Labor Day Ribs

Labor Day weekends, we typically have house guests and that means BBQ.  This year, my brothers-in-law & their families visited and we decided to do a big load of ribs.  Cooking on the Backwoods Pro Jr, that means I have the capacity to do roughly 40 sides of ribs at once.  

Now I've never actually filled it up, but we did do 15 sides on Saturday.  It takes 4-5 sides of ribs to feed our famliies, and the rest we shared with friends and neighbors.

I started with baby back ribs from Sams, and trimmed and prepped them first thing Saturday morning.  I had the Backwoods Pro Jr. running at temp around noon and put the ribs on.  Around 5:30, we began wrapping the ribs and handing them off to folks who dropped by and we fed our clan.

I did hold 2 racks back, one of which will head to Columbus, OH tomorrow and the other to Pittsburgh, PA.

Next up, brisket for dinner on Sunday night.  My BIL's have taken to calling Labor Day Weekend, "Meatfest".

Cheers,

Braddog

Review: Michelbob's BBQ, Naples, FL

My folks are snow birds and spend most of the winter in South Florida.  They've often spoken about a BBQ place that they like called Michelbob's.  They've even brought me a jar of their rub, which I enjoyed.  I reviewed their rub here.  Well finally I had the chance to visit their place in Naples and eat at Michelbob's while we were there. 

Since my folks have eaten there, they've acquired a Big Green Egg and I've shown them a little bit about how to prepare ribs.  I think they were surprised that the ribs weren't quite as good as they'd remembered.  I have to agree with their revised opinion of the place and say that the ribs weren't all that great.

The place is typical of mot BBQ joints.  There's lots of vintage Coca-Cola hardware decorating the walls, the floors and walls are rustic, and the menu is pretty standard BBQ fare.  There are several mentions in the lobby and on the menu to having "Championship Ribs" and of the restaurant being voted "Best in South Florida".  I didn't see any other BBQ joints in Naples or Marco Island, so the competition may not be too steep.

I ordered a combo plate of ribs and BBQ beef.  I found the ribs to be tender, but the only flavor came from the sauce.  Frankly, I didn't much care for the sauce they served on the ribs or either the sweet or tangy sauces that were on the table.  The beef was a very thinly sliced "beef roast" according to the waitress.  I was disappointed in the amount of fat that was left on the roast.  Either trim the beef before the you cook it or after, but don't serve me a bunch of fat.

My wife tried the pork sandwich.  Frankly, that was the most flavorful meat that any of us ordered.  However, it was thinly sliced (rather than pulled) pork shoulder.  It suffered from the same issues as the beef roast and was a little fattier than I'd have liked.

Overall, I did enjoy the BBQ rub that I'd tried before.  However, I wouldn't categorize Michelbob's as "championship" BBQ.  In a pinch I'd order a pork sandwich but I'd pass on the ribs if I were to eat there again.

Here's how Michelbob's stacks up:

• Atmostphere - B+
• BBQ - C-
• Sides - C
• Sauce - D
• Value - C
• Overall - C

Cheers,

Braddog

BBQ Ribs in 2 Easy Steps

When I first began trying to create great ribs, I stumbled upon the 3-2-1 method. That's the method that involves 3 hrs in the smoke, 2 hours in aluminum foil, and another hour in the smoke (or a variation of these times).

That method produces pretty good ribs, but there are some that say the time in foil is steaming the ribs, not BBQing them, etc. I say if you like your ribs that way then have at it.  In fact, I was a 3-2-1 guy myself until this summer.  I've had the chance to cook more ribs this season than ever and here's what I've learned.

• Foil...who needs it?  Partly due to the fact that I've begun to cook on a Backwoods Fat Boy where doing a whole lot of ribs at once makes foiling a huge, time consuming effort, I no longer wrap my ribs in foil.  The Backwoods & the Big Green Egg maintain a moist cooking environment and I don't find that I need to bother with the foil to get great results.
• Cooking at a little higher temp isn't a bad thing.  I've always tried to keep the cooker at 250*, but it turns out that most things are just as good at 275*.  When demonstrating the Big Green Egg this summer, it was hard to keep the temp below 275* what with everyone wanting to see the meat on the cooker.  Frankly, those are some of the best ribs I've done.
• Patience, as I've stated earlier, truly is a virtue.  Foiling the ribs and messing with all that always seemed like the magic to getting really tender, juicy ribs.  But guess what, if you're patient and let things take their own course, good things will happen.
• 3+2+1=6  Now I didn't have to take up BBQ to learn that math, but my new approach to BBQ'ing ribs has them finishing in that amount of time or less...usually less.  I think that foiling made me feel like I was a more integral part of the process than I really am.  Frankly, the fire & the smoke are doing all the work and don't really need my involvement othen than tending the fire.

So my revised rib process looks like this:

• Put the ribs on
• Take the ribs off when they're done

Doesn't get much simpler than that!

Cheers,
Braddog

Learning on the Backwoods Fatboy

I've done a couple of short cooks on the new Fatboy so far.  Today, I did a variety of items.  I picked up a rack of St. Louis cut spare ribs, a couple of pork tenderloins, the neighbors brought over a couple of racks of baby back ribs, and a couple of hot links.

I'm getting more comfortable with temperature control, but I have to confess that I haven't gotten used to the water pan and the mess associated with it and the ash pan.  I also haven't gotten used to the fuel consumption.  I've been pretty spoiled by the fuel efficiency of the Big Green Egg.  I don't think I'll ever have a cooker that's as efficient as my Egg.

In any event, here are a couple of shots of today's efforts.

Cheers,
Braddog

Review: Rendezvous - Memphis, TN

I'm reluctant to even write a review of the Rendezvous in Memphis, TN as I'm sure that it's been done many times given their reputation.  But, why stop now when I take every chance I get to review a new BBQ joint.

I can usually coerce my family into eating BBQ at least once when we travel and since we were staying just a block away, it seemed inevitable that this is where we would eat  BBQ.   I'd received strong recommendations for a couple of other places, but Memphis is just full of too many places to choose from and the reputation and proximity of the Rendezvous sealed the decision.

In any event, we headed over to the Rendezvous on Friday night to find the place rapidly filling up as the dinner hour was getting into full swing.  Looks are deceiving, and there is plenty of seating inside. We were quickly shown to a table where we perused the menu.  For my family, there was some debate as to what they would order but for me this was a foregone conclusion.  So my wife and kids ordered up BBQ chicken platters, while I went for the whole slab of ribs.

The Rendezvous isn't fancy and the food was served quickly on paper plates with plastic utensils.  The family got started on chicken that was very tasty and I paused to snap a picture of my ribs.  Now I prefer dry rubbed BBQ and typically turn up my nose at BBQ that is too wet, but I was not prepared for the amount of dry rub & spices that were visible on the surface of my ribs.  My wife took one look at my ribs and said, "Those don't look like Braddog ribs".  I was flattered and didn't bother to try to explain that these ribs are char grilled as opposed to the way I prepare them.

The ribs were tasty, but due to the chargrilling they were chewier than I'm used to.  The beans were very good and the slaw was sweet and vinegary (the way I like it).  Service was top notch and the we were in and out in a very short amount of time.  I'd read enough about the place beforehand that there were no surprises and all-in-all I enjoyed my trip to the Rendezvous.

There may be better BBQ in Memphis, but based on reputation and notoriety you've got to give the Rendezvous a shot when you're in town.

Cheers,
Braddog

Round 2 - Bubba Keg vs. Big Green Egg

The Contestants

NOTE:  The Bubba Keg has been re-branded to the Big Steel Keg.

If you’re a regular visitor, you know that I’ve been cooking on the Big Green Egg for a couple of years and recently acquired a Bubba Keg to add to my arsenal.  While both follow the tradition of the Kamado style cooker, they employ slightly different construction materials and techniques.

In my first head-to-head throwdown, I was surprised when the Bubba Keg came out on top.  In that test, I smoked a load of pork steaks on each cooker and submitted the results to family & friends for their choice of the best.

Bubba Keg - Ribs on

Big Green Egg - Ribs OnI took advantage of the great weather over the weekend to conduct Round 2 of my throwdown between the Bubba Keg & the Big Green Egg.  In this head-to-head competition, I bought a package of baby-back ribs from Sam’s Club, prepared them identically, and put half on the Bubba Keg & half on the Big Green Egg.  I started the fires at the same time (actually one right after the other since I was working alone), using the same fuel & indirect setup in both cookers. 

I typically do ribs in a modified 3-2-1 method.  However I decided that to keep things as consistent as possible and eliminate as many variables as I could, I’d go low & slow for ~5 hrs and evaluate the results.  Here’s how things turned out.

• Fire Control – As I’ve said before, I find it much easier to control temp on the Big Green Egg.  This cook was no different, but I do find that I’m getting better with the Bubba Keg.  The thing I took notice of on this cook was the elapsed time to “ready to cook”.  In order to keep the Bubba Keg fire under control, I really have to take my time in bringing the fire up the target temp.  However, I can rush the Big Green Egg right up to temp and be ready to cook very quickly.  Advantage here remains with the Big Green Egg.

• Cooking Environment – I commented during the last throwdown that the cooking environment seemed to much more moist with the Bubba Keg.  Again, I was impressed by how much so during this cook.  As stated earlier, I did not employ the 3-2-1 method.  However, the ribs from the Bubba Keg were falling apart as though I had foiled them.  The ribs off of the Big Green Egg were a little firmer and more like competition ribs that have a little tug but pull clean from the bone.  This one’s too close to call as it really is a matter of preference as to how you prefer your ribs.


• Taste Test – I was really surprised in this category.  My family & the friends who helped in the blind judging are used to eating ribs from the Big Green Egg prepared with the 3-2-1 method.  So I really expected the preference to be for the ribs from the Bubba Keg, since the expectation has become that the ribs fall off the bone.  However, 6 out of 8 testers actually chose the ribs from the Big Green Egg.  Advantage, Big Green Egg.

Bubba Keg - Finished Ribs

Big Green Egg - Finished Ribs

Round 2 of the head-to-head throwdown goes to the Big Green Egg.

So I’ve spent two glorious afternoons cooking on a couple of pits that produce some awesome BBQ.  I’ve tried to quantify the differences and find an advantage to one or the other, and I think I’ve done so.  However the margin of victory in each head-to-head competition is so slight that it’s really difficult to call a winner and in some cases it’s a matter of personal preference.

If you’re cooking on either the Bubba Keg or the Big Green Egg, you have chosen a cooker capable of grilling, baking or producing great BBQ.  If you're considering either of these cookers, you're making a great choice.

Cheers,
Braddog

Review: Shorty Small's

The 4th of July weekend usually consists of me spending lots of time tending the cooker and enjoying some time out of the office.  However, this year we had a last minute change of plans and headed out of town.  So, for July 4th BBQ I found myself at a BBQ restaurant that I located based on an advertisement I saw on a billboard.  Turns out, the billboard was better than the BBQ.

I found myself in a restaurant called Shorty Smalls.  They have a handful of restaurants around Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas & Oklahoma.  I ate at one of their two locations in Branson, MO.  I can’t tell if the down home décor is typical of all their restaurants since nearly every eatery in the Branson/Ozark Mountain area employs a log cabin motif with the accompanying décor.

I was surprised to find a menu with lots more than BBQ, and I should have been suspicious when there was no BBQ sauce on the table.  It seems that these days every BBQ joint I see has an assortment of sauces on the table.  Nonetheless, I let the waiter talk me into having the ribs.  In fact, I ordered a combination plate of ribs & pulled pork with sides of slaw & baked beans.

I guess it’s a good thing I took the waiter’s advice and ordered the ribs because I couldn’t eat the pulled pork.  It might have been good, but I couldn’t tell because it was drenched in their BBQ sauce.  The ribs had no smoke, rub, or sauce flavor but they were tender.  But then again, there are lots of ways to prepare ribs that makes then tender but they don’t all make them BBQ.

Side dishes?  The beans didn’t seem to be much more than canned pork & beans and the slaw & fries were just average.  Luckily my family had a better experience, but then none of them had the BBQ.

I can’t recommend Shorty’s for BBQ, but if you’re looking for sandwiches & pasta they might be worth a shot.
Here’s how Shorty Small’s stacks up:

•    BBQ – D
•    Side Dishes – C
•    Atmosphere – C
•    Value – B
•    Overall – C-

Cheers,
Braddog

Rib Pickin' - Spareribs or Babybacks

It had been awhile since I'd done ribs on my Big Green Egg, but with the weather hovering around ~70 degrees I decided Saturday was a perfect day to fire up the cooker.  So off to the store I went for some ribs.  When I got there, all that was available were spare ribs.  Now I usualy cook baby backs but didn't feel like hunting all over town for them so I just went with St Louis style spare ribs.

 What's the differnece?  Well, baby backs come from "high on the hog" and are typically smaller and more tender.  Spareribs on the other hand come from the belly of the hog, are larger, and typically have more fat.  You also have to deal with a flap of meat on the bone side of spare ribs and a strip of meat and cartilage along the edge.  You can find spareribs with the extra flap and cartilage removed by the butcher.  These trimmed spareribs are often referred to as "St. Louis Style".

Spare Ribs

Baby Back Ribs
While the spare ribs turned out okay, my family let me know in no uncertain terms that they prefer the "other kind".  So from now on, I'll stick to baby back ribs even if I have to chase all over town to find them.

Cheers,
Braddog

3,2,1...RIBS!

No, that's not a countdown.  It's actually a technique, and one that I've used to great success with BBQ Ribs on the Big Green Egg.

The general approach behind the 3-2-1 method is this:

• 3 hrs on the cooker, using an indirect setup
• 2 hrs wrapped in aluminum foil with a cup of apple juice
• 1 hr unwrapped, back on the cooker with sauce if desired.

This would give you a total cooking time of 6 hours, but I've found that using a slightly modified version of this method I can have great ribs in about 5 hours.  So here's the blow by blow on how I do ribs.

• The first step, and a very important one, is to remove the membrane from the underside of each rack of ribs.  Removing the membrane allows the rubs to penetrate the meat.  When cooked, it also has a papery consistency if you don't remove it.
• Just like pork butt, I slather each slab with a coating of yellow mustard followed by the BBQ rub of your choice.
• Setup the cooker for indirect cooking and stabilize the temp at 250 degrees.
• Put the ribs on the cooking grate with the meaty side up.
• Cook indirect for 3 hours.  By the end of 3 hours, the meat should begin to pull back from the bone nicely.
• After 3 hours, wrap each rack individually in foil.  Add a cup of apple juice to each foil pack and return them to the cooker for 60-75 minutes..  I usually put them on with meaty side of the ribs down for this step.
• After a little more than an hour, remove the ribs from their respective foil pouches, brush both sides lightly with sauce (optional), and return them to the cooker for 45mins to an hour,  to let them firm up and the sauce get good and sticky.  Be careful removing them from the foil because they will likely be falling apart.
• That's it!  Serve 'em up and enjoy!

I was asked to cook 6 racks for a birthday party last Saturday.  Here are some pics of my effort.



3-2-1-Ribs

As I've said before, every cooker cooks a little differently.  So you should play with the timing of each step until you find what works for your setup and your taste.  If you have a variation on the 3-2-1 method, I'd love to hear about it.

Cheers,
Braddog