Summer is in full swing, and that means would-be pit masters from across Madison County are getting a prime opportunity to experiment on the grill or smoker.
And while steaks, chops, pork loin and tenderloin are always going to be a staple of the backyard chef, you shouldn’t be afraid to take on the ultimate test of your barbecue bonafides, a big ol’ rack of ribs.
And while the task can seem daunting for some, it’s not as hard as you may think. Often, finding the right recipe for that perfect rack is as simple as trial and error.
When it comes to grilling or smoking ribs, grill connoisseur Tracy Hobson says the do’s outpace the don’ts.
Hobson and his business partner Jonathan Huddleston are the two-man team behind Grills of Mississippi, the name of both of their grill and grill accessory store on Highway 51 in Ridgeland and their competition barbecue team.
“The cooking part comes from years of doing it,” Hobson explains. “I have people come to me all the time and tell me they are going to start competing and asking me for tips. But most of the stuff I’ve learned and that I do are inspired by my own personal preferences and how I like them, so I tell them to find their own perfect recipe for success.”
That said, there are some basics that every meat mensa knows.
The first step in smoking anything is coming up with a plan. Slight improvisation during the process can be okay, but you don’t want to make too many adjustments on the fly during the smoking process, because getting those ribs just right is a fine art.
If you’re new to ribs, don’t be afraid to go online and look at different recipes and methods. You aren’t going to know what you like until you try it, so you might as well gather information from different sources and don’t hesitate to try different techniques until you find what’s right for you.
The first thing you want to do is select your ribs and decide how you want them cut. A typical rack of beef ribs or baby back ribs is going to be thicker on one side than the other. It’s the nature of a rib cage. They are smaller and leaner on one end and thicker with more fat on the other.
One method to ensure a consistent temperature throughout the meat is to cut them so they are even, known as a St. Louis- style cut. Any butcher will gladly do this for you, and you can use the rib tips as a delicious appetizer.
The second step, and maybe the most important, is to remove the membrane on the back of the ribs. The membrane is the thin, skin-like covering on the bone side that can prevent flavor from entering the meat. Again, you can ask the butcher to do this, but it’s relatively easy. Just use a paper towel and pull from one end to the other.
“I also trim off excess fat,” Hobson said. “But not pulling the membrane off the backside of the rib is the biggest mistake I see people make. Leaving that on keeps the smoke and whatever rub you use from penetrating it. With that extra barrier there, you’re going to get the seasoning on that sliver of skin, but not to the bottom of the meat.
Once you’ve done that, it’s time to dust some rub on the bottom, then turn them over and dust the top. Here’s where most make another mistake - make sure not to rub in the seasoning. Doing so will clog the pores and cause you to miss out on some flavors.
There are seemingly endless amounts of other ways to marinate the meat. This is where most of the creativity happens.
Be sure to let the rub sink in for a good 30 minutes to an hour.
While you’re waiting on that, go ahead and set up your grill for indirect heat, a method of cooking where the meat is cooked not by the fire itself, but by the heat and smoke created by the coals and wood.
For grills, that means keeping the coals and wood on one side. By doing this, your ribs won’t burn while they slow cook. Smokers allow you to get good smoke into your ribs without fear of torching them.
But grills work fine for this, just make sure to keep the temperature in the right range.
“It’s the single biggest aspect to good barbecue of any kind,” Hobson says. “Temperature is the absolute key to ribs. People think they don’t need a thermometer, but you definitely do, everyone does. Every piece of meat is different, so a good one is worth it’s weight in gold.”
Hobson said each griller has to find their own perfect temperature. His is 203 degrees.
“Not 200,” he says. “Not 205. At 203, in my opinion, you get the perfect bite and the perfect texture.”
Some prefer ribs cooked at temperatures closer to 225, but it is not advised to go much over that. Anyone can make the ribs fall of the bone, and if you were going to do that, you could have just thrown them in a crockpot. The goal should be to ensure each bite pulls clean from the bone.
One sign your ribs are close to the perfect tenderness is when the meat begins to travels up the bone. If at least 1/4 of an inch of the bone is exposed, you should probably start to consider taking them off.
During the smoking process, you can add more ingredients to enhance flavor. Some like to spritz with apple juice or add sugary sauces, which can be delicious, but it’s tricky.
As Hobson explains, you are cooking ribs, not cake.
“Doing too much with sugary liquids or brown sugar can backfire,” he says. “If you add too much, and especially if you do it early on, it will solidify on the outside, char and you end up with this bitter taste.”
Alternatively, Hobson suggests adding a little rub and using a spritz of warm water with a pinch of salt.
“It’s a flavor enhancer, not a seasoning,” he says. “The salt opens up the pores on the meat and pulls that water in to keep it moist and distribute the seasoning in the rub through the product.”
When to do any additional adjustments is up to you, and largely dependent on how you want to eat the ribs going back to your original gameplan. If you want wet, Kansas-City style ribs, you should wait until near the very end to add the sauce. Doing it earlier will only make the sauce harden. If you're going for dry ribs, you may choose to skip sauce altogether.
A couple hours later and, voila, you’ve got the perfect rack. Or, at least, perfect to you.
“Everyone thinks they have the perfect recipe,” Hobson says. “But I try to encourage folks to do things differently without telling them it won’t work. We need to let everyone else form opinions on what to do and what not to do, because everyone’s tastes are different.”
Just getting started? Tracy Hobson and Jonathan Huddleston's store Grills of Mississippi on Hwy. 51 in Ridgeland is a great, local business that specializes in grills and grilling accessories.
3-2-1 Ribs
An easy-to-remember method for cooking ribs. Three hours in the smoker at around 225 degrees, followed by two hours wrapped in foil with a some liquid in the smoker, then cooked for one hour unwrapped at a higher temperature (around 300 degrees) with optional basting.
Bark
The chewy, jerky-like crust that forms on seasoned meats that are smoked.
Chuck Ribs
Beef ribs from the upper front of the rack of the cow (ribs 2, 3, 4 and 5).
Dry Glaze
A style of ribs where the rack is topped with a barbecue sauce that has been smoked to thicken its consistency and topped off with a generous coating of seasoning. A Memphis tradition.
Dry Ribs
Another Memphis special - usually pork ribs that are smoked first, lightly seasoned and then finished and served with a generous coating of seasoning, but no sauce.
Low and Slow
A method of cooking where the meat is cooked at a low temperature for up to 18 hours. If you’re going for low and slow, the meat should never be placed over the heat source, and the temperature should never be higher than 250 to 260 degrees.
The thin layer on the bottom side of a rack of ribs that becomes tough when cooked. Removal is optional, but suggested.
Beef ribs from the lower center rack of a cow (ribs 6, 7 and 8).
When a rack of spare ribs is cut to make it St. Louis-style, the thin strip of rib ends (or tips) left behind turn into a delicious snack.
The pink hue that appears. Just underneath the bark when meat is smoked. The smoking process leads to a release of nitric oxide and carbon monoxide that combine with the myoglobin in the meat. (Trust us, you want this).
Ribs that have had the rib tips trimmed off, making the thickness even throughout.
A method of wrapping the meat tightly in foil during the cooking process. This step occurs after the meat is smoked but isn’t cooked through. Normally used when smoking ribs, brisket or butt.
The rack is brushed with sauce before, during and after the cooking process. Also popular in Memphis.
