More ribtastic explorations. Just to be clear, these are visual notes for myself more than food advocacy or pretense that I have mastered anything about this.
A work in progress.
This week's rendition of ribs were played out upon two sides of baby back ribs from the Hind Quarter which came to around 25 bucks. On Friday night they were cut into half and marinaded in apple juice, mollases, brown ale, apple chunks and onion chunks. Saturday morning they were flipped in the marinade. Baked at 240º F from 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm. One innovation this time was that rather than mop the ribs with a little of the marinade every hour or hour and a half or so, I dunked the entire rib into the container which did a few things. Fat was removed by being rinsed off, as you can see in the photo to the right. It also cooled the ribs during the cooking and also created a bigger crust. At 6:00 pm, the broiler was turned on and the meat was sopped with mutha sauce. It was allowed to crust up just short of burning at which time more was sopped on.
Compared to the results of the fruity Cuban style ribs I have made before, these were drier and more sticky. The crust was quite heavy and crackled, challenging the chef's knife to cut the ribs neatly into equal sized portions, shattering into chunks as illustrated in the middle photo. The meat had entirely separated from the bone and was more held in place by the crust. Candy.
Comments
Craig - September 19, 2004 7:53 PM
I have this vision..Al sitting in his kitchen, dressed in his underwear with numerous empty beer bottles and rib grease dripping off his chin on to a dirty t-shirt.
Alan - September 19, 2004 10:03 PM
Family Saturday dinner. Three generations gathered together. Bowls of steaming vegetables and a modest wine shared after a half hour of Amish prayer. Polite children inquiring as to family stories of their grandparents. Father at head of table dressed in his underwear with numerous empty beer bottles and rib grease dripping off his chin on to a dirty t-shirt. Get it right.
Alan - September 19, 2004 10:37 PM
By the way, you do know in the civilized parts of the world, beers can be acquired by the single bottle. I think I have three pints in this whole house at the moment.
Craig - September 20, 2004 6:28 AM
I still prefer my image. I am however, relieved to know that in civilized Canada, the ever important indication of a cilivlzed society is alive and well.
Kim - September 20, 2004 6:29 AM
They look amazing! It seems like forever since I've had ribs, next time let me know what time dinner is okay? :)
Alan - September 20, 2004 8:18 AM
Ah, the ever popular imposed arbitrary deprivation as virtue principle.
Ghost of a flea - September 20, 2004 7:34 PM
Those look very, very good.
Alan - October 9, 2004 4:42 PM
Another weekend and another rib-filled oven.<p><img src="images/2004c/ ribsoct.JPG" vspace="20"><p>The ribs some backs but mainly sides, were overnight in orange juice, ketchup, maple syrup, green onion, jalapenas, liquid smoke, lemon and lime chunks. Flip them in the morning and into a 250° F oven at noon for six hours. At 2 pm I laid thin slices of lemons and apples on top to keep them moist and to hold some of the mopping liquid I am pouring on every hour or so.
Alan - October 10, 2004 9:27 AM
These worked out pretty well, everyone having too much. I bought the ribs at A+P and noticed the price was much lower than in summer, which makes a lot of sense. The hickory smoke, maple and apple flavours were a good combination which I could work on. There are three sort of types of rib sauces I am working on - citrus/pineapple, tomato BBQ and orchardy/woodsy. I could imagine a green curry kind of thing with lots of fresh herbs could be done as well, perhaps marinaded in a spicy white white base. I think the tomoato and woodsy types work well with side ribs while the other, more juicy types work with the meatier back rib. <p>Even at six hours, the fattier side ribs could have cooked longer to render off more fat. At the Dinosaur BBQ book recommends, think of each piece of meat as an individual with its own requirements. Next time I will try starting thicker pieces off hours before the thinner ones, adding rib section to the oven aiming to bring them each out at the same time by starting them from 7 to 5 hours before dinner.
Alan - October 10, 2004 4:55 PM
Parking this link: The Smoke Ring, web sites dedicated to BBQ.