The Best Ribs You’ll Ever Eat!

So just about everyone I've ever talked to about barbecuing has told me they have the recipe for the "best <insert name of meat here> you'll ever eat." So when my wife showed me this recipe in her August 2009 edition of the Rachel Ray magazine, I was of course skeptical, but I figured what the heck, I'll give it a try. Now I can't take credit for the recipe, but because what was published in the magazine was targeted for a grill not a smoker I am going to take credit for the cooking time I used. I know I'm reaching, but this is supposed to be a blog about my experiences.

Ok, here's the magic.

Total cooking time was 5 ½ hours.

I used pork baby back ribs, but I'm sure they would be equally tasty with whatever type of ribs you prefer.

Ahead of time combine the following ingredients in a medium bowl. I followed these measurements exactly and found I had way more sauce than was needed for the two racks of ribs I was cooking. These amounts are probably perfect if you're cooking four racks so you will want to adjust amounts accordingly.

• ½ cup of water
  
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar
  
• ½ cup yellow mustard
  
• ¼ cup sweet smoked paprika (I used sweet paprika)
  
• ¼ cup chili powder
  
• 2 tablespoons salt
  
• 2 tablespoons peach-flavored gelatin powder
  
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  

I found this mixture to be a little soupy so you may want to ease off a bit on the water and/or use a little more brown sugar or gelatin to thicken it up a bit.

One hour before you intend to start cooking take the ribs out of the fridge and allow them to warm up to room temperature. Remove the silver skin on the bone side.

Liberally spread the sauce across the ribs and allow it to soak in as the meat warms to room temperature.

 

In the mean time, get the smoker going. Ideally you want the temperature between 200 and 220 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once everything is ready put the ribs on the smoker and allow them to cook for 4 hours. I use vertical rib racks so the meat cooks evenly on both sides. If you're using a water smoker like the Brinkmann make sure you don't run your water pan dry. Try not to open the lid during the 4 hours as each time you do, it allows all the heat to escape. I use a long necked watering can to refill my water pan through the side access door in the smoker.

After about 3 ½ hours of cooking prepare the following in a medium sauce pan. (Again, adjust amounts according to the number of racks you are cooking.)

• 1 cup apple juice
  
• ½ cup honey
  
• 1 stick (4 ounces) butter
  

Cook over medium heat until the butter completely melts.

Cut out two sheets of aluminum foil per rack of ribs. You are going to double wrap each rack of ribs. The sheets need to be large enough to completely enclose the rack.

At the 4 hour mark lay out your sheets of foil and evenly distribute the butter mixture onto the sheets. Remove the ribs from the smoker and lay each rack into the butter puddle meat side down. Double wrap each rack and place them back into the smoker. This is a good time to check your water pan if needed.

Increase the smoker temperature to around 275 degrees Fahrenheit and cook the ribs for 1 hour.

While they are cooking stir together:

• ½ cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
  
• ¼ cup apricot preserves
  
• ¼ cup water
  

When the hour is up open up the tinfoil packets, flip the rib racks over so they are meat side up and brush on the glaze sauce. Put the lid back on and allow them to cook for 30 minutes more bringing your total cook time to 5 ½ hours.

Enjoy.

my Cookin Gear

Barbecue smoking has become somewhat of a hobby for me so I decided to create a blog to share techniques and recipes with friends and family.

I've got the Brinkmann Gourmet Charcoal Smoker. It's gone through some modifications since it was originally purchased and it now works really well.

Anyone familiar with this unit knows the temperature gauge that comes with it is pretty much worthless. To resolve this deficiency I drilled a hole through the lid at the level of the top cooking grate and a second hole through the barrel at the level of the lower cooking grate. I purchased two grill thermometers from Home Depot and attached them through the holes. I now have accurate temperature readings at each level of cooking.

The second thing I did was I drilled some holes in the bottom charcoal pan and converted the smoker to run on propane. I had an old propane deep fryer that I never used anymore so I took the hose and burner from that and retrofit it into the bottom pan of the smoker. It just became too difficult to regulate temperature with charcoal and dealing with inconsistencies caused by flare-ups was leading to inconsistent results in what I was cooking. Now that the smoker is running on propane I have total control over how big the flame is and thus the temperature. I've found that with a very slight trickle of propane I can keep the temperature between 180 and 220 degrees for hours. Which is absolutely perfect for smoking.

Lastly I added a cast iron grate that sits just above the burner in the bottom pan. On top of the grate I set a cast iron smoker box which is where I burn the wood chips to create the smoky flavor.