Need help with Car Wash Mike's Ribs

Green For Sure · September 2010

I'm very new to the egg--bought a Large a few weeks ago and have already over cooked ribeyes and chicken breasts. I am trying Car Wash Mike's Ribs from the Cookbook for Eggheads and have a few questions:

1) Is it okay to marinate in the mustard and rub for ~30 hours? Thought I was going to cook them tomorrow, but may be Monday.

2) Directions say "use a large drip pan with foil inside the Plate Setter." What does that mean exactly? I purchased the Plate Setter, assume I use it legs facing up and put a foil drip pan in the middle but can someone confirm?

3) Next it says to "...cut them off and put them on top of the rib rack." I did not buy a rib rack, but bought a roast rack. Do I need a rib rack too? I have three slabs to cook. Honestly, I'm not sure I thought this through enough....

Thank you for anyone that can help, feeling frustrated thus far.

Brandon

FlaPoolman · September 2010

I would rinse the rub off then reapply 1 or 2 hours before the cook
you are correct on the drip pan
lay the ribs flat meat side up, you can use a rib rack if you need the space

stevesails · September 2010

i think, if you turn the roast rack upside down, you have a rib rack.

thirdeye · September 2010

Welcome to the neighborhood. Here is a photo showing the set-up you need.

I'm with Pat, rinse the ribs, dry them and go back into the fridge. I host a version of Mike's rib class on my cookin' site.... here is the link.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/06/baby-back-rib-class.html

Basscat · September 2010

I agree with FlaPoolman, rinse now, and repeat with the rub right before the cook. You are correct on the drip pan setup. And if your roasting rack is the BGE one, it doubles as a rib rack if you turn it upside down. Otherwise, the cheap Weber rib rack at Lowes works great. But I usually cut mine in half and lay them flat on the grid (bone side down). Not sure if they will all fit on a Large that way, I have a Medium and don't usually cook more than 2 at a time.
Don't overthink it, ribs are pretty easy, just keep a steady temp.
Hope it goes well!

FlaPoolman · September 2010

I need to add 7% moisture to my wood chunks, I need sauce to get the color you get :huh: :laugh:

Green For Sure · September 2010

THANK YOU everyone! I just washed the rub off, dried, and sealed them back up, into the frig. I sure hope I did not ruin them, that would be up to $80 in meat in a week

Appreciate all the advice on the rack as well. I will certainly take the advice and check out the links.

Regards,
Brandon

thirdeye · September 2010

Oh boy... I can see I'm going to take some ribbing for that 15% statement.

Actually that photo in the above post ^ is one of Mike's he sent me when we were working on the draft for the page for my site... Speaking of wood, he used wood from Chigger Creek and was fond of mixing apple and cherry.

Now, here are 3 racks I did just last weekend with my special cherry. There is no sauce on these... they might have had one spray of apple juice at this point, but it's all natural color, mostly from the wood.

XLegglover · September 2010

those are some GREAT lookin ribs! Its not that often you find a nice sized rack of ribs like that around here. Are those pork spares?? One last question. Are you using the plate setter inverted to support the grill? If so, how much clearance do you have for a drip tray??? I only have 1 inch with my plate setter which makes it hard to fit in a drip pan of any kind! Thanks

LFGEnergy · September 2010

Overcooking chickens and Ribeyes are very different. How did you cook the chickens, low and slow or spatchcock? I think providing a little info about temperatures and time for your (albiet early) unsuccessful cooks would be a great help in folks providing info.

Welcome to the forum. It is not perfect at first, but a few cooks later is is DAMN good!!!!

FlaPoolman · September 2010

I was just messing with you Wayne. Mike had told me about chigger creek and my dealer let me buy some in bulk. Their 40# bags of lump are good also.

This is apple and cherry along with the lump

Green For Sure · September 2010

Good point. Here is what I did wrong (i think) on the first two attempts.

The chicken, I used boneless breasts due to time constraints. I had a really hard time controlling the temp on the Large Egg--and in some respects, still do. The grill was too hot, so I shut down the vents for a while until I got it to 400, but I had forgotten to put the grill grate on. So I threw it on for a few minutes then threw the chicken breasts on. I do not think the grate was hot enough to sear, so I left the chicken on too long to compensate--thus dry, overdone chicken.

The ribeyes, I had cut to 1.5 inches think, even though the recipe called for 2 inches. Two inches would be a bit much. I got the egg up to 700, careful to burp, put the steaks on, but waited 3 mins instead of 2 mins to flip because I saw the temp drop after opening the lid. I do not have a meat therm, but I could tell they were likely done by touching after the first flip, 6 mins total---I did not trust myself, so I let them sit another 2 mins... tasted good, but were medium-well. No steak is good after medium...I was kicking myself as it was $50 worth of ribeyes and had family over.

I think I will experiment without family coming over for a while!

XLegglover · September 2010

FlaPoolman, check out a post I have regarding my poor attitude towards BGE lump char. How does theirs stack up against BGE?

FlaPoolman · September 2010

I missed your post but BGE lump is made by royal oak just a different bag. I'm sure you could get the chigger creek online but shipping would be a killer. My dealer has to bring in several pallets at a time to make it worthwhile. He will have plenty at the mini fest next week along with the wood chunks.

Jeffersonian · September 2010

Those are picture-perfect, Wayne, and the exact reason I love cherry wood on ribs. I'm doing baby backs tomorrow, and you can bet the smoke will be wild cherry.

Davecooksslow · September 2010

Yep, the extra time was what did it for the rib eyes. Give it another try, I did some a week ago and flipped at 90 seconds. The steaks were 1 in not 1.5 in like yours. Good luck, and good eating, Dave

Brokersmoker · September 2010

I agree on no steak past Medium is really worth eating (but I do anyway). Steaks imho are a difficutl cook (in the fact that they cook so fast with little room for error). On a thick steak I sear for nomore than 2 minutes no matter how thick to get the sear. The done-ness comes from the roasting phase. You can always cheat and cut one to visually check (just make sure that one is yours so everyone else's looks perfect!

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · September 2010

the temp didn't drop when you opened the lid. the thermometer cooled off, but the fire didn't.

in all cases, every time,, never ever ever do anything by time. doesn't work. when someone gives you a time and temp, it's always a rough guide.

seems you followed a method for a thick steak, but cooked a thinner one, and for a longer time. ouch.

2" thick steaks for one person are a little much, i agree. but you can always cut them in half. or, if they are thinner, modify the cooking time.

and always use a meat thermometer.

like i said to my buddy bob, there is no method, no temperature, and no amount of time that dried out meat. overcooking meat is what dries it.

not trying to berate you, just trying to be clear.

get a meat thermometer. don't cut into a steak to check it. well, maybe the first time you cook a steak you might cut into it to check, but after that, you should get used to how the feel at the very least at certain levels of done-ness.

Dawgtired · September 2010

I'll have to agree with this post. Invest in a Thermo Pen. The cost will more than justify itself in no more $50 ribeye dinners ruined.

First make sure you dome thermometer is calibrated correctly. If you aren't sure how to do that, let someone know and you'll have an answer very shotly
Sear for two minutes a side at 650.
Take them off and drop the temp to 400.
Put them back on and again it all depends on the thickness, but possibly four to five minutes a side. I always check the temp when I flip to judge the time better. Pull at 140 and be sure and let them rest for five minutes before slicing. This is why I have to disagree with a previous post about cutting into the steak to check. You'll loose a lot of juice that way.
This will work like a champ. The only problem is you will never be happy with a steakhouse again.

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