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Danny Gaulden's How to Smoke Ribs

Danny Gaulden--(Editor--Danny is the proprietor of a very successful eating establishment featuring barbecue in Carlsbad, NM and has been smoking meat for 30 years. If you are anywhere near Carlsbad, stop by Danny's Place for some of the best barbecue in America.) Ah . . . Spare Ribs, definitely one of my favorites. A lot of argument has been posted on this List over the past year on ribs. Should one buy baby backs, spares, or what? I personally like spares; especially the St. Louis cut, which is harder to find in a grocery store.What is a St. Louis cut? It is basically a 3 1/2 and down rack that has the ends trimmed off, the bone cut off the side (chine bone) and very seldom much of a flap. A Great rib. Our St. Louis cuts run about 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 lbs.The term '3 1/2 and down means that the slab of ribs will weigh 3 1/2 pounds or less. How do you pick a good slab of 3 1/2 & down ribs? Well, it is sometimes hard to do, considering the way most grocery stores package them today. They can be all folded up with the "bad" parts hidden. Either go to a butcher shop that will let you hand pick your slab, or ask the butcher at your favorite grocery store to let you pick out some that are not already packaged. If he won't allow you to do this, find another store. Pick a slab that is nice and thick, and has some marbling and fat on the meat side. Lean ribs cook dry. After you get them home, do some work on them yourself. When cooking 3 1/2 & down ribs, I cut off the side bone (chine) that runs length-wise on the widest end of the slab and cut the flap off. In the past, I didn't remove the membrane on the bone side of the ribs, but I do now. Think it is the best way to go for better flavor, however, you ribs will cook just fine if you don't want to do this. Next thing I do is apply a medium rub. Now, not a lot, for ribs are not as massive as butts and briskets. A little rub goes a long ways. Don't be afraid of it, but don't over do it. Then wrap'em up in a clear wrap, let sit in refrigerator overnight, and barbecue them the next day. If you can't let them sit all night in the refrigerator, the world won't come to an end. Build your fire and let the ribs sit out of refrigerator while waiting for the fire to come up to temperature, or put them straight on the pit from the frig. On things that take several hours to cook (ribs, butts,etc.) bringing them straight from the refrigerator and on to the pit will not make any difference as far as the quality of the finished product goes. I personally think that you get more smoke penetration if meat is taken straight from the frig. to the pit. One of my friends that is a denist and micro-biologist did a test on this and agrees with me. Just my opinion. I like to smoke my ribs at 240-250F, and it generally takes about 5 hours. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. Just depends on the ribs. Let me say a little about the differences in using the various styles of smoking pits. The big commercial pit in my restaurant has a rotating design, like a miniature Ferris wheel inside. The meat is always turning. The temperature is quite uniform in this situation and humidity is high. The meat gets "self basted" from start to finish. I always barbecue ribs with the meat side up and leave them like that until they're finished. If you're using an off-set firebox pit, like a NBBD or an SnP Pro, turn them ribs. After the ribs have been in the pit for about two hours, baste them with a little salad oil, then again after about 3 hours. This helps keep them moist since they have no fat cap, and I feel this in an important part of the cooking process in this kind of pit. Use a good brand of vegetable oil. When the ribs draw up on the bone about 1/3 to 1/2 of an inch, and the meat between the bones becomes very fork tender (use an ice pick or sharp pointed object to check with), I pull them off the pit. The ribs will be very limber and bend easily when done to tender. The number one way I check ribs for doneness is to check tenderness of meat between the bones. When ice pick goes in very easily, their done. Apply my finishing glaze immediately. By applying the glaze while the ribs are still piping hot, it will caramelize on them, and give a beautiful dark cherry-red color. They taste pretty good too! If your fire gets out of hand and the temperature goes up to 275F or so, the ribs will draw up more on the bone, so always judge doneness by the tenderness of the meat, not draw up on bones. At cooler smoking temperatures the meat will draw up less. If your smoker temperature is higher, say in the 275F range, your ribs will cook sooner, but be just fine. In my opinion, you can get away with a little hotter cooking temperatures with ribs than with briskets and butts, simply because they take less time to cook. It's that simple! Danny's Rib and Pork Finishing glaze: Mix the following ingredients together: 1 cup brown sugar, 1/4-1/3 cup yellow mustard, and 1/4 to 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar. Then heat in a saucepan until it simmers and let it sit until cool. You can substitute beer for the vinegar if you wish. The great thing about smoking ribs is that they don't take all day to barbecue, are one of America's favorite barbecue items, and look wonderful when sliced and stacked on a serving plate. Other quick and attractive things to go with your ribs and give a great presentation, are barbecued chicken halves or quarters, and a good sausage. Stack them all together on a large platter, serve with beans, slaw, potato salad, hot bread, and a few slices of onions and pickles. Boy, good things will start to happen to you! Update from Danny on smoking ribs-- You can start with 3 1/2 and down spareribs or loin backs. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of 3 1/2 and down is that they are considerably cheaper and have more meat on the bone than most loin (baby) backs. In my opinion, they are every bit as good as a loin back and by far the best buy. The disadvantage is that I think they require just a bit more skill to smoke to their highest taste level and the membrane can be a bit difficult to remove compared to a loin back. The advantage of the loin back is that I think it is just a bit more tender to start with and takes a tad less skill to barbecue correctly, and the membrane removes very easily. The choice is yours to make. One of the biggest mistakes that most beginner and intermediate level barbecuers make is buying a rib that is too lean. Let me repeat that--too lean. I want you to pick out a slab that has a fair amount of fat running up and down the bones and the meat between the bones. This is very important and will help keep your ribs from getting too dry after cooking. Don't worry about the fat, most of it will render out by the time they are finished in the smoker. There is a world of difference between a cooked slab of ribs that had good marbling in them vs. a slab that was too lean. Not only do the marbled ribs cook out more juicy, they are also far more tender. Once you have a good slab, get it really cold in the refrigerator, or put it in the freezer for a few minutes. It is much easier to remove the membrane from very cold ribs, than barely cool or room temperature ribs. After removing the membrane, (see post below by Frank Boyer on how to remove the membrane from ribs) apply whatever rub you like lightly to both sides of the ribs and rub it in. Don't go too heavy yet, we aren't through with the rub. Then brush on a medium coat of salad oil (Crisco, Wesson, etc.) over both sides of the slab and sprinkle on another coat of the rub (go with a medium coat this time), but don't rub it in. Just sprinkle it on. The oil will keep the rub sticking to the meat. If you try to rub it in after applying the oil, the rub will tend to ball up. Don't worry, the rub will do its job. After the ribs are rubbed, wrap them in a piece of clear wrap then place them into the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight if you have planned enough in advance. If you can't let them rest that long, don't worry about it. You can send them straight from the rub to the smoker and still produce a great rib. Now, bring your smoker up to about 240F to a maximum of 250F and start the smoking process. Place an oven thermometer on the cooking rack about an inch or so from the ribs. This will allow you to monitor the actual temperature of the heat around the meat. Don't let the heat, at rack temperature next to the ribs, drop below about 225 to 230F. If it does, bring the fire back up to around 240-250F. If you smoke your ribs too slow, they will cook dry and come out like rib jerky and we don't want that. This is another mistake I think a lot of people make--they smoke their ribs too long and at too low of a temperature. Don't make this mistake. Baste ribs with cooking oil after a couple of hours on the pit, and again after about 3 hours. After the ribs start to take on a shine of their own (they are starting to render their own fat), you can discontinue the basting. Depending on what kind of smoker you are using will determine if you need to turn the ribs over a couple of times, or not. After about 4 or 5 hours, your ribs should be getting near the tender state. Times will vary. This is what makes barbecuing such an inexact art. How do you know when they are done? This can be the hardest thing to get down pat, but once you learn how, is's easy as pie. Take a very sharp meat fork, an ice pick, the end of your thermometer (if it has a long skinny sharp stem), etc. and stick it into the meat between the bones of the rib. If it goes in extremely easily, they are done. For wet ribs, apply my rib glaze, or the glaze of your choice.