Razorback Smoked Ribs

Summertime Smoked Ribs & Cheesy Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Hey all, this is a scrumptious recipe for an age-old classic: meat and potatoes. Except, we are going to modernize this stand-by combination by smoking the meat and cheesing the taters. Are you with me?

Ingredients:

Ribs
1 rack Saint Louis style spare ribs
1 bottle of mustard
1 cup of brown sugar
3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
salt, pepper, paprika

Potatoes:
4 to 6 potatoes, peeled
1/3 brick of Velveeta Cheese
1/2 onion, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon garlic

Equipment:
Charcoal
Wood chunks or twigs
Smoker or gas grill
Aluminum foil

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Preparation:
Start gas grill or charcoal in your smoker.

Wash ribs, coat heavily with mustard.

Microwave brown sugar, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika for about 30 seconds to soften together.

Sprinkle/spread mixture over both sides of ribs. Work in and mix with mustard with your hands. Place ribs on grill, preferably on a double layer of foil so they do not get torched to death.

Lower grill/smoker to low setting, add wood chunks or twigs, close to flames but not touching. Cook ribs about 2 hours prior to adding potatoes. If you are slow smoking, then adjust times to suit.

[Observe safety instructions for your grill or smoker. Aka: don't do anything stupid. Make sure you are cooking on concrete and away from any structure (namely, your house!)]

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Cut up potatoes. Microwave potatoes for 4 minutes to soften just a bit. You will finish cooking on grill.

Cut Velveeta into chunks as well. If you do not have Velveeta, just use some shredded or block cheese.

Cut up onion

Place 3 layers of foil on counter. Fill foil with potatoes, cheese, and onions. Season. Wrap into a pouch.

Place pouch of potatoes onto grill, not over direct heat. Punch large holes in top of pouch.

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Cook until both ribs and potatoes are done.

Tips:

Move food around and re-fuel grill as needed based on how smoky you want your food.

Open pouch of potatoes for last 20 minutes of cooking.

Flip pouch of potatoes often, as they will tend to burn.

Skewer You All -- My Take On Smoking Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:17:00 +0000

Hey guys, I appreciate all the feedback, both positive and negative. I don't even really mind the folks who are just trying to leave their link. There have been a lot of surprisingly critical comments about how long I put the ribs in the oven, so I just wanted to put a little note up.

The entire timing process of smoking ribs depends a lot on how many racks you are smoking at once. This is not so important in the smoker as it is in the oven phase, where the amount of heat absorbed by the food depends on the quantity of food. I smoked four to six racks at once and so that is why I must slow cook them in the oven for that long... if you smoke only one or two racks then yes, please reduce accordingly.

Also, there have been comments about the whole idea of using an oven to finish off the ribs. Again, this is only one way of doing it and is handy for winter time and busy people or folks that cannot just sit outside all day and night. I realize that ovens are not available at smoking competitions... this blog is not aimed at competitive barbecuers (although they might learn a thing or two), it is aimed at the novice smoker who just wants to know how to smoke ribs in a simple way, a way that does not involve a folding chair and a case of beer.

And by the way, smoking ribs in foil on the grill makes no sense in my mind: you are not getting any more smoke into the meat, you are simply just slow cooking them (just like my way) but instead of nice, evenly applied heat from an oven, you are providing uneven heat (which is why you will see professional smokers constantly checking their foiled ribs...because they have no clue if they are done yet or not!).

Easy Smoked Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:09:00 +0000

This is an easy but basic recipe to make real smoked ribs. I have cut out all the complicated procedures and refined it down to just the core process. You can add your own flare to it as you see fit. Don’t get me wrong, these ribs taste wonderful and would be well suited for any occasion.
Ingredients:

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1 or 2 racks of spare pork ribs.

Aluminum foil

Small pieces of wood or sticks for smoking

A charcoal grill or smoker

Charcoal and lighter
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Directions:
Prepare charcoal grill as usual, placing a pile of briquettes to one side in a pyramid and then dousing with charcoal lighter. Wait a few seconds and light. Close lid and wait for coals to turn gray.
When fire is ready, spread coals and put wood pieces all around, directly on top of the coals. Be careful not to burn yourself.
Place ribs on grill grates as far from heat source as possible. If your grill is too small, place a metal cake pan of water down first, cover it with hole punched foil, and then place the ribs on top of the foil.

Close lid and cut off most of the ventilation, leaving just enough for the coals to smolder. After a bit, you should see the smoke from the wood starting to escape.

Slow Cooker Ribs

Feed more wood to the coals as needed. Again, use caution. I use a long kitchen tongs to place wood.
Smoke the ribs in this way for three hours. Remove ribs to cookie sheet, take indoors and let cool.

Wrap ribs in aluminum foil. I recommend that you double wrap them. Refrigerate.
The ribs will last for another day or two if you wish to cook them later. When you are ready, place the ribs into the oven and cook on low (around 250 degrees) for three to four hours. Keep the foil on them and keep them on the cookie sheet as you cook them. UPDATE: the longer you cook them, the more tender they will be but be careful not to overcook them or else they will be too mushy.

They are now ready to eat! Unwrap ribs slowly by the sink. Watch out for the steam. It is best to open one end of the foil and let the juices run out into the sink. Hold racks with hot pads. Place on meat board, cut and serve with your favorite barbecue sauce.

Side item recommendations include, baked beans, french bread, corn on the cob and a nice cool Greek salad.

Smoked Ribs : Oven

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 05:51:00 +0000

Hey we all hate oven ribs so let's get started on learning how to cook them! Let's assume that it is the dead of winter and smoking ribs outdoors is impossible because it has snowed at least seventeen feet and we are blocked in. Otherwise, you should smoke ribs outside because indoor oven ribs just don't cut it. Even if you can partially smoke the ribs either in your smoker or on a novice gas grill, then that is better than the oven because the ribs oven version leaves virtually zero smoky taste. What you will end up with are mediocre ribs, but with a good enough barbecue sauce you can let it pass.

First step for Ribs: Oven Version

You will need 1 or 2 racks of fresh pork ribs. Wash ribs in cold water. Do no use soap. I have to say these things. Pat dry with clean paper towels. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Peel the membrane off of the underside of the ribs racks. The easiest way to do this is to get it started in one corner using a fork or a corn on the cob holder. Once you get the membrane starting to peel, dry your hands and use a towel or paper towel to get a good grip on it and pull it the rest of the way.

Second step for Ribs: Oven Version

Sprinkle ribs with dry rub. I have a good dry rub recipe on this site. Most of these recipes that you can get off of the internet are pretty much the same. Oh, I can hear the roars of all 'secret' dry rub folks -- trust me, look at the ingredients.. they are strikingly similar. Anyway sprinkle both sides of each rack of ribs with the dry rub. Don't use as much as you do when you cooking smoked ribs because unlike smoking them, the dry rub won't cook off as much when in the oven.

Third step for Ribs: Oven Version

Oven cooked barbecue ribs

Refrigerate the ribs while the oven is preheating. Use another pan or foil or a grate that goes in the inside of a pan so that the juices can release to the bottom of the pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in refrigerator on hot pads. Keep oven on.
Re-sprinkle rib rubs. Place each rack of ribs on a large sheet of good foil, pour barbecue sauce over and then wrap them tightly. Return to a pan and bake them for another hour.

There it is, short and sweet.

Keys to Smoked Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 01:25:00 +0000

The Best Tools For Great Smoked Ribs

Smoked Ribs Tips

When it’s time to set up outdoors and begin to grill or smoke food for the summer, you’ll want to be prepared with the best tools around. Smoked ribs require special attention to acquire that subtle savory flavor that only masters can achieve. Without the right tools – from equipment to seasoning – you’ll never be fully satisfied with the outcome of your spare ribs, feeling that something is missing every time. Here are some things to always have on hand when deciding it’s time for smoking ribs and enjoying a backyard barbecue.

Mustard – Yellow mustard is a necessary part of creating the most flavorful rack of ribs around. While this is not actually necessarily part of the seasoning or rub you use, it will help to assure the ribs absorb the flavorful spices you use. Some people will opt for a mustard-based rub, skipping the step of basting the meat with mustard first. However, this is not required. You can use any yellow mustard and don’t need fancy namebrands, since the flavor will cook off in the smoking process anyway. However, the mustard will allow the meat to open up to the seasoning you add afterward, whether a sauce based seasoning or a powdered rub. It will also help the rub to stick to the meat so that it can better infuse throughout the membranes of the meat.

Smoker – This is the best way to get a rack of ribs carefully smoked. A smoker will hold in the smoke from the cooking and allow it to permeate the meat as you slow roast the meat in the 200-degree temperature that is best to maintain for tender, juicy spare ribs. However, if you don’t have access to a smoker, you may be able to achieve the same results from a kettle charcoal grill. Either way, you need a basin in which to build up a smoky heat so that your ribs will come out with the woodsy, smoky flavor afforded by a smoker.

Wood chips – Depending on your flavor preference, you have several options for wood chips to use when smoking ribs. Mesquite is a popular choice, especially in the south or when used with southern recipes that involve a spicy rub. However, there are other popular scents that can create a unique recipe for your pork ribs as well. Hickory is another fine choice, giving a more woodsy and less spicy tang to the meat. For some, blending woods can create a fantastic recipe, and you can use a mixture of mesquite, hickory, and oak chips to give your spare ribs the perfect flavor.

Patience and a thermometer – Cooking your smoked ribs can require a great deal of patience. You can expect the ribs to be thoroughly cooked and tender after about four hours. However, the longer you wait, the more tender and juicy they will be, and the more flavor they will have picked up from the rub and the smoke. Also, having a thermometer is necessary to maintain the optimum temperature while your meat is smoking. You want to keep the smoker at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit for best results, as this will cook the meat slowly and allow it to absorb all the flavors with which it’s been prepared.

With these tools in hand, you can rest assured anyone who tries your smoked ribs will be hounding you for the recipe, looking for your trade secrets. If you want to continue to win them over, though, don’t share your information with just anyone! Be sure to keep it to yourself so that you can have the best pork ribs in the neighborhood for years to come!

Bacon Smoked Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:50:00 +0000

Bacon Smoked Ribs

If you enjoy smoked ribs but are looking for something different, then you will find this recipe to be a nice alternative to the normal smoked ribs recipes out there because it gives you a whole new flavor to your barbecue, but it does so without the shock value of some of these wilder combinations such as the citrus items plus barbecued ribs.

Many like the taste of two extremes of the taste buds being combined, but for others it just ruins the ribs. In this bacon smoked ribs recipe, we get to combine one pork product with another similar pork product and so the two tastes tend to compliment one another pretty well without going over the top. And, let's face the facts here: it's bacon. You cannot go wrong with bacon anything. You could make bacon scented trash bags and people would buy them. (All you aspiring inventors out there can take that idea for free, just pay shipping and handling).

For this smoked ribs recipe, you will need a couple pounds of good quality thick sliced bacon, along with two or three racks of pork spare ribs. For the ribs you can use your choice of traditional St. Louis style or baby back ribs if you prefer. If you do decide to use baby back ribs, just make sure that you decrease the smoking and cooking time to accommodate the smaller cut of rib. Remember to buy fresh, quality cuts of ribs. Look for well trimmed slabs and that will save you a lot of time. Avoid the vacuum packed versions because those are usually much older and have preservatives in them. I find that my local grocer is the best source for ribs.

The first step is to remove the membrane that is on the bottom of each slab of ribs. You can use a fork or your hands. Keep washing and drying your hands as you do this because it allows you to grip the membrane easier.

Once you have removed the membranes, turn the racks of ribs bottom side up so that you can see the bones clearly. Cut each rib off of the rack so that you have individual ribs. Try to leave an even amount of mean to the left and right side of each rib bone so that they won't fall apart while smoking.

Do not coat the spare ribs with mustard. Sprinkle your normal rib rub onto the ribs prior to attaching the bacon. Here you can find some good tips on coming up with your own rib rub recipe.

Now comes the tricky part. Wrap a piece or two of thick bacon around each rib and secure with cooking string or toothpicks. Think of wrapping ribbon around a flag pole. Secure each rib at the ends if possible because you don't want toothpics or string being gnawed off with the ribs. It may take more than one piece of bacon, depending on the size of the bacon strips and the size of your ribs. If you do have to use more than one piece of bacon, then mark that rib with a toothpick on the end so you remember to remove it after the smoking process.

Now you can smoke the ribs normally. Start with charcoal to get your fire going. Add wood whenever the charcoal turns gray. Place the ribs as far from the heat as possible. You can look at the many other rib smoking recipes on this site for tips on this. After smoking the ribs for several hours (4 to 5), remove from the smoker and place on a cookie sheet. Cover tightly with foil and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow the smoke to cure into the meat and to allow the bacon to set up around the rib.

Now slow cook in the oven at 250 for 3 more hours. Leave the foil on the cookie sheet. It's a tedious process guys but it's a great tasting rib. Enjoy.

The Best Baby Back Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:18:00 +0000

The Best Baby Back Ribs

It’s that time again, time to clean out the smoker so you can throw in a rack of ribs and enjoy a backyard cookout. Maybe you’ve even volunteered for a group camping trip and decided to take along some baby back ribs to feed the bunch. Of course, you’ll want your smoked ribs to be award-winning quality, with a unique, savory taste and fall-off-the-bone tenderness. How can you guarantee that you’ll produce the best baby back ribs everyone who tries them has ever tasted?

The perfect recipe and excellent technique when smoking ribs will guarantee and experience your critics aren’t likely to forget. To start with, you need to be sure your rack of pork ribs is clean and ready to go. Start by rinsing them, then removing the membrane from the back, using a knife to peel it off, starting from the edge of a bone at one end. This will allow for more flavor to seep into the meat from the seasoning and smoke you use. Then, rinse the rack of ribs again and pat them dry with paper towels so that you have a clean, fresh rack that is ready for further preparation. Before adding your seasoning and cooking, let the spare ribs sit out for a few hours, allowing them to warm to room temperature. The meat will be more porous and absorp more flavor at room temperature than if it is cold from the refrigerator or frozen.

Check out your options for wood chips to throw in the smoker. Hickory and mesquite will offer a thick, heady woodsy taste with a strong, spicy bite to it. Oak is a more mild option and can actually be smoked longer without overwhelming the flavor of your seasoning with too much smoke. You can add a hint of apple wood, pecan, or other such fruity varieties to help bring out a sweeter taste to the ribs. Whatever wood chips you choose, the idea is to keep them from burning and rather let them smolder and smoke. To accomplish this, you’ll want to protect them, either with a smoker box or a foil pouch into which you’ve made several small holes. Be sure to soak the wood chips in advance for one to two hours, and once heated, keep the smoker’s temperature around 200 degrees.

When you are preparing your baby back ribs, first coat them in a thin layer of yellow mustard. Don’t worry if you are not a fan of that flavor; the taste will disappear with the smoke. However, this will help to open up the meat even more and let the powdered rub soak into it for a flavor that runs through and through. Then, determine the ingredients of your chosen rub based on the type of results you want. For a sweeter taste, use ingredients like brown sugar, paprika, and garlic powder. For something greener and more aromatic, try oregano and basil. If you want a spicy set of baby back ribs, use cayenne, ground chipotle, onion powder, and chili powder, with just a hint of garlic powder.

Perfect tenderness for your smoked ribs can be achieved with four or more hours spent in the smoker. With stronger, smokier woods like hickory and mesquite, you want to be sure not to overcook the ribs, as they will become tough and bitter in taste. With other, more mild woods, you have more leeway and can achieve greater tenderness with a little extra time spent in the smoker. Either way, you are sure to create an impressive rack of pork ribs to share with the community and become a legend in your own right!

Choosing Wood Chips for Smoked Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:55:00 +0000

Choosing Wood Chips for Smoked Ribs

When summer rolls around, it’s time to clean out the barbecue grill and the smoker so you can start cooking out on a daily basis. Nothing says summertime like a backyard barbecue, and one of the favorite eats at thee events are smoked ribs. If you’ve never smoked your own ribs, you definitely need to try it. However, you may be wondering how to choose the type of wood chips you want to use for smoking ribs. After all, each unique wood type has its own scent and flavor to offer your delectable treats. How do you know which one is appropriate for your taste? The answer is by no means simple, since it rests on your own personal preference, as well as the seasoning you’re going to be using on your pork ribs.

In most cases, people smoking ribs choose to use hickory, mesquite, oak, or a combination thereof. Each of these has its own benefits and rewards, and you’ll want to remember that they should be untreated. You want to avoid treated woods because you don’t want the chemicals in your smoker, and you probably won’t want to use pine, poison oak, oleander, or cedar, since these are not good woods for smoking and adding flavor to your baby back ribs. Also stay away from green woods – they do not make for good flavor, either. Stick with the time-tested and approved woods that all barbecue experts trust.

You’ll also want to prepare whatever wood you decide on properly. You don’t want the wood to go up in flames, only to smolder and smoke, so you should soak your wood chips for one to two hours in advance of smoking ribs. Then, you’ll want to put the wood chips in a protected location. If you have a smoker box, this is perfect. If not, secure your wood chips in a foil pouch and poke several small holes in it to allow the heat to enter and escape without burning the wood. Be aware that you can use too much wood, and you can have too much smoke, so don’t go overboard when it comes to loading up the smoker.

Now, the matter comes down to determining which of these woods is most appropriate for your particular recipe. If you like a sweet, bacon tinted flavor to your smoked ribs, you may want to try hickory wood chips. This is a typical choice in southern grilling, and the scent and taste produced can be quite strong. Because this particular type of wood can produce a great deal of smoke, you’ll want to be particularly careful of how much wood you use and for how long you let your spare ribs smoke.

If you are looking for a slightly mellower flavor with a little less smoke, you can try oak. With this wood, you’ll produce less smoke, so there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, you will probably have to be smoking ribs a little longer to get the flavor really enhanced. At the same time, because the wood is so mellow, you are less likely to overcook them and make them dry and bitter.

Mesquite is the quintessential wood chip of the southwest, offering a spicy, smoky flavor that can’t be beat. It has an earthy tint to it as well and tends to be even stronger than hickory. Therefore, it is incredibly important that you pay attention to the amount of wood used.

If you can’t decide, combined the woods and see what you come up with. This will help to create your own unique recipe that everyone will love.

Spare Ribs – Recipes to Savor

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 01:05:00 +0000

Spare Ribs – Recipes to Savor

Have you tried to season your spare ribs over and over again to slow cook them in your smoker, only to be dissatisfied with the outcome? If so, perhaps you’ve missed out on a couple of secret tips or ingredients that guarantee you a savory set of smoked ribs. Maybe it’s just that you need an idea of a recipe for a fantastic rub that you can build from to create your own unique recipe. Start with something simple, and build from there. Here are some starters.

What sort of flavors do you prefer? Do you like rich spices and herbs, perhaps leafy green flavor, hot and spicy tastes, or even sweet indulgences? There are recipes catering to each of these desired styles of pork ribs, and taking the time to look over these may awaken your creative juices, as well as the juicy flavor of your next barbecue. Each type of recipe should also be paired with a particular type of wood chips to achieve the best results.

If you are looking for a sweet and juicy set of spare ribs, you’ll want to base your rub off dark brown sugar. This is the base for many barbecue sauces and can really make the other spices you include succulently sweet. Try starting with a cup of brown sugar and adding a tablespoon each of salt, ground black pepper, and ground white pepper. Combine this with paprika – typically ½ to ¾ of a cup – and a teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder. Blend it all together, and you have a perfectly sweet flavor. Couple this with a small amount of hickory chips, a larger quantity of oak, and a hint of applewood, and you’re going to become a legend.

If you would rather awaken the tongue with something spicy-hot, your spare ribs could handle a chipotle-based rub. Start with three to four dried chipotle peppers (these are simply roasted jalapenos), depending on the degree of warmth and spiciness you are trying to achieve. Add two tablespoons each of black pepper, dried oregano, cilantro leaves, cumin, onion powder, and a teaspoon of dry orange peel. Drop in a single bay leaf and a pinch of salt. If you have a spice mill, use it to grind all the ingredients together; otherwise, mix in a blender. When it is a fine powder, rub it into your spare ribs and cook for four to five hours over hickory or mesquite wood. Don’t overcook, or the pork ribs will turn out dry.

For something a little less spicy but without that strong sweet flavor permeating the meat, try a Memphis rib rub for your smoked ribs. This recipe actually uses paprika as its base, starting with about four teaspoons of the spice. From there, you’ll want to add two teaspoons each of salt, onion powder, fresh ground black pepper, and garlic powder. To kick it up a notch without really heating up the blend, you can add ½ to one teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Combine with yellow mustard and baste the rack of ribs. The flavor of the mustard will cook out, allowing the other spices to settle into the spare ribs for a mouthful of flavor. Oak will lend a slightly smoky flavor to the meat without overwhelming the taste. You may also try some pecan wood to give it a slightly sweet hint of flavor without taking it to the level of a set of sweet smoked ribs.

With these recipe options, you’re sure to create legendary spare ribs that you can enjoy again and again, never worrying that your recipe will be disappointing in the end, when you’ve spent so much time in preparation!

Flavorful Ribs – Different Basting Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:49:00 +0000

Do you cook out several times a season and want to try some various recipes for your smoked ribs? There are a number of ways to add variety and unique flavor to your pork ribs, including changing up the type of wood chips you use and adding or removing ingredients to your rib rub. There are recipes that add a spicy heat to your pork ribs, as well as those that add sweet, fruity flavor. What’s your preference? Do you want to try them all? Here are some different ways to spice up the variety in your smoked ribs recipes.

Chipotle – Chipotle seasoning is basically created from roasted jalapenos that have been ground into a powdered spice form. By roasting the peppers, a different sort of spicy flavor is extracted from them, one that almost adds the same woodsy flavor that the wood chips themselves do. If you want to try a southwest style, spicy type of baste for smoking ribs, be sure to add a little chipotle to the mix. Try a cup of chili powder, two tablespoons cayenne, two tablespoons of chipotle powder, two tablespoons of ground black pepper, four tablespoons of garlic powder, and salt to taste. Blended together and rubbed into your baby back ribs after first basting with yellow mustard, this concoction is sure to make your nose run and your forehead sweat just a little, even if it’s not triple digit heat outside.

If you are less inclined to enjoy a spicy meal, you can try something a little more standard for your spare ribs. Sticking with more herbs and fewer hot spices can build a different type of flavor base for your recipe. Things like oregano and cilantro can give your ribs almost a fancy, designer taste. Try three tablespoons of ground black pepper, two tablespoons dried oregano, one tablespoon of dried cilantro leaves, one bay leaf, one teaspoon cumin, one teaspoon onion powder, and one teaspoon of ground orange peel. Grind all these ingredients together in a blender or, if you have one, a spice mill, until it is a fine powder. Again, use only after coating your pork ribs with yellow mustard, which will help to enhance the flavor of the spices.

Maybe you like a sweeter flavor to your spare ribs than is offered by either of these options. In that case, start with oak wood chips rather than mesquite or hickory, which will add a deep, smoky richness to your ribs. Oak is more mellow and won’t overwhelm the original sweetness of the meat. Also add something like pecan or applewood to the mix, which will enhance the fruity sweetness of your recipe. Then, use a rub that contains brown sugar. For example, combine ½ cup brown sugar, four tablespoons paprika, one tablespoon black pepper, one tablespoon salt, one tablespoon of mild chili powder, one tablespoon of garlic powder, and one tablespoon of onion powder. Try blending this all into the yellow mustard, then basting your meat with it. You’ll find the ribs come out tender, juicy, and sweet.

For a spicy sweet blend, try adding both paprika and cayenne to your rub. Four teaspoons of paprika, two teaspoons of salt, two teaspoons of onion powder, two teaspoons ground black pepper, and one teaspoon cayenne can go a long way in making a unique sweet but spicy set of smoked ribs. Whatever recipe you choose, you can always make a change to it and make it your own, adjusting and experimenting to find exactly what you like while also keeping your diners on their toes!

Smoking Ribs for the Neighborhood Barbecue

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:44:00 +0000

Smoking Ribs for the Neighborhood Barbecue

Summertime is just around the corner again, and you’re getting ready for all the outdoor parties you’ll be a part of through the season – the neighborhood cookout, Fourth of July gatherings, and more. That means you’ll want to work up the perfect recipes to use out on your grill and smoker. Perhaps one of the best traditional foods for any big barbecue is smoked ribs, and if you go for pork ribs, you are sure to create a savory, delightful dish to share with your friends, family, neighbors, and anyone else who happens to pop by. There is a secret to creating the best smoked ribs, and you’ll want to consider how to cook them to get the most flavor and most tender meat possible.

First, know that more smoke is better. The flavor in smoking ribs comes from – you guessed it – the smoke you use while cooking the ribs outdoors. Whether you use a regular gas grill or a smoker, you can create a fantastic recipe simply by using a great deal of smoke. Either way, you want to choose your wood chips to infuse the ribs with a woodsy, smoky flavor. Mesquite is a great choice for such a recipe and tastes great with pork ribs. This traditional choice will certainly please anyone who attends the event in question, and you may find yourself running out of food early on.

When smoking ribs, you want to make sure you use the optimum temperature and take plenty of time with them. Smoked ribs are all about slow cooking, as this adds to the meat picking up the smoky flavor and coming out so tender it falls off the bone. The temperature should be kept somewhere around 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and you’ll have to have some patience when it comes to getting them done, as there is a lot of time to hurry up and wait for the perfect ribs. You’ll want to take at least four hours to smoke a full rack of ribs. However, if you aren’t in a hurry, you can get more taste and softer meat with a longer time spent in the smoker.

Another way to assure your smoked ribs are as savory as they can be is to prepare them properly prior to actually cooking them. Don’t start cooking them straight from the refrigerator or freezer. First, thaw the rack, then allow it to come up to room temperature for best results. Once they’ve warmed slightly to this temperature, be sure to rinse them in cool water and remove the membrane from the back. This will allow the seasoning and smoke to soak in deeper and more efficiently to the ribs themselves. Removing the membrane can be accomplished by laying the rack with the meat side down and peeling the membrane, using a knife and starting in one corner by a bone.

Once this is done, rinse the rack of ribs one more time and pat them dry so that you can begin the basting process. To make sure your ribs absorb the most flavor from your seasoning, brush yellow mustard over the entire rack, resting assured that this will leave no remaining flavor once the smoked ribs are finished. Then, add your rub, baste, or seasoning as you prefer. Start the smoker up prior to adding the ribs so that you have the optimum temperature from the start.

When smoking ribs, always practice safety precautions, using aprons and mitts, as well as tongs and other tools to avoid burns. Keep children away from your smoker, and test the ribs carefully every once in awhile to assure they don’t burn.

How to Make Tender Smoked Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:47:00 +0000

How to Make Tender Smoked Ribs

Creating the perfectly tender smoked ribs is a challenge all grilling and outdoor cooking connoisseurs face, and many are never quite satisfied with their creations, always feeling they could have gotten their pork ribs just a little more tender or a tad bit more flavorful. If you are looking for a way to kick your recipe up a notch, take a look at these tips and see if any of them are missing from your smoking regimen. You might be surprised how simple it is to make a tiny change and find complete satisfaction in your next set of smoked ribs.

First, consider the time and temperature of your smoker. How warm are you keeping the enclosure while smoking ribs? The basic recommendation is to maintain a temperature of around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. This is optimum for tender, juicy spare ribs. However, if you keep the heat just slightly lower – no more than 5-10 degrees under this – you may actually be able to get the meat just a tiny bit more tender. Of course, in order for this to work, you’ll also have to cook the ribs for longer. No matter what type of wood chips you use for your smoked ribs, you’ll want to cook them for at least four hours. This will make them tender and juicy, as well; however, if you can work six hours out of them with the lower temperature and not risk overwhelming them with too much smoke or overcooking them, this will create fall-off-the-bone smoked ribs.

Another considerations when smoking ribs is the rub that you use. Are you using a wet baste or a dry rub for flavoring your pork ribs? If you are using a moist baste, make sure to coat all sides of the ribs generously, since you don’t want them to dry out in the heat and smoke with which they’ll be inundated. If you are using a dry rub, be sure to baste the entire rack of ribs with yellow mustard prior to applying your spices. This accomplishes several things. First, it helps the spices stick to the smoking ribs better. It also helps to open up the meat to absorb the flavor of the spices. In addition, it tenderizes the meat even further for juicy, flavorful, soft ribs.

Prior to applying your spices, you’ll want to treat your pork ribs properly. Doing so will aid in creating the most tender ribs you can imagine. Start by rinsing the entire rack of ribs off with cold water. Then, make sure to remove the membrane from the back of the pork ribs. This membrane toughens the meat and also acts as an obstacle to absorption of smoke and spices. Once the membrane is off, rinse the ribs again, then pat dry with paper towels. Now that they are ready to go, one final step will assure you that the ribs won’t end up too tough: let them rise to room temperature prior to cooking. Cold or frozen meat doesn’t retain natural juices when cooked as well as warmer meats.

Within these tips, you are sure to find something new to try to add just a little extra something to your next set of smoked ribs. If you’ve left out more than one of these steps in the past, don’t go overboard and try everything at once. Take it one step at a time, testing out each solution to see how much closer you get to the perfect set of ribs. Of course, that’s just another excuse to enjoy your smoker and eat your favorite summer food over and over again this season!

Basting Smoked Ribs for Great Taste

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:33:00 +0000

Do you find that, when you are smoking ribs, the flavor never quite reaches the tender meat inside and tends to simply cling to the outside of the meat? Maybe you’ve tried various recipes for your bastings and rubs but can’t seem to get the ribs to absorb the taste all the way through. At times, you may even find that your smoked ribs don’t retain a great deal of the smoky taste you’d like them to pick up from the hours spent slow roasting in the smoker. How can you remedy this situation so that your ribs retain all the flavor you’ve put into them and also absorb that distinct flavor throughout the entire piece of meat rather than just on the surface?

One of the number one secrets of professional smokers is the use of a very simple element when smoking ribs. This element can be used by itself prior to adding rubs and seasoning, or it can be blended into the rub so that you only have a single step in preparing the meat with the baste. Either way, yellow mustard is the key to creating the perfectly flavorful ribs.

Note that, if you are looking for yellow mustard, you don’t need to purchase anything fancy. In fact, name brands aren’t necessary, and you don’t even have to purchase something more expensive because you prefer the flavor of one brand over another. In smoking ribs, you will remove all lingering hints of mustard taste anyway, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t even like mustard. This is the secret ingredient to the most flavorful and tender smoked ribs.

Once spare ribs or baby back ribs are rinsed and patted dry, before adding your seasoning, coat the ribs with yellow mustard. This offers several advantages. First, you’ll find that powdered rubs stick to the meat better, which adds more flavor from the start. Also, the mustard opens up the “pores” of the meat, allowing it to absorb the flavor of the seasoning, with the spices permeating the meat and making the taste available throughout the membranes of the ribs, all the way down to the bone. Also, in opening up the meat to more absorption of flavor, you’ll be assured that more of the smoky, woodsy flavor provided by smoking wood chips is absorbed into the meat. By the time your smoked ribs are done hours later, the aroma and taste of the meat will be unparalleled, nd the mustard flavor will be nonexistent so no one will ever know your secret.

You can also consolidate steps by creating a mustard-based rub. By blending your powdered spices into the yellow mustard, you can create a baste that will not only coat the pork ribs in mustard but also incorporate the flavors you desire into that initial baste. This will cut back on the time spent preparing the meat, removing a step from the process. You’ll also find, in some cases, that moistening the ingredients of your rub will make the flavor pop more, meaning it is a brighter, more noticeable taste when the meat is done.

Even if you hate the taste of yellow mustard, you will notice that the use of the substance is a genius way to create the perfect smoked ribs. Critics will have to admit that rib recipes using mustard are more tender and more savory, while the taste of mustard remains undetectable in the end. Try it the next time you are smoking ribs, and you’ll immediately see the difference. You’ll never cook smoked ribs without yellow mustard again!

Slow Cooker Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:20:00 +0000

Hey I swore that I would never post a slow cooker ribs recipe on this site but I'm going through a bit of barbecue withdrawal.. well it's winter time now and I cannot make smoked ribs the right way -- outside in my smoker -- especially since there is a burn ban on right now due to the dry conditions, so I am forced to consider alternatives. Okay, that's the bad news. The good news being that I can still eat, and I plan on doing lots of that. Now, I'll tell you right up front, slow cooker ribs are not as good as the slow smoked ribs, but they're better than grilled cheese. So I've tried several versions of slow cooker ribs and most are pretty bad so I was forced to come up with my own that seems to produce a tender rib taste without giving off that 'dishwasher steam' taste that most slow cooked ribs have. You know what I'm talking about.. that disgusting plastic-like, school cafeteria taste. I avoid that when possible and so should you if you ask me.

What You'll Need

Let's start with some good ribs. Choose either baby back ribs or St. Louis style ribs. Country ribs work okay too but be extra careful of bone slivers breaking off into the barbecue sauce if you go that route. Make sure that the ribs you choose are fresh and have several days to go before the 'use by' date arrives. Best not to use frozen ribs but if that is all you have then go for it.

Get a good barbecue rib rub too.

You will also need whatever is your favorite barbecue sauce

Slow Cooker Ribs recipe

Wash and trim the baby back ribs or whatever cut of pork ribs you choose.

Cut ribs into sections with 4 or 5 ribs to each section.

Brush ribs with olive oil on both sides and then coat with your rib rub.

Brown under broiler in oven for 7 to 10 minutes per side. Do not put the ribs too close to the broiler element or else they will smoke too much. Use a large cookie sheet. Remove spare ribs from oven after they are browned on both sides and let stand for several minutes to cool. You may have to do in batches to achieve an even coating.

After the ribs have cooled, double wrap each section in aluminum foil and place ribs in slow cooker and cook on low heat for about 8 hours. Remove ribs and allow them to cool enough so that you can handle them without them breaking apart, usually about 30 minutes or so.

Heat up your barbecue sauce in a small saucepan. Turn the sauce on low so that it does not splash out. The thicker the sauce, the lower you will need to turn the burner on. Keep it stirred so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Serve the ribs with hot barbecue sauce to the side or over the ribs. Enjoy!

Slow Smoked Country Ribs on a Gas Grill

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Smoked Country Ribs

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 6 hours
Serves: 5 to 8

Country style ribs can be a nice diversion from the ordinary barbecued ribs recipe. Country style ribs tend to be much more fatty than spare ribs, but they are also tough like baby back ribs or spare ribs. Okay, so how do we get rid of the fatty layers and at the same time make our smoked country ribs nice and tender? Well here is an easy recipe that allows the fat to be slow cooked off and still achieves a nice tender smoky flavor using a two step cooking process: the first is to get the meat smoky and the second is to tenderize it. Enjoy and smile.

Country Style Smoked Ribs
______________________________________

Ingredients:

2 packages of country style ribs, fresh. Usually each pack will weigh about two to three pounds.

1 bottle bbq sauce (about 1.5 cups) or try our barbecue sauce.

Rib rub

Charcoal or wood chunks

Disposable metal pan or foil

Gas Grill with a top level grate
_______________________________________

Instructions:

Rinse country ribs in cold water. Do not trim fat from ribs.

Brush or spray country ribs with olive oil and sprinkle rib rub on if preferred.

Preheat gas grill to medium low.

Place charcoal or wood chunks on one side of grill, directly onto hot grates. Make a tent over the wood or charcoal with foil or upside down metal pan. Does not have to be perfectly covered.

Place smoker ribs on upper shelf on opposite side of grill. Turn burner under ribs off at this point.

Close grill lid and let smoke for about 2 hours, adding wood or charcoal as necessary.

Bring ribs indoors and put into slow cooker. If you do not have a slow cooker, then you can use a stove top covered pan or use your oven. Place the country ribs into pan or slow cooker and add the barbecue sauce. Make sure that the temperature is set on medium low, about 250 degrees. Slow cook for 4 hours.

Serve with barbecue baked beans and Texas toast.

BBQ Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:12:00 +0000

BBQ

Barbecue has become one of the worlds favorite foods recently and with good reason: they are fun to make and even more fun to eat! BBQ Ribs offer something for everyone, whether you enjoy spicy barbecue flavors or a more mild and passive taste, you can find satisfaction with mouth watering barbecued ribs.

Developments in barbecue grill technology have allowed year round enjoyment of our favorite barbecue recipes. Now, BBQ grills last longer, have easy lighting systems, and can stand up against the harsh outdoor conditions in almost all parts of the world, making barbecuing an option at all times and in all places.

We are even seeing more and more variations of the barbecue grill itself, now with all different shapes and sizes and styles, which allows people the variety that they want when comes to designing their decks and porches and outdoor kitchens. With these new advancements in technology and lighting systems, it seems more and more people are stepping out of the kitchen and able to enjoy an outdoor barbecue. With that happening, the focus now seems to be the barbecue recipes. Always popular choices are bbq ribs, bbq chicken, and the good 'ol standby: barbecue hamburgers. I love all of these foods, but my favorite (obviously) is barbecued ribs. Of all the various types of BBQ, ribs and similar meats like pork butt or brisket seem to take the longest to prepare but I must say that I love that aspect of it; it is rewarding to work that long and then see how many people enjoy the taste of tender and spicy barbecued ribs. I have a pretty simple method for bbq ribs here.

But I've also learned quite a bit about barbecue ribs and barbecue in general since I started this site, and among the most surprising things is all the different foods that creative people are starting to grill over a barbecue grill or wood smoker. Nothing is sacred any more.

Here are some strange things that people are now starting to put on their BBQ : Bananas, Apples, Mushrooms, Mangos, Pizza dough (huh?), Fruits, Pies, Cakes, Candy, and Sandwiches, just to name a few. It seems that the possibilities are endless but nothing fascinate the truly religious bbq chef more than the limitless bounds when it comes to food preparation on the bbq grill.

So get outside, everyone, and try some new ways to BBQ and I think that you will enjoy yourself and have a bit of fun.

How to Smoke Ribs - Controlling Air Flow

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

No two barbecues are the same. Some turn out well while others seem to fizzle out. It's baffling to me how I can repeat the exact same process when smoking ribs and yet, get different results each time. So, I decided to start a little discussion about maintaining the airflow, air temperature and meat temperature throughout the meat smoking process. Please add your comments below; we would be happy to hear from you all.

If any of you have tried to make smoked ribs or smoked brisket before by following a recipe or online advice then you know that sometimes it simply does not turn out well. Having a decent thermometer is a good start, but even that is not enough. Professional meat smokers all develop a 'feel' for smoking and barbecue in general. They learn how to tell when that right moment is to flip, foil, mop, or remove the ribs from the smoker. Yes, we have tools such as thermometers, recipes, clocks, etc that help us determine when those exact moments are, but no tool can be substituted for experience.

One of the keys to smoking meat is understanding airflow. Airflow determines the overall temperature of the fire, the path that the smoke travels, the intensity of the smoke, the temperature of the meat, everything. As you know, lowering the air intake will dampen the fire and reduce the overall airflow generated, and opening the intake door will increase the hotness of the fire, the amount of smoke usually, and the temperatures of both the firebox and the cooking section.

In many smoked ribs guides and forums, they tell you to make sure that you maintain a minimun temperature in order to assure food safety. This only applies to smoked ribs that are cooked entirely by the smoking process. You will find that all of the recipes on my site are divided into two cooking sections: one is the smoking process that takes place in the smoker or on the grill while the other is the actual end cooking process that assure the meat is done. The final cooking stage takes place indoors in the oven or slow cooker, where temperatures are higher and more safe. This way, you can use air flow to limit the temperature and the amount of heat penetrating the ribs.

Beer Glazed Smoked Baby Back Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:50:00 +0000

Another great brine that is seldom used but that has an outstanding flavor is beer. Few people actually want to waste a good six pack of beer on smoked ribs but I say just buy an extra case and then you are 18 ahead. Here is a quick recipe for the beer smoked ribs.

You will need:

a couple racks of spare ribs or baby back ribs
a six pack of beer
seasonings
wood chips or chunks for smoking
a gas grill or your smoker
foil
an understanding family

Get your standard spare ribs or baby back ribs and do the usual trimming if desired; I don't trim mine as I have never noticed a difference. Peel the under-layer off if you prefer though. Put the ribs on a large cookie sheet or in an extra large cake pan and pour 2 cans of beer over them. Do not season them just yet as the liquid from the beer will just wash it off. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Do not soak too long because you will have a mess on your hands. Rotate once about half way through.

Remove ribs from beer brine and season however you wish. A brown sugar, garlic, sea salt, cayenne, and heavy pepper dry rub works well with these. Few people have the seasoning mace but if you have it use some sparingly. Rub the seasoning on liberally. That does not mean with tax money, it means rub a lot of it on.

Fire up your grill or smoker, see my other posts for how to to use your gas grill as a smoker. Read your manual to make sure it is safe first. (Okay, I realize nobody will read their manual, or even knows which trash can they threw it in, but I say that because it seems like something smart to say; just don't blow yourself up).

Beer Glaze Sauce:

2 Cans of beer
1 can tomato paste
2 tablespoons mustard
1/2 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
seasonings that you prefer

Glaze preparation: This one is easy-- just mix all the ingredients together in a small metal pan or cup. Keep the sauce between the smoking ribs or smoked brisket and the fire. The heat from the fire will keep the sauce warm while at the same time the evaporation of the glaze should keep the ribs nice and moist. Baste the smoking ribs several times during the meat smoking process.

Smoke the ribs for about three to five hours, turning occasionally. Keep feeding plenty of new wood chips so that you can see the smoke billowing out constantly and keep basting every 20 to 30 minutes. Be sure to place your bbq ribs as far from the actual heat source as possible because you don't want to pulverize the ribs.

Bring ribs inside and allow to cool for 10 to 20 minutes. Next, you will need to double wrap them in aluminum foil. Slather them generously with remaining glaze prior to closing up the foil. Put on cookie sheet and slow cook in oven on 225 degrees for 2 to 3 hours. For the last 20 minutes of cooking, turn on the broiler and open the foil packets. The purpose of this step is to make sure that the glaze gets emblazoned onto the smoked ribs. Be sure that the they are positioned somewhere around the middle rack area of the oven.

Serve with smoked bbq baked beans, corn on the cob, and a nice cool salad and of course, the remaining cans of beer.

Barbecue Chicken Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:01:00 +0000

This is by far the best barbecue chicken recipe that we have ever tasted. It is fairly easy to do and most of all, it is fun. And the taste it gives off is a nice smoky woodsy chicken taste.. very satisfying. Now, a lot of traditional meat smokers will prefer to use whole chickens and you can certainly do that if you want. Be sure to increase your cooking times though. I have found that using a cut up chicken works much better for me because I like a stronger smoked meat taste, and the smoke can sink into the cut up chicken more thoroughly than it can with a whole chicken.

A note about using barbecue sauce on your smoked chicken--> Guys, this one is a toss-up. Yes, I love the seared on barbecue taste but I also love that great pure grill flavor; so it is truly up to you. If you do use barbecue sauce with your grilled chicken, be sure to let it blacken a bit on both sides (not too much, just in spots) because you don't want runny sauce ruining your whole barbecue chicken recipe.

Here is the barbecue chicken recipe basic version:

SMOKED BARBECUE CHICKEN RECIPE

PREP TIME WITH MARINATING: ABOUT 2 TO 4 HOURS, OR YOU CAN MARINATE THE CHICKEN OVERNIGHT
_____________
INGREDIENTS:

2 CUT UP CHICKENS

1 BOTTLE OF ITALIAN DRESSING

SALT, PEPPER, AND GARLIC POWDER

DRIED RED PEPPER FLAKES

3 TBSP LIME JUICE

YOUR FAVORITE BBQ SAUCE

SMOKING WOOD CHIPS OR CHUNKS (I PREFER OAK BUT USE WHAT YOU CAN)

CHARCOAL

___________________
DIRECTIONS:

In a large mixing bowl, pour the Italian dressing in along with the lime juice. Add 3 teaspoons of pepper, 2 teaspoons of salt, and about 2 tablespoons of garlic powder. Add in 1 tablespoon of the red pepper flakes. If you have a large freezer bag to marinate the chicken in then use that; otherwise, you'll just have to use the mixing bowl.

Skin the chicken if you prefer and put it in the marinade mixture. Seal tightly and put in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

When you are ready to cook the chicken, start your barbecue charcoal grill with the charcoal just as normal. While you are waiting for the coals to turn gray, go ahead and soak the wood chips in water.

When the coals are ready, spread them out on the bottom of your grill as normal. Put several new briquettes of charcoal on top and also a couple scoops of the wood chips, making sure to shake as much water off as possible before putting them into the fire so that you do not douse your fire. Obviously, don't burn yourself.

Place the grate directly over the fire but not too low. Brush the grate with oil. Do not use cooking spray as this will blow you up, and possibly your neighbor's dog. Immediately put the chicken on and then choke all air off of the fire to stifle the flare ups. You can save the marinade if you wish as it makes a fine barbecue sauce base or a great basting sauce.

Once the fire has died down a bit, open a tiny hole for air to pass in, just enough to keep the fire smoldering without burning too high. Chicken burns real easy, especially if the skin is still on, so be careful here. Better to have a slow fire and have it take longer to cook than to have a ruined barbecue chicken meal.

Barbecued chicken takes longer to cook than a lot of meats so be patient. Also, place the thicker pieces over the hottest part of the fire, and the wings to the outside. Add more wood chips and charcoal as necessary. Turn several times during the cooking process; move the positions of the chicken pieces to help ensure even cooking. Wait until chicken no longer sticks to grill grates before turning the first time.

When barbecuing chicken is nearly done (juices will run clear on piercing), slather a generous amount of barbecue sauce on each side and sear it on both sides until it is not longer runny and it shows several black spots. Serve barbecue chicken recipe warm and with additional barbecue sauce on the side if your prefer.

How to Smoke Brisket

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:35:00 +0000

How to Smoke a Brisket

Smoking a brisket can be a little more tricky than smoking ribs simply because it is typically a much tougher cut of meat and is hard to get tenderized. Smoked ribs are difficult as well, but will usually cooperate in time. But if you want to smoke a brisket you will need not only time but also a few of these tips that will ensure that your next barbecue night will be a three pound gain for all involved.

But smoking brisket is similar to smoking ribs in that you have to care about what you are doing. There really is not much more to cooking good foods than that; and it is especially true of smoked barbecue because it also takes so much patience.

Prepare the Smoked Brisket

Rinse the brisket in cool water. Use paper towels to pat dry. Coat the entire brisket with mustard, making sure to get both sides.

Do not trim the fat layer off of the underside of the brisket. Season the brisket generously with your favorite barbecue rub. If you do not have a rub handy then just use whatever combination of spices that you do have. Some good choices are salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, chili seasoning, etc. Cover after you have seasoned and put in fridge until fire or smoker grill is ready.

Building the Fire for Smoked Brisket

This really depends on what type of grill you are going to use. I have a plain old barrel smoker with a firebox mounted to one side. If you have a smoker, then just start your fire the normal way - I prefer charcoal as a starter because it lights easy and is cheap. I switch to wood once the meat is on.

If you have a charcoal grill, then you will want to build the fire off to one side. I like to place a large sheet of aluminum foil down first. I put the coals inside the foil and then fold the side in the middle of the grill straight up toward the top of the grill. Here you just need to build a simple wall that will prevent the brisket from being cooked too fast. The more heat that you can diffuse the better. I even like to fold the foil flap a bit back over the coals (once they get going) so that I have more room on the grill grates. Make sure that enough air can still get to the fire and also be sure to leave yourself an opening so that you can feed wood chips or wood chunks into it. Use the foil flap as an air regulator. It helps to punch holes in it. It also helps to have the fire elevated so that air can get under it. Most grills have that bottom grate that allows that airflow, but if you do not have it, just use a couple of bricks or rocks or an old pan. An old colander works great because it is elevated plus it already has holes in it. Uh, make sure it is the metal kind.

If you do not have wood chips or wood chunks for your barbecue brisket then try to find sticks from around your yard, even twigs are better than just plain charcoal. Do not use treated wood due to the chemicals. Do not use sticks with diseased bark. Start your fire and wait for the coals to turn a bit gray. If you are smoking brisket or smoking ribs, then you do not have to wait until they are completely gray because we are only wanting the fire in order to light the wood.

Make sure your grill grates are clean. I like to heat them over the fire with the lid down for a few minutes -- burns all that bacteria right off -- before I scrape it. And then I just use a couple pair of tongs to situate back to where it goes. If I get in a pinch, I will just get the vice-grips out of the glove compartment. Whatever works, eh?

Smoking Brisket

Put the wood onto the fire before putting the grates or meat on. Put the meat on fire, positioning it so that the thick portion of the smoked brisket is further away from the fire than the thin part. This will help achieve an evenly smoked brisket.

You may want to re-season the brisket at this point before it crusts over; much of the initial seasoning usually falls off during handling and from being on the pan. Put the side that was face down on the pan face up on the grill and re-season it. Do not worry about which side it is -- fat side or meat side makes no difference. You will be turning it halfway through the smoking process anyway.

[Many people argue over this layer of fat and whether it should face up or down. Some say 'up' so that the heat can slowly melt it during the smoking process and therefore constantly baste the smoking brisket. This is just crazy thinking. First of all, If you are doing it properly then the fire should not be hot enough to melt fat that is one to two feet away from it. Secondly, we don't baste with grease. If you want to baste, just put a can of water in the grill somewhere and let the evaporation do it. They also claim by putting the fat side down that you are inhibiting the smoke from rising up through the meat. This, too, is crazy -- the smoke is completely surrounding the meat chamber. I tend to favor those that say put the fat side face down, simply because the grease will melt a little and it acts as a natural lubricant on the grill grates so that you brisket won't stick when you turn it.]

Don't forget to add the wood BEFORE the meat. Close the lid or dampers almost completely, leaving just a sliver of an opening in and out. Peek through the opening to see if the fire is burning too high and if it is then choke it off a bit more by clamping the lid or dampers even tighter. You don't want to see orange flames, you want a smolder. Don't deny the fire air for too long, though or else it will be lost.

Smoke the brisket for about four hours, adding wood as needed. Turn and smoke for another two hours or so, depending on how large the brisket is. Re-season and baste as desired. This will take less time if you are using a charcoal grill because the smoked brisket will be exposed to more heat (it is closer to it). If it begins to cook too quickly, wrap the underside in foil. Also, putting a line of bricks right on top of the grill grates and then putting the brisket on the bricks works really good too; the bricks diffuse much of the heat and you can just baste them instead (works sort of like a sauna).

Next, completely wrap the brisket in foil -- use plenty. Cook for another four hours. For this phase the smoke does not matter since the brisket is covered so you can also use your indoor oven or a slow cooker. Cook on low for about four to five hours. During the last hour, open foil and pour in bottle of barbecue sauce and then leave foil undone. Since this does take a long time your can divide the steps into two or three days if you want. Just be sure to wrap the brisket (or cover it in a pan) and refrigerate if keeping overnight. When done, serve warm.

Enjoy your Barbecue Smoked Brisket.

Smoking Ribs for a Crowd

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:48:00 +0000

The best way to smoke ribs for a large crowd is to utilize all your resources. Most of us do not have an industrial sized rib smoker, you know - the kind you see on television or at smoking pork ribs competitions. Consequently, we are left with what we do have - a bit of ingenuity and the passion to make the absolute best tasting batch of barbecued ribs for our next family or friendly get-together.

And if you like to entertain, then please don't think that you have to limit yourself to only summertime outdoor cooking, because some of the best tasting smoked ribs are done in the off season. This is because very few people tend to eat barbecue in the winter months and therefore, it tastes just a bit extra special. As long as the outdoor cooking conditions are not too dry to be a hazard, then consider smoking ribs or brisket or both the next time you have people over for a holiday. I've even made smoked ribs for Thanksgiving dinner and let me tell you, it was not only a hit but people still remind me of that meal to this day. That was nine years ago. You are not likely to leave that kind of positive impression with the same old mundane turkey dinner. And why prepare the same monotonous meal year after year when you can add a bit of zip?

Preparing Smoked Ribs for A Large Crowd

Begin two days before your planned event as you are going to rotate the smoking of the ribs or the smoked brisket. Start by picking out 6 to 8 good trim racks of spare ribs. Wash and season them with your favorite rib rub and put them in pairs on cookie sheets (2 racks per pan). Cover loosely with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight so that the spices can cure into the meat.

Prepare your smoking wood by soaking it for an hour or two prior to cooking. Unlike many rib smokers, I prefer simple oak. It penetrates the meat very nicely but it gets very hot so you will need to be extra cautious with your dampeners. Also, it is plentiful here in Arkansas so it is easy for me. I like easy. You can actually make a fantastic batch of bbq ribs without spending a small fortune on the exotic woods chunks. If you do use oak or some other wood that has a heavy bark, just make sure that you strip any rotted or weathered bark off of it before you use it as the diseased bark can give off a bad flavor.

Start your smoker with regular charcoal in the firebox.

*If you do not have a meat smoker...
If you do not have a rib smoker, then you can use a regular barbecue grill using the following suggestions. Build a vertical divider in the middle of the grill, from the bottom up to as far as you can without impeding the lid. Bricks work nicely; you might also try only the heavy aluminum foil if all else fails - both bricks and foil also serve as an excellent barrier. What you want to do here is to cut off as much heat from the ribs as possible. Start you fire to one extreme side of the charcoal grill.

*See this post for an easy way to make a rib smoking foil wall.

As the heat will rise during the meat smoking process, you'll want to be sure to have some sort of inhibitor on both sides of the grate: below the grate to cut off the direct heat from underneath and above the grate to impede the heat just enough to get your smoking ambient temperature to around 250 degrees (on the meat side, not the fire side). This is especially true is you are using a smaller grill, or one with a pronounced domed top, such as a Weber grill. If you are using a larger sized charcoal grill, then the meat will smoke well without the barrier above the grate. Remember, you will want to keep a minimum heat level of 225 to 275 degrees for food safety reasons.

Try to keep your fire at a constant temperature. I find that it is impossible to keep it perfectly constant because it obviously flares up when you add new wood but do your best not to have it jump from 250 to 1100 and then back down again. Usually, I have to close the dampeners a bit when adding new wood, which tends to offset and inhibit the flare ups. Also, if you have soaked your wood, then take it out of the liquid and let it set still for five minutes or so before you add it the smoker. You don't want to kill your fire with a sopping, dripping wet piece of wood, or affect the overall balance of the temperature by dropping the temperature of the fire too much.

If you are smoking ribs, then start them off with the meat side up. Turn them once during the process. No meat on the underside part of the rib means that you should not worry too much about that side, despite what all the so-called experts say. You don't really have to remove the membrane that is attached to the belly of the rack because of this. People just say "remove the membrane!", "remove the membrane!" You don't need to. They just like to appear knowledgeable about cooking if you ask me. Some will argue that the membrane inhibits the smoking process but I would disagree because the smoke completely surrounds the meat and also because the membrane is porous. Also, if you like a good amount of a smoky flavor and tenderness in your ribs like I do, then the membrane helps to keep the rib rack together throughout the cooking and handling process.

When smoking large quantities of meat, it is important that you rotate the rib racks so that you will get a more even application of smoke. Smoke takes a specific pattern from the source of the heat to the exhaust points; like a stream of air or water. Ribs located in the midst of the stream will get more smoke and the meat on the outskirts will not be smoked enough. So rotated the meat as it smokes and also try to alter the air patterns. You may have to fashion an additional smoking rack but as long as you rotate the meat then they should all smoke fine.

Let the meat smoke for five hours plus an extra 30 minutes for each rack of ribs over 3. Again, add wood as necessary and try to keep the amount of smoke you see coming out of the smoker constant.

As each batch of ribs comes out of the smoker, rotate the next batch in. For each smoked rack, double wrap in a good quality aluminum foil and put on cookie sheets, two to a pan, and refrigerate. Keep smoking the others until you have the needed quantity of ribs. You may have to attend to the ribs or smoking brisket throughout the night.

You might want to try different spices or flavorings in order to provide a variety to your guests. If you do, then mark each rack somehow so that you can tell which racks are "hellfire" and which ones are "Mary had a little lamb". I use galvanized coated nails; shoot one into the end of the extra hot and none into the mild. Although sometimes my specialty flavor of ribs, the InlawScatterer, gets mysteriously mixed in with the mild batch.

For the final preparation stage, preheat your oven to 225 degrees. Keep the ribs tightly wrapped in foil (two racks per cookie sheet). Put oven rack on lowest notch. Stack ribs into oven, you can stack pans directly on top of one another. Keep the cookie sheets under every two racks or else you won't be able to rotate them easily. Slow cook in oven for 5 to 7 hours, rotating every couple of hours. Serve right out of foil over grooved chopping block (the ribs will need to be drained over your sink by cutting open one end of the foil). Prepare a heated bbq sauce and serve over ribs.

For additional information, Follow our basic rib recipe for the finishing touches, including how to tenderize them before eating. Our bbq beans recipe is simply the best out there so give it a shot too.

Smoked Pork Ribs Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:11:00 +0000

The Ultimate Smoked Pork Ribs Recipe

If you enjoy a little bit of barbecue during the long summer months then you are going to love this easy recipe for smoking ribs like the pro's. I like it because you it uses just whatever you happen to have instead of requiring specific ingredients. You can use pretty much any type of ribs: baby back ribs, spare ribs, beef ribs, or what ever you have handy and you can use the seasonings that you already have as your bbq rib rub.

Items Needed:

2 to 3 racks of fresh pork spare ribs, baby back ribs, or beef ribs
1 cup mustard - any kind will do
Spices (whatever you have handy is fine)
2 small sized pieces of oak or similar wood for smoking
1 bottle of barbecue sauce
Heavy duty grade aluminum foil
Barbecue grill, meat smoker grill, or gas grill

Pork Rib Rub

For the spice pork rib rub, you can use anything that you have handy. Base it on your tastes. Here is rib rub general guide of all spices but some of the main ones that ribs smokers commonly use are: salt and pepper, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic, onion powder, paprika. Mix together and set aside.

Preparation of BBQ Pork Ribs

Rinse pork ribs or babyback ribs in cold water and pat dry. If ribs are not already trimmed, then trim according to your preference, taking care not to cut too much off.
Use a barbecue brush or a spoon to coat both sides of the pork ribs in mustard. Use a lot; it will cook off during the cooking process anyway.
Sprinkle your rib rub on both sides of the rib racks, use as much as you like. Put racks on a large cookie sheet or pan, cover loosely (make a foil tent so as not to knock the seasoning off) with foil and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Preparation of Wood

Soak the wood chunks in water. If you do not have wood chunks, the grocery stores usually sell bags of them, or you can simply use sticks that you gather from around your yard.
You can spice up the water that you are soaking the wood in with your favorite spices. Use a lot. Save the water when you are done because you make want to add more wood to it or use it in the smoker as a baster/evaporator.

Preparation of Grill

For a wood smoker grill, start the fire as normal in the firebox side; I find it easier to use regular charcoal to get it started with, which allows me to save the wood for the smoking process.
For a charcoal grill, start your fire as normal with a pyramid of charcoal. Try to set the grill up so that charcoal is off to one side.
For a gas grill, preheat on low. For all future reference in this recipe, for you gas grill users, wrap the wood chunks in foil and punch large holes in the top of the foil pouches. Try to make the pouches flat. Many recommend using a fork to puncture the foil but this does not allow enough smoke out -- make the holes about 1 to 2 inches around.
When coals are hot enough (you do not have to wait until they turn gray, just as long as they are hot enough to ignite the wood you are about to put on), shake water off of wood and place on coals. Again, do not follow this step if you are using a gas grill -- instead put the wood into foil pouches. Keep grills covered because you do not want the wood to burn off too fast - we want it to smolder.

Cooking Barbecue Pork Ribs (or beef ribs)

Place the bbq ribs on the grates and put grill lid down, allowing only enough air into the fire to keep it going. Do not let it flame up.
Try to place ribs off to one side if you are using a regular charcoal grill. Also for charcoal grills, put ribs on top shelf and separate them from the direct heat of the fire with either a couple sheets of foil or an old non-coated cookie sheet.
Allow bbq pork ribs to smoke for approximately five hours, adding wood as necessary. If you still have your wood marinade left, place it on the grill as well (in a small metal bowl). The water will evaporate slowly and keep the meat tenderized and basted. Make sure that you keep the smokestack or exhaust point of your grill open in order to allow the toxic fumes to vent properly.
Keep heat away from meat as much as possible, but try to maintain a safe cooking temperature of at least 250 degrees.
After ribs have smoked, bring inside and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Double wrap in aluminum foil. Put ribs in oven and slow cook for 3 to 5 hours at 250 degrees. Leave pork ribs in foil while oven cooking.
Next, take baby back or pork ribs our of foil and pour barbecue sauce over ribs. Leave ribs out of foil and put belly-side-down on clean cookie sheet or baking pan.
Preheat oven to broil. Put them under the broiler until barbecue sauce layer crisps up a bit and they are of a barbecue color that is nice and caramelized. If you don't want to heat up your stove then just use your grill to bake the barbecue sauce onto the baby back ribs.
Remove from broiler or grill and allow to cool for ten minutes before serving.

I recommend serving with skin-on potato wedges, our barbecue baked beans, and home made rolls. This approach also works great as a smoked brisket recipe.

ENJOY!

Smoking Barbecue Ribs - Smoking Barbecue Baby back Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:27:00 +0000

Smoking barbecue baby back ribs is a favorite pastime here in America and is quickly becoming more widespread throughout the food world. I would encourage those of you who have not tried smoking baby back ribs to give it a shot, even if you are not kitchen-handy. Okay, guys, not that kind of kitchen handy.

One thing that I get a kick out of is that there are just so many variations when it comes to smoking barbecue ribs that many people who have not tried it think of it as a complicated science. After all, the list of possible marinades, rubs, wood soaks, charcoals, grill types etc are just plain staggering. I have mentioned this other posts on smoked barbecue ribs but I will say it again: the whole fun of smoking baby back ribs is in the experimentation (redneck interpretation: keep screwing it up until you stumble upon something good).

Feel free to follow other peoples advice on the rib rubs or the marinades but add your own flare to it. I am a garlic fan so I always spruce my smoked ribs up with that. Some like the citrus flavored ribs or the heavy peppered taste; use your own methods to achieve your own unique taste. Even store bought rib rubs are generally good but most are made for the masses and won't feature any one particular flavor so you might want to enhance them. Authors note: if you choose to use a store bought rub, make sure that you lie about using it. This is required.

For smoking barbecue baby back ribs, remember that there is not as much meat on the bone as a traditional spare rib so be careful not to overdo it with the spices and the smoking time. Also, a good piece of advice is to make sure that you smoke at a minimum temperature so that the meat is safe to eat. Many water smokers let so little heat in that it becomes a science experiment. Just smoke the babyback rib slowly and use indirect heat. After they have smoked for around 2 hours per rack (depends on how much smoke you let into the meat chamber), wrap them tightly in a good aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least one hour. Next, put them in the oven or slow cooker for another 4 to 6 hours, rotating the slabs of baby back ribs at least twice to ensure even cooking. Unwrap the ribs put them back on smoker or directly on gas or charcoal grill and turn the fire on medium. If you put them on the smoker then add some charcoal beforehand, set your grate directly over the fire and put the ribs on that. Coat both sides with barbecue sauce and let the sauce caramelize onto the meat for about 5 minutes on both sides. Resprinkle your rub if you prefer a more spicy taste. Remove bbq baby back rib racks and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Do not cover or wrap as that will make the meat tough. Serve with steak fries or garlic potato wedges, smoked bacon beans, corn on the cob, and of course, beer.

A friend of mine has a great series on barbecue video that you check out. Don't use the 3-2-1 bbq ribs smoking method as it leaves a bit to be desired. You can also pick up a great trick for smoking ribs with water.

BBQ Baby Back Rib Sauce Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:57:00 +0000

Here is a quick and easy to follow BBQ sauce recipe for BBQ ribs and will also work nicely for your other barbecue foods such as barbecue hamburgers, barbecue chicken, barbecue baby back rib, or barbecue brisket. It is a good crowd-pleasing recipe for your neighborhood smoked ribs party this summer.

It is easy because it just gives you the basic guidelines for whipping up your own customized bbq ribs sauces so that you will never again have to follow a recipe. You know the old saying: "give a man a fish and feed him for a day; but teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime". I decided that this is true when it comes to outdoor cooking - people are just tired of having to follow recipes and exact amounts all the time, it would be much easier if you could throw these things together based not on what some internet barbecue site says, but rather based on the ingredients that you actually have. Nothing is more frustrating than reading through the recipe ingredient list and discovering that you are missing one or two items.

I hope that you will find that this bbq baby back rib sauce recipe will work well on short notice or if you are too busy to spend two or three hours on just the recipe for bbq sauce. Cooking food sure gets a little easier if you can take a few shortcuts now and again when following a dinner recipe.

Quick note for easy cooking: this is not exactly gourmet cooking, it is bbq cooking, so I am including a variety of alternatives for the ingredients because, as stated above, I know how frustrating it can be to not have one or two of the recipe book items when trying to follow a supposedly easy bbq cooking recipe. Feel free to use any of the alternates - they each contribute a different flavoring or texture and will work well together in any combination.

Baby Back Ribs Recipe BBQ Sauce

Ingredients list:

Base: a good barbecue sauce recipe usually contains a tomato base of some sort, so use one or more of the following: Tomato Sauce, Ketchup, Canned Tomatoes, Diced Tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, bottled bbq sauce, or tomato paste. The last ingredient, tomato paste does not taste so great when used by itself but does add a nice texture and flavor when combined with one or more of the other recipe ingredients.

Another important flavor in bbq cooking is the sweetener. Now for this there are quite a few alternates and allows for the most imagination when cooking food. The primary sweeteners are all sugars, or are foods that contain high amounts of sugars: Sugar, Brown Sugar, (any kind of sugar), syrups, Coke or Pepsi etc., jelly (yes, normal grape or any other flavor of jelly works and tastes great in barbecue sauces).

The third ingredient is what I will simply call the balancer or the blender. This can easily be thought of as the tomato or sugar counterbalance. This ingredient smooths out the overall punch of the barbecue sauce. You can use things like Worcestershire sauce, mustards, steak sauces, etc.

Another key ingredient in common in both our bbq baby back rib recipe and overall cooking food recipes is the "punch". This is the zing ingredient, the citrus, the part that makes your cheeks water. For this you can use lime juice, lemon juice, Italian dressings, vinegar and oil, orange juices, orange peel, etc. Here you can add any one of these or one of your own.

Now all that you really need to add to your custom recipe for bbq sauce is spice. Here is where you want to add those spices that appeal to you; do not make it too spicy if you are cooking for children because they can taste spices more severely than adults can. Here you can add salt, peppers, allspice, cayenne pepper, onion, garlic, etc. You can see a full list of recipe or bbq rub spices here.

Basically, all that you need to do for this bbq baby back rib sauce recipe is to pick one or more ingredients from the categories below, combine them, mix or stir well, and serve with your bbq cooking. You can heat it in a saucepan first if you want to, but it not necessary. Heating does blend the ingredients together well and it even amplifies some of them, but it also kills some of the punch, especially if you prefer to use fresh ingredients. These basic elements of the barbecue sauce are all that you need to be able to cook the best smoked barbecue ribs or baby back ribs on short notice with nothing more than what you already have. Try it next time you smoke ribs or barbecue smoked brisket.

Best Gas Grill - DCS Grill & Lynx Grill

noreply@blogger.com (GreenBlues) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:48:00 +0000

The absolute best barbecue grill is the new DCS and Lynx Barbecue Grills. I don't normally talk about gas fueled grills on this rib smoking website but a lot of people have asked about smoking ribs on a gas grill because they are in either a big city and/or a subdivision and either wood smokers are just not allowed or else they are simply not feasible. Consequently, many have turned to the convenience and sturdiness of a gas grill. So, given that there are so many millions of you who only have a gas grill, I thought it would be prudent to talk about what to look for and in this case, our selection for the #1 gas grills: the DCS and the Lynx gas grill. Both offer top quality construction and both DCS and LYNX grills will produce excellent flavorings and will last you a long, long time. Here is why:

Now, normally, gas grills don't last too long, at least by my experience; and I have had plenty of them. I have had everything from the big expensive stainless ones to the small and supposed "best cooking" little domed ones. First problem that typically arises is that the grates or else the rear housing of the grate supports rusts out. Now, you would assume that it would stand to reason that grill manufacturers would know that outdoor grills would be kept outdoors, and therefore would be suseptible to the rain, winter, snow, sun, .. you get the idea. But apparantly not all of them have figured this little fact out because they continue to produce cheaply made, rustable, non-heat-resistant grill materials. I purchased one two or three years ago that lasted all of -- get this -- 7 months. So long, 699 bucks! Yes the rear grate support oxydised and rusted out, then the burner holes began to rust over and close and finally back rotisserie turned to metal mush. But guess what ? -- the outside stainless part still looked nearly new. Now, I never exactly abused the thing by leaving the lid open during the rain or using wood in it but I will admit that I it was not military clean; the grill just plain fell apart. And, it was the third one in less than 5 years .. not exactly a good track record for a bbq person. The lesson that I learned was to not judge a grill by it's cover - you have to look at the components, the name brand, the way it is put together etc. So, after this experience I decided to do some research into what makes the best gas grill and what to look for when buying a gas grill. And while smoked ribs do not taste as good when done on a gas grill,there are plenty of other foods that are easier to cook with gas. Here are my findings and hopefully it will show why we found the best barbecue gas grill go be the DCS Grill. (also suitable is the Lynx grill).

Cooking: Barbecue cooking ability is the number one factor to consider when thinking about purchasing a gas grill. Does the meat cook evenly? Does it allow you to contain the heat within the cooking chamber so that you don't have excessive heat loss? Is there a raised area for vegetables and buns, etc? After all, all the durability in the world is worthless if the the grill can't cook worth a darn. Both DCS and Lynx grills use radiant heat cooking, which produces more evenly cooked foods and allows you to cook things like steaks and restaurant like temperatures (very high). If you have not tried radiant heat cooking, you should consider it as it will automatically vault your foods to professionally cooked taste levels.

Quality: The DCS grill is constructed of heavy guage stainless steel, not the thin dentable kind. You will want this thick stainless in your gas grill so that you can control the evenness of your cooking (preventing heat loss) and for durability purposes. On the inside, the burners and most exposed metal are all made of rust proof materials. You literally never find that in the gas grills purchased at home improvement stores. Quality is another extremely important factor to consider when purchasing a gas grill.

Power: The DCS outdoor grilling system is a very powerfully fueled BTU system that is not typical of ordinary gas grills. You can buy models that reach up to 25,000 BTU. That may not be the highest that you have heard of but you must factor in the radiant heat cooking system, which really does multiply the heat. A common mistake that people make when buying a gas grill is that the grill they select does not have enough heating power for the size of the chamber and therefore, the food takes longer to cook and you waste more fuel and you don't get that restaurant like sear on your meats. You definitely need a grill that has a powerful enough heating system if you don't want to have to re-purchase one in a few years.

Clean Up: My, how new and fancy the grills look all lined up in the showroom, and ugh! -how nasty and greasy the become six months later. The DCS grill offers a patented grease management system that will take care of all your laziness. This is perfect for me because when it comes to lazy, I am the best. Pick a grill that has the features that will allow it to look and cook well down the road, not just on day one.

Features: The DCS barbecue grill comes with such available features as side burners, warming area, rotisserie, covers, refrigerators, and beer dispensers. Beer dispensers!, I should have started this post with that one and I could have saved a lot of time. Enough said.

Overall, the DCS grill has the features, functions, and durability that we like to see in a professional grill. Keep smoking ribs when possible, but for those nights that you would just rather throw on a couple of porterhouse steaks or burgers, consider the DCS grill. I won't link to it as I am not an affiliate and not trying to make money off of this review, but you can easily Google it and get the information on purchasing one if you have interest.