Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Foolproof "3/3" ribs [by accident]

Prof Dan
Prof Dan Posts: 339
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I wanted to do 3/1/1 ribs -- started out by taking off the membrane and smearing them with cheap yellow mustard and my own rub [nothing special, just spices and stuff].[p]We were planning on dinner at 5, so I started smoking at noon, indirect [fire bricks under a drip pan with liquid] for three hours at 250.[p]At 3 pm, just as I was getting ready for the next step, got a call that our dinner guests were going to be very late. What to do? Wrapped 'em in a lot of foil, stuck 'em in a big covered roasting pan, and shoved 'em into the oven [yes, the oven in the house] at 200.[p]There they sat for the next three hours, basically steaming slowly. Three hours. [p]The people show up. I figured all was lost. Opened up the foil pack. The meat is falling off the bone, but very moist. Brushed on a little ordinary commercial bbq sauce [Sweet Baby Ray] at the last minute -- could not even put them back on the grill to get crispier because they were falling apart. Used a propane torch, right in the roasting pan, to get a little char on the bbq sauce.[p]I know that real ribs are not supposed to be falling off the bone, and I know that using a propane torch is heresy, and I know that commercial sauce is a sin, but what else could I have done under the circumstances?[p]Bottom line -- everyone raved about the ribs, and not just to be polite. Dinner was quieter than usual. Lots of bone sucking and finger licking going on. [Sounds disgusting, but it's not.] Plenty of smoke flavor.[p]My point is this -- if you have problems timing your 3/1/1 ribs [or if they are dry], this weird "3/3" method is a foolproof alternative. Obviously, the ribs can sit in a warm oven almost forever [3/4??], if they are tightly covered, and if you can accept a "falling off the bone" texture. [p]The other advantage of this method is that it frees you up to do other things in the the usually-hectic couple of hours before dinnertime. [p] [p]

Comments

  • Prof Dan, I have done ribs and then wrapped in foil, and then put in a cooler till I needed them 2-3 hours later, they were still very hot. Never need a oven to keep them warm.

  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    Prof Dan,[p]Smokin Joe turned me on to a "stall technique" with ribs that I've used when I have to stretch out serving time or need to better manage Eggtime: After 2 or 3 hours, foil and move into a preheated cooler and hold them there for a couple of hours. They don't braise like they do when cooking in foil. Check them when you are ready to resume cooking them, they can go back on the cooker for some braising or they can be unwrapped and finished on the cooker.[p]~thirdeye~
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • Steve_in_Md
    Steve_in_Md Posts: 15
    Prof Dan,
    Sweet Baby Ray's is NOT a sin even though it's commercially available! Now Kraft BBQ sauce -- that's a real sin.

  • BrianP
    BrianP Posts: 147
    Prof Dan,
    I wouldn't say that 'real ribs are not supposed to be falling off the bone'. I think you should make them the way you like them. Personally, I get many more compliments when the meat is falling off the bone than when it isn't so this is the texture I try to get. If that's the way you like it, I certainly wouldn't apologize for it.[p]just my $0.02 worth.[p]Brian

  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 27
    I love Sweet Baby Rays and my family does as well. Especially the sweet honey sauce for ribs.