Cooking BBQ Ribs
Secrets, Tips and Suggestions for Slow-Smoking BBQ Ribs
BBQ Ribs Membranes…
Always pull the membrane off of the slab of BBQ Ribs. The last thing you want is to take a bite of your rib and have a tough piece of membrane attached to the bone.
The membrane prevents you from getting flavor on the back side of the rack as well. You want to season and sauce and rub on both sides of the slab not just the top side.
Prevent BBQ Ribs From Burning…
The first rub that goes on the ribs should be balanced – don’t coat them with too much sugar. Sugar burns fairly fast and you don’t want that. It will create a bitter, unpleasant taste.
Seasoning Your BBQ Ribs…
Put your rub on liberally and let the slab sit for about 20-30 minutes before going on the smoker. Doing so will allow the fibers in the meat to “open up” and allow the seasonings and smoke to penetrate the BBQ Ribs.
Smoking Your BBQ Ribs…
After two hours at 225 ribs won’t take any more smoke. The meat will have reached an internal temp of around 160 degrees.
Adding smoke after this point is not a good idea. Have you ever tasted BBQ Ribs that had too strong of a smoke taste? It’s because the fibers in the meat close around 160 internal. Using smoke at after this temperature will create a foul tasting rib. Stick with a good clean charcoal after 160 internal and all of your BBQ Ribs will turn out great.
Perfectly Tender BBQ Ribs…
The trick to getting perfectly tender ribs is to wrap the slabs in Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil.
Add a little apple juice, margarine, or whatever baste you like to use to the slab once placed on the aluminum foil. Wrap it up real good not allowing the bones to puncture the pouch.
This will create the perfect environment for tenderizing the BBQ Ribs.
I wrap my ribs for 2 hours at 225; be sure to check them at 1:45 minutes. You want to unwrap a slab and gentle tug on a few of the middle bones.If they feel like they will pull out with little or know effort, you have them right where you want them.
Carefully remove the slabs from the smoker and vent each. You have to be careful not to move the ribs to much or they can fall apart.
After about 10 minutes they will “lock up” and you can transfer them back to the smoker for glazing.
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