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Saint Louis Ribs on an XL Egg - Rub with a Sauce finish. My first contribution to the group.

bob_evans
bob_evans Posts: 5
I have been searchin' and readin' y'all's posts. I absorbed a few tips, Thank y'all for that.
So, here is my first contribution - Saint Louis Ribs. 
I combined two rubs that I like. The John Henry rubs are on my favorite list. Love this pecan. I always have a big bottle around and often sprinkle some into almost everything. It adds a sharp almost spicy flavor without adding any chili oil, etc.


1. I rub a small amount of olive oil on the ribs - both sides - "massage" it in. This is NOT a pour and soak. This is not a lot of oil. I want it to blend into the surface. This does 2 things.
        A. Help to provide moisture for the rub blend to adhere, (glue without mustard).
        B. Helps to keep the meat moist if my temp is to high in the beginning of the cook. A tiny forgiveness damper if a high
           temp problem occurs during the beginning hour. While making sure you get the EGG temp low and stable. A little bit
           more work on the XL EGG.

2. To keep the rubs mix consistent tasting throughout the ribs. I pour the desired amount of each rub into a bowl and mix them well. Adjusting the portions for a desired taste/flavor. More spicy desire then add more John Henry Pecan. Ratio was 1 Pecan to 2 of Snider's generic. 

3. I place a small amount of rub on the bone side first with a focus only on the meat between the bones.

4. On the meat side, spread it out. Don't cake it on, it's a "thin" rub coat, I want my smoke to in the meat. So don't build a layer of smoke obstruction. I want people to taste the meat.

5. Now, I place them in an aluminum pan, meat side up and let them sit for a while 30-60 minutes. Get the thicker parts of the meat closer to room temp.

6. Get your fire going. And get your EGG to the stable temp as close to 220-250 at the grill. For me on an XL that's around 300 at the dome-mometer, there's a new EGG word ! 

7. After they warmed up a bit in the pan while the rub soaks and glues a bit. Double check the "thin layered" rub for spots missed and add rub where needed. 

8. Next, Ribs in the EGG. I remove the grill with my welding gloves. I remove the meat from the aluminum pan. I use the pan as a water tray. Cut the corners and bend the sides down so the grill will fit over it and supported by the 3 convEGGtor upward legs. The pan sits on the convEGGtor. Pour water in the tray. About an 1.5 inches deep. Note: Make sure your egg is as level as possible. Note: You can keep adding some water to the pan during the first 3 hours.

9. Before putting the grill on, I add some soaked wood chip in the sides of the convEGGtor so they drop on the coals. These soaked for just a few hours. I don't soak overnight. I used apple, here. Charcol was not mesquite. Put the Grill on and place the ribs bone side down on the grill and over the water. Try to keep all the meat over the water pan.



Note: This photo is after an hour cooking. I use a dual electronic thermometer - one for the grill temp - see the one probe resting on it. The other in the thick part of the meat - never hitting the bone, as deep as possible and that probe covered with meat as much as possible. I have a bluetooth $50 dual probe unit. On a long cook if I leave the house, I sit the receiver display in front of a house security camera I can look at via my cell phone. Yes, you can buy the wifi $500 setup, I find no need for it or the software issues. The Internet camera works better and is cheaper. 

10. I do not flip my ribs !  After several hours of indirect heat and dome steam....don't ask me how many hours as all meat slabs are different, coal burns different. I just watch and get the meat probe to read over 180 degrees - almost done. I now put a thin layer of sauce on the meat side. By now your water should have evaporated. See the photo below. the water is gone and the meat drips burnt in it. It is unlikely you used to much water. If so, no worries. Grab your welding gloves, remove the grill and ribs and take out the tray, careful not to spill any water in the grill. Replace the grill and ribs. At this point you want dry dome air, because these are almost finished.



11. Sauce, I grab a favorite BBQ sauce and a tiny bit of some rub mix (left over on purpose for this stage).  Now I mop some sauce on the top and sides. DO NOT FLIP. DO NOT poke around with temp probes, leave that alone. This is the final stage. I might raise the dome-mometer temp up about 40-50 degrees here depending, this raise will effect sauce surface the most and help bring the rub and sauce to a bark finish. Now the tougher fats are going to break down more in the meat which are somewhat sealed in by the sauce. 



12. The meat probe will reach about 200-210 degrees and the bark finish looks like this. Are we done yet?  Well, maybe not...grab a pair of tongs. Get 1/2 the rib supported by the tong. Lift a rack of the grill surface and see if the meat/bark cracks. Like the photo above. You're done with your grill when you get that meat crack to occur without shaking the rib.

"Got the crack ? That meat texture is now ready to serve and your mama with dentures can enjoy ribs without an embarrassing moment at the dinner table."

I could have removed them sooner, see my 90 degree bend, a more than 60 degree instead of 90 is good, if you get the nice crack showing you the inside of the meat will pull off the bone easily. These ribs were in the EGG for about 6 hours.

13. Now remove the ribs. DO NOT PULL apart the ribs. Your not finished!  Wrap each rack, bones down, on aluminum foil and form a little tent over such that the foil isn't smashed on the bark. Seal it well, don't let moisture out.

14. Now tell the others to make the sides and let these sit for at least 40 to 60 minutes in the foil in your house - out of the sun. The fats are breaking down a bit more while the meat is cooling. If you sealed them well, it's OK for this stage to sit up to 2 hours to allow others some side making time.

15. Now put some pressure on those fixing the side dishes. Tease'em a little, say things like "I hope your sides live up to these ribs". But, give them plenty of time to make nice sides - no holes in the foil.

Serve them and watch your carnivore friends and family enjoy.
If no one is talking you did a good job.

Bob Evans

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