brisket

[Sawdustguy]

Gentlemen here is our Competition Rib recipe:

We purchase full spares and cut them down ourselves into St. Louis cut ribs but the recipe will work well with full spares and babyback's as well.

The first thing we do is wash the ribs off with plain water. We then turn them over and remove the membrane using the blunt end of a spoon and some paper towels. Once the membrane is removed we trim off anything that is hanging or looks like it doesn't belong. We then pat them dry.

The next step is seasoning and dry rubbing. We start off by slathering the ribs with a coating of plain yellow mustard (no Greg Poupon please) to act as a glue for the rub to adhere to. Next we put a lite coating of kosher salt and ground black pepper. The rubs we use, usually do not contain salt. If you wish to use a rub that contains salt, simply apply a lite coating of ground black pepper only. Now it is time to apply the dry rub. We do not believe in re-inventing the wheel as there are many great commercial rubs available today. Some of the rubs we have used successfully are Head Country, Smokin' Guns Sweet Heat and Spicewine Hen & Hog Dust. We apply the rub liberally to both sides of the ribs. We then wrap the ribs in some cellophane and allow them to sit for two hours in an ice filled cooler.

It is now time to prepare your smoker to smoke at 225*. We use charcoal as a fuel and add enough cherry wood to smoke for 3 hours as we do not want to over smoke the ribs. Please note that we are looking for sweet blue smoke. We will remove the ribs from the cooler and put them in the smooker once the acrid white smoke has subsided.

We will let them smoke for 3 to 4 hours (let them smoke without opening the smoker, remember, if you are look'in you're not cookin). At that time we will open the smoker and give them a lite spritz of apple juice (Apple Juice in a spray bottle) to help keep them moist. About an hour after the spritz we open up the smoker and slather with Parkay, we then apply a liberal coating of brown sugar. We are trying to layer the flavors.

In about 30 minutes to an hour it is time to start checking the ribs for doneness. The way we check our ribs is by grasping the end of a rack; if the rack bends at a 45* angle the ribs are done. We are looking for ribs that are to KCBS Judging standards. This means that you should be able to take a bite and the meat should pull away easily from the bone without taking additional meat from the bone. The KCBS dictates that ribs with this character are at the correct doneness. We cook to the KCBS standards because we are competing. If you are looking for fall off the bone you can cook them longer.

When we have determined they are done we slice the ribs using a Granton Slicer or an Electric Knife. We dunk each rib in the BBQ Sauce and let them drip over a bowl until a the dripping has stopped. The sauces we use are Head Country, Blues Hog or The Slab's "Complete your Meat".

Thats it in a nutshell. I hope you enjoy the recipe. It you have questions you know where to find me.

 

[Mike M]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[arturo7]

Thanks for the insight Saws. Glad to know "falling off the bone" is not encouraged.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Thanks for the insight Saws. Glad to know "falling off the bone" is not encouraged.

Arturo,

When competing in a KCBS (Kansas City BBQ Society) sanctioned contest they instruct the judges on how they want the Que to be judged. The rib bite and pull away is just one of many. In the end, most of your marks are based on taste and tenderness.

 

[arturo7]

Of course Saws, this is understood.

Just making the comment because it seems many folks feel "falling off the bone" is good Q. It's interesting to note that KCBS does not.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Of course Saws, this is understood.

Just making the comment because it seems many folks feel "falling off the bone" is good Q. It's interesting to note that KCBS does not.

When I first started competing I too was suprised to find out that falling off the bone was considered over cooked. When ever we have a family gathering I have to over cook the ribs because the rest of the family likes them that way. I remember growing up, when my pop made ribs he would boil them first. Now I cringe to think all of the flavor he boiled out of the ribs. I guess thats why he used to smother them with sauce. I like my ribs non sauced with just a sprinkling of Willie B's Burbon Rub after they are done.

 

[arturo7]

I'm guessing not many entrants use the foil technique at these comps.

Cool. I hate the foil technique.

 

[Sawdustguy]

I'm guessing not many entrants use the foil technique at these comps.

Cool. I hate the foil technique.

You are correct. Foil simply speeds up the cooking process. The problem with using foil is that it is real easy to over cook the ribs. The only time we use foil during a competition is when we rest our brisket or pork butts in an insulated cooler. Otherwise it would get real messy in the cooler.

 

[dataz722]

I like to foil my ribs after the first couple hours just because I think ribs can easily get too much smoke and have the smoke flavor be over powering. Just personal preference.

 

[Sawdustguy]

I like to foil my ribs after the first couple hours just because I think ribs can easily get too much smoke and have the smoke flavor be over powering. Just personal preference.

That is easily solved by technique instead of foil. We smoke using charcoal and wood chunks. We add only enough wood to smoke for 2 hours. We also do not insert the Ribs until we have achieved sweet blue, not that white acrid white crappy smoke. I personally do not like the foil because you are actually steaming the meat which is why they cook much quicker in foil. If you like falling off the bone ribs, foil is your ally. In comps falling off the bone is marked down as being over cooked.

 

[dataz722]

That is easily solved by technique instead of foil. We smoke using charcoal and wood chunks. We add only enough wood to smoke for 2 hours. We also do not insert the Ribs until we have achieved sweet blue, not that white acrid white crappy smoke. I personally do not like the foil because you are actually steaming the meat which is why they cook much quicker in foil. If you like falling off the bone ribs, foil is your ally. In comps falling off the bone is marked down as being over cooked.

I cook with charcoal too but I can never seem to time the wood running out right. It seems like I either have way too much or too little.

I do both fall off the bone and tooth tender depending on who I am cooking for and can pull both off with foil. I am considering entering a couple comps next year so I have been working on getting them "toothyier".

 

[FoundersBrew]

One of the most important things saw brought up is the color of the smoke, thick white smoke equals bad combustion or lack of oxygen to your fire and is very overpowering and bitter. The kind of smoke that is the best has a blue or almost translucent appearance.

 

[Myrdhyn]

I don't have much to add to this thread technique wise; however, my father and I have been smoking brisket for years/decades (grew up in texas), it's one of the most requested meals by our friends at gatherings. The best rub for brisket we've found has been a mixture (never measure, just to taste): Bad Byron's Butt Rub, dark brown sugar, and coffee freshly ground to a very fine (think espresso) grind. Of course adhered with plain yellow mustard. We usually smoke briskett, or any beef really, with mesquite. Pork gets hickory, or a combo of hickory and mesquite.

 

[FoundersBrew]

I don't have much to add to this thread technique wise; however, my father and I have been smoking brisket for years/decades (grew up in texas), it's one of the most requested meals by our friends at gatherings. The best rub for brisket we've found has been a mixture (never measure, just to taste): Bad Byron's Butt Rub, dark brown sugar, and coffee freshly ground to a very fine (think espresso) grind. Of course adhered with plain yellow mustard. We usually smoke briskett, or any beef really, with mesquite. Pork gets hickory, or a combo of hickory and mesquite.

Bad Byron's is awesome! a little salty for beef, but, i bet the brown sugar equalizes it well.

 

[Myrdhyn]

Yeah, only roughly 1/3 of the rub ends up being bad byrons. We don't use exactly equal proportions, a hair more byrons and a hair less brown sugar than 1/3, but it doesn't taste too salty at all, if anything it may be a hair UNDER salty, but the little bit of salt in the mustard compensates. Byrons definitely is awesome, but I agree it can get salty if you use it straight and have a heavy hand.

Next experimental rub we're working on has unsweetened cocoa, ground coffee, cayene, and a few other things but it's still in the planning stages.

 

[AnonyBrew]

One of the most important things saw brought up is the color of the smoke, thick white smoke equals bad combustion or lack of oxygen to your fire and is very overpowering and bitter. The kind of smoke that is the best has a blue or almost translucent appearance.

I also agree with the importance of the type of smoke you're getting. Thin whispy blue smoke is ideal. Having said that, some cheap smokers (like mine) make it difficult to maintain lower temperatures when trying to achieve this type of smoke. I attribute this to having too much natural draft in my smoker....basically a smoker design flaw in my opinion.

 

[Myrdhyn]

My offset is the same way Soper. Sometimes it seems I can either maintain a steady constant temp and have wildly varying smoke from white to blue to none, or I can maintain sweet blue and my temp starts going all over the place (usually too low). I know it's probably mostly in my head and not really happening that dramatically, but it's still annoying.

I'm actually thinking of ditching it (or rather telling my dad he can come get it back or I'm gonna sell it) and building an UDS. The set-it-and-forget-it consistency of UDSs is really appealing to me as I have a habit of taking a nap once things get leveled out mostly b/c I get up too early or stay up too late on smoke days.

 

[dataz722]

UDSs are great! I have thought about building a big offset for more capacity but instead have decided to build an army of UDSs.

 

[Myrdhyn]

Yeah, I just found an easy and cheap supply of actual splits of hickory, oak, and pecan. If I build a UDS, I see no reason why a single split wouldn't be enough wood for an entire smoke when combined with the lump I already use, should be able to cut down fuel costs to a fraction of what they were before.

The more I mull it over in my head, the more the benefits are by far outweighing any possible cons for me. As soon as I can track a barrel down I think I'm going to have to do this.

 

[dataz722]

I dump a bag of charcoal into my fire basket and add about 2 or 3 fist sized chunks of wood. It will burn without reloading for over 30 hours. That is the longest I have had it going and there was still a decent amount of coals in there left.

 

[Myrdhyn]

Right, what I'm thinking is one split should equal out to about 3-4 fist sized chunks, only be alot more convenient and in my case alot cheaper. I'll be able to buy a package of splits oak or hickory or pecan splits (or one of each) and they'll last me probably years of smoking.