Few things in the culinary world evoke as much emotion as barbecue. That is perhaps because there is no such thing as bad barbecue. There is only good barbecue and better barbecue. It also might be because almost everyone has a barbecue recipe of their own, even if only in name rather than in fact. Anything cooked in a kitchen oven with barbecue sauce poured on it is not barbecue. Similarly, anything cooked over an open flame is not barbecue, either. That is referred to as "grilling." In short, barbecue is defined as anything cooked with low heat using indirect flame and natural wood smoke over a long period of time.
Now, I am on a slippery slope here, because I have already gone on record contrary to my own definition of barbecue with my Oven Barbecue" Beef Brisket recipe that I posted in March. However, I believe I took the appropriate pains to explain to the reader that this was not a true barbecue recipe, only a damn good approximation of barbecue brisket prepared with low heat over a long period of time in a kitchen oven. I even use quotes in the title around the words "Oven Barbecue," and promptly admit in the very first sentence that this is an oxymoron.
Having lived in three of the five predominate barbecue regions of the United States, and in fact having grown up in one of them, I know something about barbecue. I've been perfecting my barbecuing technique for years and was better than average at producing tender, juicy, flavorful barbecue brisket, ribs, chicken, pork shoulder, sausages and even barbecue bologna. Yes, bologna. But that's another blog.
Growing tired of lugging around heavy bags of charcoal, and dealing with the considerable clean-up after several uses, I gave up my charcoal barbecue smoker for a gas grill about five years ago. Generally, I have adapted to this method of outdoor cooking rather well, and if anything, the convenience and low maintenance of propane gas grill cooking has meant that I am grilling food outdoors far more often than in the past. But I'm no Hank Hill. Gas grilling is convenient, to be sure. But charcoal grilling adds more flavor, and it is the official heat source for true, professionally prepared barbecue.
I don't barbecue anywhere near as much as I used to because I could not find the adaptive methods needed to take the barbecuing process from a charcoal smoker to a propane gas grill. For five years, I struggled to find the right method and the right recipe to produce the ambrosia known as barbecue ribs. I tried to recreate my success of simulated barbecue in the oven with ribs, just as I did with brisket. But, it didn't work. I tired repeatedly to get it right on the gas grill. Failure after failure mocked me, leading me to consider buying a new charcoal grill expressly for the purpose of barbecuing; or abandoning the quest to replicate it on a gas grill altogether.
Finally, I realized that this was about technique and having the right equipment, more so than having the right recipe. I have unlocked the secrets to reproducing authentic, smoke imbued pork ribs on a Weber gas grill. It works very well, indeed, and it is sublime.
Bear in mind that gas grills, like charcoal smokers, have characteristics that must be taken into account. And for purposes of this recipe, a thermometer is essential. If you don't have a thermometer constructed into the grill like mine, you'll need to get one that can register the internal temperature of your grill. I've found generally that it is easy to underestimate how hot a propane gas flame can be.
My gas grill has three cooking zones. Yours may have only two or it may have four. The number isn't important, but the fact that you have more than one zone is. You have to be able to turn off the heat in the zone upon which your ribs sit during the cooking process. The heat source for cooking the ribs, in other words, must be indirect.
My gas grill's three cooking zones go from front to back. Yours may go from side to side. It really doesn't matter. What does matter is knowing the characteristics of your gas grill enough to be able to shut the heat off in the zone under which you cook your ribs, and to maintain an internal cooking temperature of your grill somewhere around 225-250 degrees.
Equipment is also essential to this recipe. For years, I made the mistaken assumption that the ribs must sit flat on the grill. Wrong. The ribs must sit upright, perpendicular to the grill, and for this, you must put your ribs in a rib rack. A rib rack is a very simple, inexpensive piece of equipment that holds your ribs in a standing position, like books on a book shelf.
The second piece of equipment essential to this recipe is a loaf pan that will stand up to some direct heat. This will be used to imbue steam (and flavor) into the cooking process, assuring a moist, juicy end product.
Finally, and perhaps least important, are the ingredients I used. I think there is a lot of latitude for different flavors based on the products one chooses for the rub, the sauce and the steam bath, but I will list what I did on this occasion. I have a delicious low carb sauce you can try. Click here to get it, which I published in my brisket recipe, or for about the best commercially prepared bottled barbecue sauce money can buy, try a combination of Stubb's Original BBQ Sauce and Woody's Cook-in' Sauce. These two products are outstanding alone, but together, they will give your ribs an unsurpassed authentic barbecue quality that would be difficult to recreate with a kitchen recipe. Finally, I jumped out there for the rub, and tried Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb Seasoning Blend along with ample quantities of salt, pepper and brown sugar.
Now, for the ribs, your grocer will have several choices for you, no doubt, and you need to know what you're buying. I prefer spare ribs that have been prepared St. Louis style, but I can't always get them. I really think that any style and cut of pork ribs will do, but you should at least know the difference.
Baby back ribs, also called loin ribs, back ribs, or Canadian back ribs, are taken from the top of the rib cage between the spine and the spare ribs, below the loin muscle. The designation "baby" indicates the cuts are from market weight hogs, rather than sows. They have meat between the bones and on top of the bones, and are shorter, curved, and sometimes meatier than spare ribs.
Spare ribs, also called spareribs or side ribs, are taken from the belly side of the rib cage, below the section of back ribs and above the sternum (breast bone). Spare ribs are flatter and contain more bone than meat. There is also quite a bit of fat which can make the ribs more tender than back ribs.
St. Louis Style ribs are spare ribs where the sternum bone, cartilage, and rib tips ave been removed. The shape is almost rectangular.
Ingredients
For the rub
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sea salt
1/2 cup black pepper
1 bottle Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb Seasoning Blend
Ingredients
For the sauce
1 part Woody's Cook-in Sauce
1 part Stubb's Original BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
For the steam bath
2 cups orange juice
1 bottle of beer (like, Dos Equis: "Stay thirsty, my friend.")
Ingredients
For the ribs
2 racks of trimmed loin ribs or spare ribs or St. Louis style spareribs
2 large handful of hickory wood chips
1 cup apple cider vinegar
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
The Recipe
Step One - Prepare the ribs and the grill:
I hope you're struck, as I am, with the relative simplicity of the list of ingredients. As I said before, the secret I have discovered in producing truly great barbecue ribs is in the technique, not in the recipe itself.
Prepare the ribs by bringing them fully to room temperature. If your ribs come in Cryovac food packaging, leave the ribs in it and allow them to sit on your kitchen counter for two hours.
Next, you have to remove the sinewy membrane from the bone-side of the ribs.You can find plenty of tutorial videos on You Tube.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup or so of the apple cider vinegar over the surface of one side of the ribs. After blending your spice rub together so that all ingredients are evenly distributed, liberally apply the rub over the ribs and rub it into the meat. The rub will become moist from the vinegar and will easily coat and remain affixed to the surface of the meat. Repeat this step for the opposite side of your slab of ribs, and then again for the second slab.
Allow the ribs to rest uncovered for a half hour while you prepare the grill.
Clean all grates of the grill with a grill brush, fire up all burners and close the lid. Allow the grill to burn off any grease or carbon from its previous use, and sterilize itself with a maximum internal temperature of 500+ degrees. Your thermometer should be pegged at its maximum reading and stay there for twenty minutes.
While the grill is cleaning itself, place two large sheets of aluminum foil on a work surface. Take a large handful of dry (never soaked) hickory wood chips and place in the center of the foil. Wrap up the chips in the foil to make a packet, about 4" x 5" or so. Using a sharp instrument, like a knife or serving fork, poke a lot of holes in both sides of the packet. The holes will allow heat to enter and smoke to exit the packet, while keeping the chips, and ultimately the ashes, inside.
Pour the orange juice and beer into the bread pan.
Step Two - Leave the ribs in the grill for three hours:
When the grill is ready, raise the lid and turn off all burners except the one furthest away from where you will place your rib rack. Using a pair of grill tongs or by other means, lift the grate over the burner, and place one of the hickory wood packets directly over the heat source. Then, place your bread pan with the orange juice and beer on the grate over the burner that will remain lit through the cooking process, but try not to place it directly over the hickory wood packet. Finally, coat the rib rack with non-stick cooking spray, and set it in your grill furthest away from the heat source. Place your ribs in the rack with the meaty side of the ribs facing toward the heat source. Continue to leave the one burner on high and keep the lid open.
In a few minutes, the bread pan with your steam bath will start to simmer and you will start seeing wisps of smoke coming from the hickory wood packet. When this occurs, turn the heat down to its lowest possible setting, and close the lid to your grill. Leave the grill alone for three hours, watching the thermometer so that the internal temperature is somewhere between 225 and 250 degrees. For my grill, this means the thermometer is registering around 300 degrees because its location is at the top of the lid and directly over the lit burner. I have theorized that the actual temperature at the bottom of the grill and furthest away from the lit burner must therefore be something less than 300 degrees and I am pre-supposing that a 50-75 degree variance is a reasonable assumption.
Step Three - Turn the ribs, baste with sauce and add more smoke:
After three hours have past, mix the Woody's and Stubb's sauces together, and then lift the lid on your grill. Raise the temperature on your one burner to high again, and place the second packet of hickory wood chips onto the heat source like before.
Take one slab of ribs out of the rack and slather on the sauce. Also, take several spoonfuls of the steam bath liquid and dribble this over the ribs after you have applied the barbecue sauce. Put the slab back into the rib rack, this time with the meaty side turned away from the heat source. Repeat this for the second slab. After you see wisps of smoke from the second hickory wood packet, turn the heat back down and close the lid for an hour.
Step Four - Baste one more time and cook another hour:
After one hour, raise the lid again. Raise the burner temperature to high. Slather more sauce and steam bath liquid onto the slabs of ribs. Leave the ribs situated so the meaty part is still facing away from the heat source. When you see more wisps of smoke, reduce the heat on the burner and close the lid again. Cook one more hour, and your ribs are ready.
Wrap the ribs in foil and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes. Then, carve and serve.
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