First babyback eggsperience

mojo · May 2009

My neighbor decided to host a Memorial Day block party, and I volunteered to bring ribs. Having never prepared ribs on the BGE and with 7 adults plus 8 kids depending on me, there was a little pressure to perform. I read a bunch of recipes here on the Forum and decided to go with CarWash Mike's method that I found on Thirdeye's website. So first of all, thanks to BOTH of you guys for the information and the inspiration.

I picked up 6 slabs of babybacks from my local grocery store on Sunday, and when I got home I realized there was no way they would all fit in my large BGE. I don't have an extra grid to cook in layers. So I froze 2 slabs and early Monday morning I began the prep.

Here are my ingredients.

I don't have and Bad Byron's Butt Rub or and Dizzy rubs yet, so I used what was available at the grocery store and went with Salt Lick. After patting the BB's dry and removing the membranes (harder than I thought it would be) the yellow mustard and rub were liberally applied.

The prepped slabs were returned to the fridge while I prepared the Egg. I use Ozark Oak and stabilized to 200*, and after the ribs chilled in the fridge for an hour they went onto the Egg on an inverted V-rack. Just before placing the ribs I added apple and cherry chips for smoke. Wish I would have had chunks! I don't have a stoker, guru, etc. so I had to babysit the Egg for a while, but I feel like I did a good job keeping the temp between 200-210. Here's how the BB's looked after 1 hour. Pretty crammed in there, eh?

Here they are after 2 hours.

And at 3 hours.

... more to come in a separate post, I don't know if there's a limit to the size of a single post.

Ripnem · May 2009

I've seen pictures of 20 racks on a large (1 grate) You coulda squeezed those 2 on. They look real nice though. Sure all will go as planned.

mojo · May 2009

At the 3 hour mark I pulled the ribs and double wrapped them in HDAF containing apple juice/apple cider vinegar. I kind of guessed at this step. Since I had 4 slabs I made up 16 oz. of solution comprised of 14 oz. apple juice plus 2 oz. vinegar, then added 4 oz. to each slab. Here they are sealed and back on the Egg. I bumped the temp up to about 225* at this stage.

After an hour in the foil here's how they looked.

I did the "bend" test and felt they weren't yet ready.

So back on to the Egg they went, along with more cherry and apple chips and at 250*. They looked like this, now at about 4.5 hours.

At the 5 hour mark they bent much easier, so I pulled and sauced them while taking the Egg up to 275*. Here they are sauced.

And that's where the photo journal ends. After 30 minutes the ribs were pulled, foiled, and placed into a cooler with towels for about 3 hours until the party began. They were a HUGE hit and went rather quickly. The meat came off the bone pretty well, although the bones could have been left cleaner. I was surprised just how spicy the Salt Lick rub turned out to be and thought I had added too much, but the sweetness of the SBR sauce really added a nice contrast, and even my 5 year old daughter ate 3 ribs!

All in all, I feel like this 1st rib venture was a success, especially considering the number of racks I prepared on my first attempt. I know I can do better and I appreciate everyone's help here on the Forum. Please feel free to critique my cook, and thanks for reading these long posts!

mojo · May 2009

Ripnem wrote:

I've seen pictures of 20 racks on a large (1 grate) You coulda squeezed those 2 on. They look real nice though. Sure all will go as planned.

Wow, I need to see a picture of that!!

Firetruck · May 2009

Nothing wrong with them ribs, they look great. What has worked for me is as Mike says in his presentation, start around 225 then bump up to 250 about 1/2 way through, then up to 275 to finish. This has worked for me and the meat always pulls clean from the bones.

You have the right idea by foiling to steam the ribs, but later you may try cooking unfoiled until finished. If you do it right they will be just as moist and tender, and the bark will be incredible.

Again very nice job

FlaPoolman · May 2009

Ribs look great. One of the best tips I got for ribs was if the temp is stable don't open the dome for the first 3 hours. The hardest habit to break after getting my first egg was to resist peeking to make sure I wasn't burning the cook or needing to flip.

Ripnem · May 2009

Get after some Dizzy Pig (all of em) and Bad Byrons as well. Here's the thread of 20.

http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=62119&catid=1

The look great. :ohmy: You won't be so surprised in the future...just pay attention and the Egg does mosta the work. People just love the food. Isn't it fun?

FlaPoolman · May 2009

ttp://www.eggheadforum.com/archives//2007/messages/371884.htm

Little Steven · May 2009

mojo,

Good looking cook and congrats! Feels pretty good doesn't it. Get used to it

Steve

NJ-GrEGG · May 2009

FYI..

You can get six slabs on if you cut them in half and stand each half up in your rack like this:

http://newjerseyegger.shutterfly.com/33

Two halves standing side-by-side in each slot of your rack.

And here's the foil treatment. Rack removed:

http://newjerseyegger.shutterfly.com/31#28

Desert Oasis Woman · May 2009

Love it when a man performs under pressure :ohmy:
You done good

Beanie-Bean · May 2009

Mike,

Great job on the ribs! I remember first cooking ribs on the egg, and how much fun it was. Yup, after all those ribs I've cooked, I still like CWM's method (on thirdeye's site...) the best.

I did some pork butts over the weekend for our neighborhood's block party and nothing came back at the end--all of it was gone-pecan

What part of Austin are you in? I'm up in RR just off 620.

Little Chef · May 2009

GrEGG....Great photo. Thanks for posting it. I think it really helps when people can see what others have done.

Car Wash Mike · May 2009

Don't think you should have had to many complaints. :woohoo:
Looks good to me.

Mike

mojo · May 2009

Thanks everyone for the nice feedback!! The sauce-soaked faces of the eaters and the approval of this Forum make it all worth while.

Firetruck- Thanks for the tips on temp, and after the foiling them I did the "bend" test. They weren't ready to finish, so I did cook them about another 30 minutes unfoiled before saucing.

FlaPoolman- I'll heed your advice, but if I wouldn't have peeked every hour then I would have gotten flamed for not showing pics

.

Ripnem- I'm ordering the Dizzy and Byron's today, I've gone too many cooks wanting them and being without. I've found decent substitutes, but with all of the praise those companies receive there's really no excuse for me to not be using them already. Oh, and thanks to the link to that Naked Whiz thread, that's incredible!

LittleSteven- Thanks Bro!

NJ-GrEGG- Great pics, really shows what I was looking for. Thanks!

Desert Oasis Woman- That comment was a little naughty. Mojo Likey!

Beanie-Bean- I read about your block party, you did great, but then again you always seem to shine on the Egg from what I can tell.

I live in Westlake near Westlake High, right on the greenbelt and with a downtown view. If I gaze over the dome of my BGE I can see the Capitol. I actually met you at the EggFest. I was the dummy who asked you questions about your pork skewers, and you taught me the trick about placing foil beneath the skewers so they don't burn. I thought you were a really nice guy and I was happy that you won the XL/table.

Little Chef- Agree with your comment, and I'm humbled that you visited this newbie's thread.

carwash mike- "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy."

PhilsGrill · May 2009

Looks like you could easily fit two more racks across the top with no problems. :laugh:

mojo · May 2009

I see now that there was some space for more, but I was under the impression that the racks would cook better if they were not in contact with each other. After seeing that 20-rack photo, now I know better.

stike · May 2009

i noticed your captions were auf Deutsch. but you are in New Jersey....

Was gibt?

NJ-GrEGG · May 2009

Hi Stike!

I origionally put those set of pictures together for the German BBQ forum www.mybbq.net. One of their moderators "Don Marco" shows up on the egghead forum sometimes.

As for me...I studied Deutsch through High School and College, and spent a semester in Austria. Fun times!

mojo · May 2009

NJ-GrEGG I just looked at your photos again, and I really like the rib rack you use. The height seems to make all the difference so that the racks don't fold over and contact one another. Do you recall where you got it?

NJ-GrEGG · May 2009

I got it at "Le Gourmet Chef" in our local mall.

http://www.legourmetchef.com/Temp_Store_Locator.cfm?StoreLocator=Y

It does the job, but it's a bit of a pain to put together and cleaning it afterwards is a chore. But I keep it on hand for those times when I need to cook that many slabs. It was not expensive.

mojo · May 2009

Thanks for the info. Based on your photos I feel that the advantages of the tall dividers outweighs the PITA factor that goes along with cleaning it. If I find one, I'm buying it!

First babyback eggsperience

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