something nasty in the next line

I got a good woman
With the meanest dog in town

3. Blues are simple. After you have the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes with it. Sort of.

I got a good woman
With the meanest dog in town
He got teeth like Margaret Thatcher
And weighs 500 pounds

4. Real blues do not come from limitless choice.

5. Blues cars are Chevys, Fords, and Cadillacs - the only makes the downtrodden are aware of. Other common blues transport is Greyhound or train, so long as it's southbound. Walkin' plays a major part in blues lifestyle.

6. Teenagers can't sing blues. Adults sing blues. Adult means old enough to get the electric chair. Blues arise from believing it's probably inevitable.

7. You can't know the blues in Iowa or Vermont or on the family jet. The blues is more than feeling down. Born into the black slums of any large American city gives you the blues unless you're high.

8. The following colors do not belong in the blues:

violet
beige
mauve

9. You can't have the blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong.

10. Good places for the blues:

the highway
the jail house
the empty bed

Bad places:

ashrams
gallery openings
weekends in the Hamptons

11. Only an elderly black man can sing the blues while wearing a suit, but it must be his only suit.

12. Do you have the right to sing the blues? Yes if:

your real first name is a southern state, like Georgia
you killed someone and got caught
you can't be satisfied
you're blind

No if:

you were once blind but now can see
you have a trust fund
you have gout

13. Neither Julio Iglesias nor Barbra Streisand can sing the blues

14. If you ask for water and baby gives you gasoline, it's the blues. Other blues beverages are:

cheap red wine
Irish whiskey
muddy water

Blues beverages are not

a pink lady
a wine kosher for Passover
Yoo Hoo
imported beer
sake

15. Death in a cheap motel or a shack is a blues death. Stabbed by a jealous lover is a blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse (with the exception below,) or being denied treatment in an emergency room.

It is not a blues death if you die during liposuction or from substance abuse on a Caribbean cruise.

16. Some blues names for women:

Sadie
Big Mama
Bessie
Billie

For men:

Joe
Willie
Little Willie
Lightning

17. Real blues singers are called

Joe, not Joseph
Big Bill, not William the Great
Buffy, not Muffy
Moses, not Todd
Lady Day, not Lady Di
Boy, not The Boss

18. Cops, members of the Junior League, tenured professors, people holding elective office, or anyone used to being addressed as Sir or Ma'am can come no closer to the blues than "blues-like."

19. Starter Kit For a Blues Name:

Name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Cockeye)
Followed by name of a fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi)
Followed by last name of a president (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore)

Mix and match but use finesse. Blind Lemon Jefferson became an icon of the blues world, but success wouldn't have come to Consumptive Mango Nixon.

20. Acceptable themes for blues:

death
heartbreak
loss of loved one
death
heartbreak
loss of loved one

Unacceptable themes for blues:

death of a pet, unless named "Old Blue"
heartburn
loss of a tennis match
flunked exam
passed over for promotion
broken leaf blower

21. Why? To avoid the blues turning into this:

Woke up this morning
And my leaf blower broke,
Woke up this mornin'
It went up in smoke.
I called my baby
On her beeper line.
I give her a beeper
Cause she so divine.

Two minutes later
She call me on the phone.
I say come get me,
I got no car at home.

She say she's workin',
In her office downtown
But I know she's lyin',
She with a guy named Joe Brown

My baby's clever, a
Whole lot smarter than me,
But even my baby
Can't fool caller ID.

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Molly, yup my little Nikon point and shoot does a good job.

Thinning may come in handy, I will keep that in mind.

With friends like you being well is that much the easier, same to you my friend.

Blair

 

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

great pics. i'm a little chagrined to hear you have squeezable margarine in he house, though. :ohmy:

and don't let yourself feel comfy with the false sense of security that foiling offers re: dryness.

remember, you can overcook something to the point of dry while boiling it. the fact that it is in steam or water will not do anything to keep it moist. try boiling a chicken breast for twenty minutes and you'll see what i mean. in fact, water is so good at conducting heat that it may actually dry something faster (due to overcooking) because it cooks things faster.

but thank god ribs are almost as forgiving as butts.

nice looking cook and (as always) great pics

cookn biker

Hey, I'm picking up a Nikon sure shot (I think that's what they call them) There are a few types any suggestions. Trying to keep it around $100-$150. Need it for the trip cause mine jumped out of my hand one to many times.
And thank you.

Florida Grillin Girl

That looks like a fun day of egging, Blair. I can't believe how much you fit on the medium. It looks like a puzzle. The one unwrapped after the margarine, brown sugar stuff looks wonderful. I would drive 3 hours for that!

Gator Bait

 
Hahahahahaha, Gary I love it! That is brilliant! Thanks for sharing that, it is right on the mark. Gotta love the Blues!

Blair

 

Gator Bait

 
I'll do a little research and get back to you on that Molly.

Blair

 

cookn biker

Love it Gary!!! Thanks for the smiles!!

SSN686

Morning Blair:

GREAT looking ribs! When I had a medium I squeezed six full racks (cut into 12 half racks) on one time and they were some of the best ribs I have ever done...kinda makes you think overfilling isn't all that bad!

Gator Bait

 
Thanks St!ke, I think the foil is a little more forgiving when you over shoot on a time or temperature . . . at least that is what I have heard. It makes sense to me. The first time I did ribs I over cooked them and did not foil and half of them were to dry to eat. These are just to tender, I can live with that and learn.

Blair

 

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Faith, It was fun but a lot of work. Next time I will do six half racks instead of nine. Nine is a tight squeeze. Let me get them perfected and we will get together for some ribs, I'm still learning. I get closer every time I cook them. :cheer:

Blair

 

Gator Bait

 
Good Morning and Thanks Jay, I can't even begin to imagine how you fit 12 half racks on a medium, there must have been magic involved somewhere there or at least a submariners trick or two. :blink:

I'm happy I don't have a bigger egg, I would just get into that much more trouble.

Blair

 

SSN686

Morning Blair:

Here is the post about it...6 slabs

Gunnar

Great lookin ribs and pics. We like the sweet/touch of heat flavor in the Blues Hog sauce. I actually found it in one of the local chain grocery stores.

Ripnem

Blair,

Love that you are gettin after those ribs to master the cook. I'll betcha jumped from the nap tho. :P

I do think that putting them back on for a half hour or so with the sauce on, would have stiffened them up a bit. If they couldn't be moved without having them fall apart, then you probably made the right move. They look perfect from here.

eenie meenie

Nothin like the blues, egg smoke, and ribs! Nice cook Gator!

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Gunnar, I live in a BBQ waste land. Thats why you don't see many members here from Fort Myers and why I like the forum.

Blair

 

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Adam, Fortunately I didn't have far to jump. I was looking for perfection and slept right through it.

Some of these were getting to tender to pick up with out having them falling off the bone. It would have been difficult to have sauced them on the egg. They were tender and that was my biggest concern. The weather looked like it was deteriorating so I called it quits.

Blair

 

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Rebecca, the only thing that would have improved on it was if I could have sat back and watched someone else do all the work! :laugh:

Blair

 

Gator Bait

 
That's a great post and a great cook Jay, I have bookmarked it for future reference. Are you sure your medium isn't bigger ten mine? That is a handsome cat!

Blair

 

Rolling Egg

Great looking cook Gator! It don't really matter that you live in BBQ wasteland. I live around all sorts of BBQ joints but can't none of them compare to the egg. I probably eat BBQ out about twice a year.

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Rolling Egg, I agree about eating BBQ out but we can't get much of anything locally. I can get Dizzy Pig if I want to drive half the day for it. Blues Hog or Carnivore aren't even on the horizon and they have to be ordered on line. I think Fort Myers was put here by mistake. We're just a bend in the road some where half way between St. Pete/Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale/Miami. One hundred and twenty miles in either direction and I could probably find most anything.

Blair

 

elzbth

Very good looking ribs!!! You always post the best pics -

Gator Bait

 
Thanks elzbth, I wish I could cook ribs like I take pictures. One of these days I'll get them right.

Blair