More Baby Back Ribs

Gator Bait

 
Hi All, I haven't done any ribs for a while and the steaks at the market didn't look all that great so ribs were it.

Yesterday I removed the membrane and cut the racks in half so they would fit my medium egg.


This morning brushed them with mustard . . .


sprinkled liberally with rub (my homemade rub is mild) . . .


and repeated till all were done and returned to the frig.


I used apple, cherry and a little mesquite for smoke.


Three hours in at 300º. I was watching my temperatures and times closely but for some reason they looked like they were cooking faster then usual.


To foil I placed couple tablespoons of brown sugar down with three thin pats of butter and placed the ribs on top meat side down . . .


next I added about five tablespoons of a mixture of pure maple syrup and an equal part of Jack Daniel's that I had burned the alcohol from. Removing the alcohol reduced the volume of the JD by 40% and helped concentrate the flavor.


Back in the egg, meat side down for another hour.


Finished.


Plated, I reserved the sauce from inside the foil and spooned a little over them.


Looking good!


I still haven't figured out where I went wrong. They are too tender and fall off the bone. The maple syrup and Jack Daniels was an experiment. If I were to do it again I might omit the brown sugar, I think it helped cover up the flavor of the JD. The JD and syrup were excellent by them selves. :cheer:

They are good ribs but could be better.



 

cookn biker

Well, they sure are pretty Blair!! I'd eat em. :laugh:
Like the idea of the JD for flavor.

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Molly, I agree about the JD as a flavoring and burnibg off the alcohol was a step in the right direction. I need to play with that some more.

Blair

 

Lobicho

WOOOOOW!!!
And I thought I put some effort to the ribs I did the other day...
my friend you are genious....
they look awesome

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Lobicho, I wish effort always translated into perfection. LOL. These came out pretty good. I don't know how they got so well done. More practice is needed I guess. :cheer:

Blair


 

elzbth

Awesome - absolutely awesome. I haven't been able to egg at all this weekend....ribs are at the top of my list for next weekend!

Gator Bait

 
Thank you Elizabeth, I love ribs so much I wish I could get them perfect every time.

Blair


 

Chief Chef

Very nice looking ribs. With all the work you put into them I 'll bet they were delicious also.

NC-CDN

3 hours at 300F might be the reason. Notch it back to 250 or 275, then you can still hit the 1 hour in the foil and should be okay. My guess is the 300 for 3 hours with another hour in foil made them fall off the bone. Some people like them that way.

That sounded great though. I keep meaning to use maple syrup in mine with apple juice and brown sugar, but I always use honey. I just forget. I think maple syrup would be fantastic. I'd likely just not use the brown sugar as the maple is sweet enough. How prevalent was the JD taste? I've never put any whiskey or liqueur in my ribs. May have to try.

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Steve, they were good but not my best. I have cooked them many times at these temps and times and they have come out great. I don't know why these are so well done. My DigiQ and dome were reading the temps I have had success with in the past but something was different.


Blair


 

Gator Bait

 
Hi Andrew

I normally use honey also and like them that way. I can get them to sweet sometimes so this time I cut back. Next time I probably will try a lower temp but I a puzzled because I have cooked them at 300 a number of times with good results. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Next time I would omit the brown sugar as it overpowered everything else. The JD was not prevalent. The mixture of the syrup and the JD was fantastic, I should have drunk it straight, LOL. Burning off the alcohol helps I am sure. I took it outside in a small thrift store pot and placed it on a fireproof surface and lit it with the torch. It burned for a long time while I went off and got the egg ready. All I could see were the heat waves coming off of it, alcohol flames being invisible in the daylight. I started with about two and a half cups and ended up with one about and a half cups to which I added the same amount of syrup. That was some good stuff! LOL. I probably should have used it as my only seasoning in the foil. Simple is so often the way to go. I am now wondering about leaving the brown sugar out of my ribs that I do with the honey, it may not be needed at all.

Oh ya, I was also spraying the ribs with the JD/syrup mixture about every 20 minutes, I don't know if that was any help or not. Normally I use apple juice concentrate (full strength) and cider vinegar but this time I was trying to build on the JD/syrup flavor. I also rearranged the ribs in the rack as needed to get them evenly cooked. I did not worry about loosing heat from the egg with it open that much and just let it figure into my cook schedule. That is another reason why I am puzzled that they were so well done.

Blair

Mr Holloway

Great post Blair.
Using the JD sounds good.
I have only done one rib cook.
Something I have to work on :laugh:

Shane

Gator Bait

 
Thanks Shane, I need to improve on the JD flavoring, it is a natural for ribs. I bet it would go with honey just as well. Maybe use half the amount of honey and omit the brown sugar! Hahahaha, I'm drooling already.

Blair

 

Gator Bait

 
I just had a few of these ribs as left overs and thought they were better. The JD is still not really strong enough or it is getting lost in the other sweet smoky flavors, but they are nicely sweet and smoky. They are very tender and fall off the bone, a lower temp would have fixed that. Just a little bit of BBQ sauce at the table is all these need.

Blair


 

eenie meenie

Blair, are the ribs just your excuse for breaking out the Jack Daniel's? :evil: :laugh:

Gator Bait

 
Oh no, I can think of a million reasons to break out the Jack but ribs are a good one! LOL, actually I drink very little alcohol. I have just gotten out of the habit. I like a little Jack to flavor my coffee in the evening now and then but rarely have it around the house. I was in Sam's the other day and had to renew my membership. When I did so they gave me a $5 gift card that I had no idea what I was going to use it for. At the last moment I decided to put the $5 toward a bottle of Jack for medicinal purposes like my coffee. LOL. I ended up with a 1.75 liter bottle following me home and I didn't have the heart to send it back. :laugh:

Blair